Other Interest Page |
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General Description |
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This page contains other interests of mine. I am interest in settlements, practices and characterstics of the iron-age era in the Rhine-Moselle area, which are often referred to as Late Hallstatt, Early Latène period. I have attempted to provide "useful" information, which may help others, who share similar interests. Some of this information has been gathered from other web pages and I have made appropriate references whenever possible. However, if I have omitted important links and not considered relevant sources, please don't hesitate to email me at mpaulus@ucsd.edu
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| General Items of Interest | |||
| Reconstructed Tree-ring Graph (1500 - 0 BC) | Different Cultures during the Urnfield Era | ||
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| Mythical Places during the 1st Millennium BC | |||
| Goloring | |||
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| Grave mounds of the Hunsrück-Eifel-Culture | |||
| Tumuli of the Hunsrück-Eifel-Culture | Lösskopf - an Iron Age Burial Site | Bruder Tönnes Mound - A Hallstatt Nobleman Burial Site | Im Kehrbusch |
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| Brey Tumuli | |||
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| Fortified Structures during the 1st Millennium BC | |||
| Dommelberg - an Iron Age Fortification | Altburg | Bleidenberg | Druidenstein |
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| Schwedenschanze | Fortification Hochkessel | ||
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| Roman Influence between the 1st century BC and 4th century AD | |||
| Mercury Temple - a Roman and Celtic religious site | Schüllerhof | Roman Villa Mühlheim | Roman Villa Remstecken |
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| Tabula Peutingeriana | |||
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Late Iron Age - Celtic History of the Rhein-Mosel region. |
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Reconstructed Timeline from 1500 BC to 0. Data from archaeological tree rings have been graphed to show the approximate climates during these times. The original data Siberia data can be found here. The Scotland data can be found here. |
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Central Europe about 1200 BC. |
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Figure from a bronce flagon from the Glauberg grave. |
I
am particularly interested in the cultural and spiritual historical
period between 1500 - 0 BC of the
Rhein-Mosel
area. As indicated above, this period is generally considered to
be part of the
iron age
and comprises the
Urnfield,
Hallstatt, and
Latène
period. Unfortunately, there are not many written records of
this period from the Rhein-Mosel area with the exception of
Julius Caesar's
descriptions in "De
Bello Gallico" and
Tacitus' account
in "Germania". There are some fascinating cultural connections between Central European Cultures in the Rhein and Mosel region and Indian and Hindu Cultures, which are only beginning to be explored. For example, there is a rich emerging tradition of pre-Christian spiritual practices in this area, which appear to have some connection to the Brahman tradition of the Indian sages (see this for some Celtic spirituality or here for mythology). Although much of this connection is speculative in nature (for example see some interesting discussion here), I predict that there will be a renewed interest in the spiritual connections between central Europe and Asia that date back before the introduction of Christianity.
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This is a segment of the "Tabula Peutingeriana" from the Bibliotheca Augustana, which depicts the main roads of the roman empire. The Tabula is dated to approximately 400 AD but is thought to contain material from earlier Roman periods. |
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Iron Age - Celtic History: The Goloring |
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Digital Surface Model of the Goloring, original can be found here
Goloring from above, original can be found here. |
One of the most important cultural sites of the iron-age era and imbued with a range of spiritual and historical facts and myths is the Goloring. The Goloring derives its name from the Genovefa Legend but goes back to the time of the urnfield culture dating back to about 800-1200 BC. Unfortunately, most of what has been written about the Goloring is in German and, therefore, may not be accessible to the wider audience. The key reference is the book by Dr. Röder, published in 1948, which is currently out of print. However, Wingarden made the manuscript available on the internet in German. I have begun to translate it into English. The translation is admittedly rough (I will refine it in the near future) at this time, but I hope this will stimulate some interest in this fascinating topic. The Goloring by Josef Röder (the original German version) Pictures of the Goloring (Spring 2005)
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Tumuli of the Hunsrück-Eifel-Culture |
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A number of
settlements have been excavated along the Rhein and Mosel river and in
the mountain ranges of the Hunsrück and Eifel. During the late
Hallstatt and early Latene era, these settlements developed a remarkable
cultural influence throughout Central Europe, which is referred to as
the Hunsrück-Eifel-Culture. H.H.Wegner published a nice summary
here
(in German), I have translated this summary in English:
Wegner: The tumuli of the Hunsrück-Eifel-Culture
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Iron Age - Celtic History: Lösskopf Burial Site |
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Map of Lösskopf is a burial site |
The Lösskopf is a burial
site located at the edge of the extensions of the Hunsrück just
south of the city of Koblenz.
Pictures and a short description (Spring 2006)
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Bruder Tönnes Mound: Another Early Celtic Burial Site |
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Unfortunately, not much
is available online about the Bruder Tönnes Mound. The name
"Tönnes" probably is a modern translation of Tumulus (see short
description by J Röder below).
Pictures and a short description (Spring 2006)
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Celtic-Roman Spiritual Artifacts in the Rhein Hunsrück Region |
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Reconstruction of a Wicca Temple.. |
Another fascinating relic of the Celtic-roman time period is the Mercury temple just south of Koblenz. This temple is an example of a Celtic-Roman blend of Pagan spiritual practice. Unfortunately, very little history is available online. |
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Late Iron Age - Celtic History: Dommelberg |
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Remaining wall fortifications. |
The Dommelberg is a
settlement located at the edge of the extensions of the Hunsrück just
south of the city of Koblenz.
Pictures and a short description of the Dommelberg settlement are here (Fall 2005). |
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Aerial view composite of fortified area. |
The Schwedenschanze bei
Koblenz is - in many ways - the Mosel analog settlement of the
Dommelberg and is located just south of the city of Koblenz. For a more detailed description see here. |
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This is an excellent
example of a Roman farm during the 1st - 3rd century AD. The farm was
located close to the main connection between Koblenz and Mainz, one of
the major North-South traffic arteries. For a more detailed description see here. |
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A late Latene period
settlement along the Mosel river, which is surrounded by a Celtic wall. For a more detailed description see here. |
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Recently, several
excavations have been carried out on Bleidenberg aimed to recover the
Celtic Post-wall constructions. For a more detailed description see here. |
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The grave mounds "Im
Kehrbusch" are part of the Archaeological Hiking Path adjacent to
Bruttig-Frankel,
a small community along the Moselle river. These mounds are
exquisite examples of burial traditions during the
Hunsrück Eifel culture in the 5th to
3rd century B.C.
For a more detailed description see here. |
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This is a reconstructed Celtic village from the period of 350 - approximately 45 BC, i.e. during the Latène period up to the occupation of the Roman forces by Caesar. The collection of building signifies the different building styles, using post-based buildings to move the main building area above ground, for more details, see here. | ||
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This is an example of a Villa Rustica, which was maintained from the 1st to the 4th century AD. For more details, see here. | ||
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This is another example of a Villa Rustica in the vicinity of Koblenz, which produced dehydrated goods during the 2nd and 3rd century AD and was eventually abandoned during the 4th century AD. For more details, see here. | ||
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This is a group of grave mounds of the Hunsrück Eifel Culture. Most of these date back to the 4-5th century BC. For more details, see here. | ||
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This is an example of an elevated fortified area, which was maintained during the HEK era and was probably used to generate iron bars for the trade that intensified during the 4-5th century BC between the central Euroean Celtic areas and the Mediterranean. For more information see here. | ||
Personal Reads |
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| Translated
Excerpt from
"Deutschland und die Moselaner. Heitere Betrachtung
mit hintergründigem Ernst"
von Alfons Krisam
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High School Reunion 6/2005 |
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| These were pictures, which had been sent to me by ex-class mates from the Gymnasium of the Karthause in Germany. | |