{"id":403,"date":"2015-09-28T05:53:32","date_gmt":"2015-09-28T05:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archaeology.sa\/en\/?p=403"},"modified":"2015-09-28T05:53:32","modified_gmt":"2015-09-28T05:53:32","slug":"roman-settlement-uncovered-in-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/?p=403","title":{"rendered":"Roman Settlement Uncovered in Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Aerial<\/a>
Aerial image of the foundation of a Roman stone building in Gernsheim. Image credit: Dennis Braks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A team of archaeologists has unearthed the remains of a Roman settlement at the site of a 1,900-year-old fort in Gernsheim, Germany.
\nAccording to the archaeologists, a Roman cohort of around 500 soldiers was stationed at the fort between 70 and 120 CE.<\/p>\n

A brick fragment found at the site identifies the soldiers as members of Legio XXII Primigenia (22nd Legion), a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded by the emperor Caligula in 39 CE for his campaigns in Germania along with its twin Legio XV Primigenia.<\/p>\n

The newly-discovered settlement was occupied from about 120 to 260 CE.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe now know that from the 1st to the 3rd century CE an important village-like settlement or \u2018vicus\u2019 must have existed here, comparable to similar villages already proven to have existed in Gross-Gerau, Dieburg or Ladenburg,\u201d said team leader Dr Thomas Maurer of Goethe University, Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who settled in the village around the fort were primarily family members of the soldiers and tradespeople who benefited from the purchasing power of the military.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201ca temporary downturn probably resulted when the troops left \u2013 this is something we know from sites which have been studied more thoroughly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The population probably had mainly Gallic-Germanic origins, with perhaps a few \u2018true\u2019 Romans.<\/p>\n

\"Upper<\/a>
Upper image: gaming piece and dice made out of bone; the principle of the dice corresponds exactly to that one of modern dice. Lower image: a fragment of pottery dating to around 100 CE. Image credit: Thomas Maurer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis is illustrated by specific finds, most notably pieces of traditional dress but also coins,\u201d the archaeologists said.<\/p>\n

They unearthed the well-preserved foundation of a stone building, fire pits, at least two wells and some cellar pits.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve also found real treasures such as rare garment clasps, several pearls, parts of a board game (dice, playing pieces) and a hairpin made from bone and crowned with a female bust,\u201d Dr Maurer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the historic finds from Gernsheim is a coin from Bithynia, which was certainly not among the coins in circulation in Germania Superior but would instead have been a form of souvenir.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A team of archaeologists has unearthed the remains of a Roman settlement at the site of a 1,900-year-old fort in Gernsheim, Germany. According to the archaeologists, a Roman cohort of around 500 soldiers was stationed at the fort between 70 and 120 CE.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":406,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions\/406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.archaeology.sa\/en\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}