Title mountain
The Titelberg is a plateau mountain in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in the municipality of Pétange in the border triangle with France and Belgium . It was settled in the Iron Age and Roman times and produced numerous archaeological finds from different centuries.
Litter finds indicate that the Titelberg was used in the late Hallstatt and early La Tène periods . The nature of this use is still unknown. It cannot be ruled out that it was a small fortified settlement. In any case, there was an early, two-phase section fortification , which must have been built in the Iron Age, but is significantly older than the later oppidum .
The most important phase of the title mountain was the last century BC. And the first quarter of the 1st century AD, when an oppidum , d. H. a fortified city, of the northeast Gallic , d. H. " Celtic " tribe of the Treveri .
It was one of five previously known late Latène period oppida of the tribe and - according to the current state of research - may have been the most important political and economic center in the west of the tribal area in the late phase, especially during and after the Roman conquest.
Around 30 BC According to dendrochronological data , demolitions of old and new buildings in the center of the oppidum are to be recorded. Around the same time, Roman troops were in the Celtic city. These processes could possibly with the Treverer uprising 30/29 BC. BC, of which archaeological finds are also handed down on the Petrisberg in Trier .
After the reorganization of the region as a province of the Roman Empire (after 20 BC), the Titelberg gradually lost its functions and importance to 18/17 BC. The city of Augusta Treverorum was laid out by the Romans in the Trier valley . The oppidum on the Titelberg remained inhabited until the first decades of the 1st century AD, but could have been abandoned before the middle of the 1st century AD.
In the second half of the 1st century AD, a Roman provincial vicus , ie a village, was laid out on the Titelberg , which - with varying degrees of skill - was inhabited until the first half of the 5th century AD.
In modern times, iron ore was mainly mined in open-cast and underground mining on the Titelberg . As a result, archaeological finds were made, but the context of the finds was destroyed and the topography of the mountain was partially changed.
The Titelberg still gives the impression of a mighty fortification: a natural mountain promontory, about 130 meters above the Korntal , with an almost 50 hectare plateau surrounded by walls. In the southeast, the only convenient access side, the collapsed defensive wall still rises ten meters today.
Topography and natural space requirements
The Titelberg is located in the southwest of what is now the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , on the edge of a landscape that is known as the “ Luxembourg Gutland ” due to its fertile soil . The mountain itself forms an approx. 50 hectare protruding limestone plateau from the Dogger , which overlooks the valley of the Chiers (German grain) - a tributary of the Meuse - by approx. 100 meters and breaks off steeply at the edges. Only in the southeast is the plateau connected to the high plateau of Differdange (Eng. Differdange) by an approx. 200 meter wide tongue .
Geologically, the small region is favored by the occurrence of important raw materials. So on the plateau itself or a few kilometers away there are both shell limestone and high-quality white limestone that can be used as building material. The limestone banks alternate with ferrous layers. Both floor ore and oolithic iron ore occur, partly near the surface, on the Titelberg itself. In addition, there are mica-containing clays directly on the plateau, which can be used as high-quality pottery clay.
Limestone, iron ores and clays have been mined intensively since the late Iron Age, but especially again in modern times (with the exception of clays). In particular, the ores were also extracted in underground mining, so that the edges of the Titelberg are largely disturbed today by mining and tunnel collapses.
In addition to the geological advantage, there is a geographical advantage, as the region opens up over the river valleys of Chiers and Maas to the west towards the Champagne and to the south towards the upper reaches of the Moselle, Rhône and Saône. The Titelberg is therefore particularly conveniently located near the intersection of important prehistoric long-distance trade routes:
- the Rhône-Saône route, which is important for Mediterranean trade and the northernmost point of which may have been the Titelberg, and
- a trade route running west-east, coming from Innergallien and Champagne, through southern Luxembourg and the Hunsrück to the Rhine.
The Titelberg thus fulfilled the best geographical and geological prerequisites for founding a central handicraft and trading settlement of the late Latène period, which was conveniently located for defense and transport.
Research history
Despite many legends relating to the mountain and an initial description of the ramparts as early as the 17th century, experts showed little interest in the complex until the 20th century. Since the 19th century, especially in the north and west, graves have repeatedly been cut during open-cast mining. Some of them contained Roman amphorae, but the mountain was left (apart from two scientific investigations) to treasure hunters and "hobby researchers".
In 1928, Réné Krämer presented the Celtic coins that were known up to then and brought the Titelberg into connection for the first time with the late Celtic Oppida. Around the same time, a Roman glass workshop was excavated by Luxembourg “amateur archaeologists”.
In 1965, around 45 grave inventories from the eastern (Roman provincial) burial ground (which was destroyed during ore mining) came from an estate to the collection of the Luxembourg Musée de l'Etat. In the same year, on the initiative of G. Thill, an international colloquium took place, at which the professional world was made aware of the Titelberg for the first time. Since then, uninterrupted excavations and intensive inspections have taken place on the entire site.
The following overview lists the most important research:
Excavations on the plateau
- 1968–1989: excavations in the center of the oppidum; Head of G. Thill; on approx. 3000 square meters of a residential area with dense development (late Latène - 3rd century AD)
- 1968: Subsequent excavation in the area of the glass workshop; Head: G. Thill
- 1972–1977: Columbia University excavation, Missouri; Head: RM Rowlett; probably uncovering a coinage from Roman (perhaps also late Celtic) times
- since 1979: excavations by an archaeological hobby club in the center of the oppidum or in the Roman provincial vicus
- 1965–1985: Wall cuts through the main and edge walls over several years
- since 1986: annual excavations in the area of a late Celtic-imperial sanctuary; Head: J. Metzler
- 1994 and 1997: Geophysical prospecting of the entire accessible area by the Institute for Geophysics of the Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel
Important excavations in the vicinity of the Titelberg
- 1965: Investigation of a Roman Villa Rustica near Goeblingen-Nospelt (approx. 17 kilometers from Titelberg)
- 1966: excavation of four Treverian aristocratic burials near Goeblingen-Nospelt
- 1987: excavation of a Treverian aristocratic burial near Clemency (approx. Five kilometers north of the Titelberg)
- 1991–1993: excavation of the Lamadelaine burial ground (part of the Titelberg)
- 1993: Complete investigation of the Goeblingen-Nospelt cemetery
During the scientific investigations, relatively little soil formation and deep overbuilding - especially in the center - proved to be a hindrance, so that from the archaeological point of view it was seldom possible to make reliable stratigraphic statements.
Overall, the publication status is relatively good, although some of the interpretations mentioned in the literature are worth discussing and will probably be revised.
The late Celtic oppidum
The late Celtic and early provincial Roman oppidum on the Titelberg represents the heyday of the settlement there and can be described by a number of archaeological monuments and finds. In order to be able to classify the actual history, meaning and internal organization of the oppidum with certainty, further research is necessary. The following illustration is therefore only an intermediate result based on previous results and probabilities.
The fortifications
The Titelberg is fortified all around by a mighty main wall and edge walls approx. 2,700 meters long. The ramparts have been preserved in large sections. The paved area is around 50 hectares, of which around 43 hectares are settable. Both in the southeast and in the northwest, wall passages mark the two prehistoric gates, which are connected by a path across the plateau.
There was a main wall on the flat side of the plateau, in which five phases of construction from the Iron Age were found, as well as an edge wall, which encircled the plateau on the remaining sides, which had two construction phases from the Late Latène period.
The approx. 200 meter long main wall sealed off the Titelberg from the land bridge to the high plateau of Differdange. Its remains reach a height of up to ten meters and "a base width of 40-50 meters". It is profoundly disturbed in the southern part by several tunnel breaks.
The first two fortifications on the flat access side of the Titelberg consisted of wood-stone-earth walls, which probably date to an earlier phase of the Iron Age. They were both destroyed by fire.
After the destruction of the second phase, sufficient time must have passed before the oppidum was built, as a humus layer could form above the old walls.
Phases III - V, which belong to the oppidum, can be assigned to the late La Tène period. In the first phase, only the access to the Differdange plateau was paved. The plant is likely to date from around or shortly after 100 BC at the earliest. Come from BC. It consisted of a wood-stone-earth wall with an internal, horizontal box structure, which probably had a rear ramp. This wall ended in fire.
Subsequently, a Murus Gallicus , d. H. a “Gallic wall” with a stone front - designed as a dry stone wall - and internal, nailed, horizontal boxwork, which probably also included the first edge fortification. This work is probably in the second third of the 1st century BC. Have been executed. The period from approx. 65–50 BC appears relatively likely. Contrary to what the excavator stated in the literature, the "Murus Gallicus" (on closer inspection) probably only dates from the last phase of the late Latène period (D2), which probably began around 70/65 BC at the earliest. Began.
Both the main and the edge fortifications were built in the second half of the 1st century BC. Chr. Renewed again in a different construction. By this time the fortifications had become dilapidated and possibly already partially collapsed. It seems likely that the final phase of construction of the fortifications took place at least 20-30 years after the Murus Gallicus was built.
This would mean that the oppidum would have been fortified and expanded again after the Roman conquest by Caesar , but before the actual "Roman rule" (e.g. the establishment of the provinces) was established.
The settlement
Only about 3,200 square meters of the actual settlement of the oppidum have so far been excavated in the center of the plateau. Therefore, only a small section of a "district" of the Celtic city can be described, which will not be an example of the entire oppidum.
In the center of the oppidum on the central street, an area could be recorded that was divided into small, relatively even parcels in the late Celtic and early Augustan times. On the parcels there was a development of approx. 7 × 14 m large - relatively similar - houses, all of which - in the manner of terraced houses - faced the street side by side on the gable side. Some of the parcels were separated from the neighboring parcel by ditches. Fireplaces could be detected in the houses. Some of the rooms could have been open to the street, which could perhaps be interpreted as small shops or open workshops. Workshop finds from these areas, which cannot be reliably assigned due to later overbuildings and disturbances, could support the interpretation.
According to the findings, the houses could have had a few square meters of small, rear courtyard areas that were bordered by further alleys.
There are indications that there might have been similar small-plot, similar development in the second and third rows behind the main street.
It is unclear whether these findings can be transferred to the entire oppidum. Larger courtyards or “better” residential buildings are known from other Oppida, which are still missing on the Titelberg.
Future excavations will first have to provide a final assessment of the development and division of the oppidum.
The "holy" district
During the late Latène period, an area of around ten hectares of interior space in the east of the oppidum was optically separated from the rest of the settlement by a wide ditch (and perhaps a wall with a palisade?). The area within the demarcation remained free of profane buildings.
The origins of the complex are likely to date from the founding phase of the late Celtic settlement - presumably before the extensive fortifications were built. In earlier times, the trench seems to have been important, in which a number of finds were unearthed - including fibulae, but also bones.
Later - but still to be dated Celtic - special buildings were built within the demarcated district, which can be described as provincial Roman "temples".
The oldest temple complex can clearly be dated to the late Celtic period.
The building of the temple was rebuilt and expanded several times until well into the Roman provincial era.
It remains unclear which deities were worshiped there.
Finds
Several thousand Gallic coins were found on the Titelberg due to intensive inspections and investigations . This is a record so far for Celtic oppida. Coins from about thirty different tribes speak of active and far-reaching trade relations , u. a. to Innergallia. The proof for a mint workshop on the Titelberg provide u. a. Finds of clay molds in which planets were cast. The prosperity of the settlement from the late Tène D2 is also evidenced by the imports of Campanian or Kampana-like tableware, Italian wine and Italian bronze dishes. Towards the end of the first century BC, after the Roman conquest, the so-called “Belgian goods” quickly replaced large parts of the local treasure trove of shapes. At this time, new amphorae shapes and terra sigillata goods appeared as imported items . Now the dog bones showing signs of preparation, which had been common before, disappear almost suddenly: Roman influence seems to have been responsible for the fact that the consumption of dogs was given up; from then on pork dominated.
Forest
The complex on the Titelberg gives the impression of an oppidum from the late Latène period that was deliberately planned as a large settlement. Probably at the same time as the complete enclosure with a Murus Gallicus, a main street and a public “holy” area, which was excluded from profane development, were laid out. In the center on the main street, plots of roughly the same size were parceled out and largely “standardized” “row houses” were built. Workshop finds (e.g. iron slag) make a craftsmen's quarter in this area of the oppidum likely. Further excavations will have to show whether there were also different types of construction or quarters of a different character. The dense settlement of the plateau is certain, as evidenced by the distribution of a large number of litter finds. Only the “holy district”, the areas directly behind the ramparts and behind the west gate, were excluded from the settlement (and probably development).
A role during the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar can almost certainly be ruled out. Although there were some oppida and even more fortified settlements in the Treveri tribal area at the time of the conquest, there is no evidence of them in the De bello Gallico . Caesar probably only mentioned the dates that were important to him. The archaeological finds from the monuments of the region during this period also give no evidence of armed conflicts. The Caesarian war of conquest has therefore not yet been directly archaeologically verifiable in the region.
literature
- S. Fichtl: Le présence militaire romaine sur les oppida dans la Gaule du nord et de l'est. In: Andreas Müller-Karpe et al. (Hrsg.): Studies on the archeology of the Celts, Romans and Teutons in Central and Western Europe: Festschrift for Alfred Haffner. (= International Archeology. Volume 4). Leidorf, Rahden / Westf. 1998, pp. 153-168.
- J. Metzler: Excavations on the main wall of the Celtic oppidum on the Titelberg. In: Hémecht. 35, 1983, pp. 277-310.
- J. Metzler: The Treverian oppidum on the Titelberg (Luxembourg). In: Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier (ed.): Trier - Augustus city of the Treverians. Mainz 1984, pp. 68-78.
- J. Metzler: Treverian cavalry graves from Goeblingen-Nospelt. In: Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier (ed.) Trier - Augustus city of the Treveri. Mainz 1984, pp. 87-99.
- J. Metzler: Sanctuaires gaulois en territoire trévire. In: JL Brunaux: Les sanctuaires celtiques et leur rapports avec le monde méditerranéen. Actes du colloque de Saint-riquier 1990. 1991, pp. 27-41.
- J. Metzler: The Treverian oppidum on the Titelberg . Dossier d'Archeologie du Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art III. Luxembourg 1995.
- J. Metzler, R. Bis, C. Gaeng, P. Méniel: Preliminary report on the excavations in the Celtic-Roman sanctuary on the Titelberg. In: A. Haffner, S. v. Schnurbein (Ed.): Celts, Teutons, Romans in the low mountain range between Luxembourg and Thuringia: files from the International Colloquium on the DFG Priority Program “Romanization” from September 28th to 30th, 1998 in Trier. (= Colloquia on prehistory and early history. Volume 5). Bonn 2000, pp. 431-445.
- J. Metzler, N. Metzler-Zens, P. Méniel et al. (Eds.): La Madelaine - une nécropole de l'oppidum du Titelberg . Dossier d'Archeologie du Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art IV. Luxembourg 1999.
- N. Metzler-Zens, J. Metzler: The late Celtic aristocracy in Gaul. In: Andreas Müller-Karpe et al. (Hrsg.): Studies on the archeology of the Celts, Romans and Teutons in Central and Western Europe: Festschrift for Alfred Haffner. (= International Archeology. Volume 4). Leidorf, Rahden / Westf. 1998, pp. 417-427.
- M. Polfer, F. Reinert: An early imperial fountain on the Titelberg. In: Hémecht. 38, 1986, pp. 585-618.
- RM Rowlett, HL Thomas, ES-J. Rowlett: Preliminary report on the excavations of Missouri University (USA) on the Titelberg. In: Hémecht. 26, 1974, pp. 377-380.
- RM Rowlett, HL Thomas, ES-J. Rowlett: Stratified Iron Age House Floors in the Titelberg, Luxembourg. In: Journal of Field Archeology. Volume 9, No. 3, 1982, pp. 301-312.
- G. Thill: Colloque au sujet du Titelberg (13 avril 1965). In: Hémecht. 18, 1966, pp. 175-176.
- G. Thill: Une coupe à travers le rempart du Titelberg. In: Hémecht. 18, 1966, pp. 176-180.
- G. Thill: excavations near Goeblingen-Nospelt. In: Hémecht. 18, 1966, pp. 483-491.
- G. Thill: Une verrerie gallo-romaine au Titelberg. In: Hémecht. 20, 1968, pp. 521-528.
- HL Thomas, RM Rowlett, ES-J. Rowlett: The Titelberg: A Hill Fort of Celtic and Roman Times. In: Archeology. Volume 28, No. 1, 1975, pp. 55-57.
- HL Thomas, RM Rowlett, ES-J. Rowlett: Excavations of the Titelberg. Luxembourg. In: Journal of Field Archeology. Volume 3, No. 3, 1976, pp. 241-259.
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Coordinates: 49 ° 32 ′ 21 ″ N , 5 ° 51 ′ 30 ″ E