Surprise find in an ancient border area: Archaeologists have come across the remains of a Roman temple complex in the area of the former Limes in the east of the Netherlands. According to the finds, soldiers in particular worshiped various deities there from the 1st to the 4th century. The discovery is exceptional for the Netherlands, but also internationally, the experts say.
The focus is on the small town of Herwen-Hemeling in the Dutch province of Gelderland, near the German border. The history of discovery began there with finds that amateur archaeologists from the “Vereniging van Vrijwillers in de Archeologie” came across in a clay mining area. This called experts on the scene, who carried out the first soundings and unearthed other interesting finds. This led to even more extensive excavations, the results of which are now reported by the Dutch Agency for Cultural Heritage.
A temple complex for soldiers is emerging
On the site, the team found numerous testimonies from Roman times dating from the 1st to the 4th century. In addition to coins, weapons and everyday objects, these are mainly the remains of buildings and parts of statues of gods, reliefs and painted stucco. As the archaeologists report, it gradually became apparent that the finds came from a sanctuary: Apparently the Romans had erected two buildings used for cult purposes on a natural elevation at the fork of the Rhine and Waal, and possibly others as well.
The structures of a so-called Gallo-Roman ambulatory temple stand out particularly clearly, with enclosing walls measuring around 22 by 22 meters. According to archaeological evidence, the building, decorated with columns, had a tiled roof and its walls were colored. A few meters away there was another small temple, also with richly painted walls, the archaeologists report. They also found the remains of a large stone well, which may also have had a function within the sacred site: a stone stairway led down into the water. Cavities in the underground, which the team found underground all around the building, also bear witness to the cultic significance of the complex. Large sacrificial fires apparently burned occasionally.
Holy stones for different deities
According to the experts, the facility was mainly used by soldiers protecting the area on the north-western border of the Roman Empire with Germania. Evidence of this is the remains of a few dozen votive stones – small altars erected by high-ranking soldiers. The stones are dedicated to Hercules Magusanus, Jupiter-Serapis and Mercury, among others. The donors thanked their favored deities for the fulfillment of a wish, according to the inscriptions.
As the Dutch Heritage Agency points out, the discovery is not only significant for the region, but also exceptional internationally. Traces of other Roman temples have already been discovered in the Netherlands, but this is the first complex that stood directly on the former border of the Roman Empire – the Limes in the Netherlands. In addition, such extensive temple remains have never been discovered and the experts also emphasize the astonishingly long useful life of the complex.
The finds are now to be made accessible to the public: some particularly interesting finds can already be seen in the museum “Het Valkhof” in Nijmegen, writes the Dutch Agency for Cultural Heritage.