project team

Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kunow
Amtsleiter, LVR-Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege im Rheinland
Endenicher Str. 133
53115 Bonn
E-Mail: juergen.kunow(at)lvr.de
Tel.: 0228/9834-163

Dr. Manuela Mirschenz
Projektbüro
LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn
Bachstraße 5-9
53115 Bonn
E-Mail: hafenprojektnoSpam@lvr.de

Prof. Dr. Renate Gerlach
LVR-Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege im Rheinland
Endenicher Str. 133
53115 Bonn
E-Mail: r.gerlach(at)lvr.de
Tel.: 0228/9834-127

Steve Bödecker M.A.
LVR-Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege im Rheinland
Endenicher Str. 133
53115 Bonn
E-Mail: Steve.Boedecker(at)lvr.de
Tel.: 0228/9834-184

Thomas Roggenkamp
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität
Geographisches Institut
Meckenheimer Allee 166
53115 Bonn
E-Mail: troggen(at)uni-bonn.de
Tel.: 0228/73-7508

Dipl.-Geophys. Jobst Wippern
LVR-Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege im Rheinland
Endenicher Str. 133
53115 Bonn
E-Mail: jobst.wippern(at)lvr.de
Tel.: 0228/9834-133

Project description:

The Rhine and other rivers like Erft and Rur were the most important transport routes in the Roman province of Germania Inferior. The need for raw material for construction of military and civil buildings was enormous and shipped mainly on the water routes. Therefore, in the Roman period numerous harbours and landings were built, making it difficult to distinguish between civil or military functions. The military was called on for civil building projects and an inscription documents a stone transport from Mt. Drachenfels by the Lower German Fleet to build the forum in Colonia Ulpia Traiana (Xanten).
Today, since a number of Roman sites lie away from the modern river bed, an opportunity exists to investigate the zone between the antique riverside settlements and the former river courses.

Between the Roman fort of Moers-Asberg/Asciburgium and the former banks of the Rhine, a landing was detected in 1974 (Bechert 1989; Bridger 2009) and in 1993 a bank reinforcement, dendro-dated to 60–90 A.D. The Rhine of today flows about three kilometres east from the antique shore line, so we can investigate the sedimentation process and expect well preserved organic material.

The Roman fort of Kalkar-Altkalkar/Burginatium is one of the best-preserved forts on the Rhine. In 1980 during construction workers found many organic materials that reveal settlement strata. The old bank of the Rhine is still visible today and it may be possible to discern the ancient harbour.

The lime kilns from Iversheim on the upper reaches of the river Erft supplied a large quantity of burnt lime to Roman construction sites on the Rhine (Sölter 1970). New investigations of this site, especially with geophysical prospections and geoarchaeological methods, should provide new insights into the layout and structure of the docks, in the Erft courses during Roman times, and into the navigability of small rivers. It is our aim to retrace the stream water landscape and the network of waterways during the Roman Period.

Literature

T. Bechert, Hafen- und Uferbereich. In: Stadtarchiv Duisburg in Verbindung mit der Mercator-Gesellschaft (Hrsg.), Die Römer in Asciburgium. Duisburger Forsch. 36 (Duisburg 1989) 155–159.

C. Bridger, Eine römische Anlegestelle bei Asciburgium. Arch. Rheinland 2008 (Stuttgart 2009) 53–54.

M. Eckholdt, Schiffahrt auf kleinen Flüssen Mitteleuropas in der Römerzeit und Mittelalter. Schr. Dt. Schiffahrtsmus. 14 (Oldenburg/Hamburg/München 1980).

M. Eckholdt, Die Schiffbarkeit kleiner Flüsse in alter Zeit. Notwendigkeit, Voraussetzungen und Entwicklung einer Rechenmethode. Arch. Korrbl. 16, 1986, 203–206.

W. Sölter, Römische Kalkbrenner im Rheinland. In: Landschaftsverband Rheinland (Hrsg.), Kunst und Kultur am Rhein. Führer Rheinisches Landesmus. Bonn 31 (Düsseldorf 1970).