Kalkriese

Kalkriese is a hill with an altitude of 157 m (515 ft) situated near Bramsche in the district of Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is considered by archaeologists to be the likely site of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, taking the Romans' saltus Teutoburgiensis (Teutoburg Pass) to be a reference to the strip of cultivated land with a width of 220 m (720 ft) which lies between Kalkriese and a large area of wetland to its north. The passage along the northern slope of Kalkriese is a difficult one because of the need to cross many deep brooks and rivulets.[1]

Suspected site of the final Battle of the Teutoburg Forest

Since the start of official explorations in 1988 more than 5,500 Roman objects, mainly pieces of military equipment, have been found in an area covering 17 km2 (6.6 sq mi):[2] Roman swords and daggers, parts of javelins and spears, arrowheads, sling stones, fragments of helmets, soldiers' boot nails, belts, chainmail hooks, and fragments of armor.[1] Among the most significant items is the earliest known Imperial face-mask.[2] Other items include locks, keys, razors, a scale, weights, chisels, hammers, pickaxes, buckets, finger rings, surgical instruments, seal boxes, a stylus, cauldrons, casseroles, spoons, and amphorae. Jewelry, hairpins, and a disk brooch suggest the presence of women.[1] One of the inscribed objects is a plumb bob with "CHOI", or "C(o)HO(rtis) I", i.e. "property of the first cohort". The other one is a chainmail fasener with the inscription: "M AIUS (cohortis) I (centuriae) FABRICI(i) M AII (cohortis) I (centuriae) FAB(ricii)" ("Marcus Aius of cohort I, centuria of fabricii; property of Marcus Aius of cohort I, centuria of fabricii").[3] A coin struck to commemorate Augustus's adoption of his grandsons Lucius and Gaius in 2 BC has also been found at Kalkriese.[3]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Kalkriese". Archived from the original on 2007-02-19. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Christian Ziehe. "Clades Variana". Archived from the original on 2007-07-04. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "The battle in the Teutoburg Forest". Retrieved 2007-07-20.

External links

Coordinates: 52°24′29″N 8°07′44″E / 52.408°N 8.129°E

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