Shards of wine amphorae, pig bones and the traces of a well: finds from around 2000 years ago suggest that a Roman sentry post stood in today’s Paderborn during the East Rhine occupation period. Until now, such a military presence was not known at this place in former Germania, the archaeologists say.
As is so often the case in the current case, planned construction work was at the beginning of the discovery history: Since archaeological monuments were suspected to be in the area of the Johannisstift in the center of Paderborn, archaeological exploration was necessary before construction could begin. The team actually found what they were looking for: they first uncovered the foundations of a Prussian military hospital and then came across early medieval traces from the 7th and 8th centuries. “But the special surprise awaited us on the last day of the excavations,” reports excavation manager Robert üße from the archaeological specialist company EggensteinExca GmbH, which carried out the work.
“In an inconspicuous pit at a depth of about 1.60 meters, we were able to recover a trough-shaped accumulation of charcoal and ash on which the skeletal remains of a boar were placed,” reports Suess. The northern edge of this pit was lined with charred wooden poles at random intervals, the team found. “We interpret them as the remains of a wooden installation that was supposed to stabilize the pit wall. This type of stabilization is known to us from simple scoop wells,” explains üße.
Ancient surprise finds
The highlight was the discovery of large shards in the pit, which seemed to come from four Roman amphorae. “Such transport containers have not yet been found in Paderborn. That’s why we didn’t know how to date the ceramic finds exactly,” says üße. The team therefore turned to Bettina Tremmel from the Westphalia-Lippe regional association. She is an expert on Romans in Westphalia and is primarily dedicated to researching the former Roman military sites along the Lippe River. They served to secure the region until the Romans finally withdrew behind the Rhine again in the course of the first century.
After examining the shards, Tremmel came to the conclusion that they are fragments of Roman wine amphorae from around 2000 years ago. “Comparative finds, as we know them from the Roman camps in Haltern am See or in Bergkamen-Oberaden, show that the finds in Paderborn are fragments of special transport vessels. In them, first-class Falernian wine was imported from central Italy and from the Aegean,” says the expert.
Probably a watchtower
But how did the amphorae get to today’s Paderborn and who drank the wine? Roman finds were already discovered in the area of the city. But since they are much younger, they are interpreted as trade or booty in a Germanic context. So far, however, there have been no indications of a Roman military presence in Paderborn during the East Rhine occupation period. But the current finds now suggest this: “The presumed well and the remains of the amphora speak for a use by Roman legionnaires – possibly a sentry,” says Tremmel.
The characteristics of the site also make this seem plausible: it lies on a hilltop that is still four meters high today and was bordered on the north and east by the Pader and its springs and on the west by the Rimbeke. “However, the area of the hill was not sufficient for the establishment of a Roman camp. It is possible that there was only a Roman watchtower here, which could also have served as a small supply depot,” speculates Tremmel.
The archaeological team will now continue to evaluate the excavation results. Perhaps they will be able to shed more light on the importance of the Paderborn area during the Roman occupation, writes the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe.