Archaeology
Cult temples found at Haltern Roman Camp
Archaeologists from the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe (LWL) have uncovered the foundations of two small temples at the Haltern Roman Camp, located in the town of Haltern am See in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
During the Roman period the site was a major military fortress and civilian colony, which according to historians was likely built by the Emperor Augustus who named it Aliso. This was confirmed in 2010 by excavations conducted by the Archaeological Commission of Westphalia, who determined that the site corresponds to the one described in ancient literature as Aliso.
Recent excavations by LWL have found the foundations of two cult temples, one of which was constructed of wood with a rectangular plan measuring 30 square metres and accessed via a 5 metre wide entrance way marked by two wooden columns on either side.
Both temples are located in a 2,000 square metre complex previously examined in 1928, which Westphalian chief archaeologist Prof. Dr. August Stieren, initially identified as meeting house for military personnel. In later years the complex was converted to hold a military workshop, evidenced by numerous tools found in situ.
“The two rectangular cult temples consisted only of clay frameworks,” says LWL Roman expert Dr. Bettina Tremmel. “But they were based on the typical large podium temples made of stone that could be found in numerous Roman cities at the time of Emperor Augustus.”
According to the researchers, the discovery is unique as there have been no other examples of cult buildings previously unearthed in Roman military installations.
Adjacent to the cult temples is a circular ditch which has been preserved as a discoloration in the oil. The depth and the Roman finds it contains are comparable to the Roman burial ground in Haltern, however, the practice of burials within such settlements was forbidden under Roman law.
Header Image Credit : LWL/C. Hentzelt
Archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences have been excavating a burial ground associated with the Finnic Muromians.
The Finnic Muromians were groups of settlers that lived within the vicinity of the Volga and Oka rivers. They spoke Muromian, an Uralic language that became extinct following their assimilation by the Slavs.
The burial ground, which dates from the early 10th century AD, was discovered on the eastern bank of the Oka river, located in the Nizhny Novgorod Region of Russia.
A total of seventeen burial pits have been identified, nine of which have been severely damaged through looting.
The surviving 8 burials contain the remains of four children, two women, and two men.
The men were accompanied with an ornate collection of grave goods, including arrowheads, knives, bronze bracelets, iron plates, a bronze buckle, and a whetstone.
At the bottom of one of the pits is a heavily corroded axe, along with a flint that has traces of iron-coated embossed leather and textile threads.
The burials containing women were also accompanied with high status funerary goods, such as a necklace of red-brown prismatic and dark blue berry-shaped beads of Byzantine origin, signet ring-shaped pendants, plate bracelets, a bronze spiral, and a silver ring.
Traces of wood within the pit fillings suggest that they originally contained a wooden structure, similar to a log house made of thin beams and covered with birch bark.
According to the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences: “The culmination of the discoveries at the site were two clay vessels, testifying to direct and close contacts between the right-bank Muromians and the Old Russian population.”
Header Image Credit : Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Sources : Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeologists from the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt are currently excavating the site of a former gallows in Quedlinburg, Germany.
Gallows are usually wooden structures made of two vertical posts, a horizontal crossbeam, and a hanging noose. They have been used for executing criminals by hanging, a prevalent form of capital punishment in Europe since the Middle Ages.
Archaeologists are currently excavating a gallows site on Galgenberg, or ‘Gallows Hill,’ which was used for public executions by the courts in Quedlinburg from 1662 to 1809.
Excavations have revealed complete and partial burials in the area, along with bone pits containing multiple bundled burials, likely the result of mass executions carried out in a short period.
Image Credit : LDA
According to the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt, “these discoveries provide unique insights into penal practices from the Middle Ages and early modern times.”
A burial unrelated to the gallows has also been unearthed, featuring a wooden coffin containing the skeletal remains of an individual buried with a rosary chain.
Archaeologists propose that the burial’s characteristics suggest that the individual was likely a suicide victim, denied burial in consecrated ground so was placed in the cemetery near the gallows.
Also discovered is a so-called ‘revenant grave’, where the skeletal remains of a man was found placed on his back with several large stones placed across his chest.
According to the researchers, the stones were likely placed to prevent the individual from rising as a revenant, which are described as animated corpses in the verbal traditions and lore of many European ethnic groups.
In medieval times, those inflicted with the revenant condition were generally suicide victims, witches, corpses possessed by a malevolent spirit, or the victim of a vampiric attack.
Header Image Credit : LDA
Sources : State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
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