The Roman vicus Belginum and the associated Celtic–Roman cemetery have been the subject of systematic archaeological research since 1954. Since 2004, archaeological prospections have been carried out in and around Belginum. Participants included students from the universities of Leipzig, Trier, and Munich as part of study-accompanying field work.
This paper deals with the prospections of 2004 and 2016, when nearly 2 ha of land south of the federal road B327
(Hunsrückhöhenstraße) were surveyed. The study area is located on a NW-to-SE-running hillside.
All non-local objects present on the surface were collected and
three-dimensionally recorded. Previously in 2013, the area was
geomagnetically prospected by Posselt & Zickgraf (Marburg). Both surveys
revealed a hitherto unknown extent of the vicus about 200
All finds (ceramic, bricks, roof slate, glass, and metal) were recorded and analysed in a QGIS and ArcGIS environment together with lidar scans, the geomagnetic data, and other geographical information. The overall distributions of bricks and pottery were studied in detail. The distribution of bricks is in particular connected to the individual plots, while the pottery is mainly concentrated in the backyards. Regarding surveys in other Roman vici, the brick distribution could be a helpful indicator to identify plots, when no geophysical information is available.
Der römische
Diese Veröffentlichung stellt die Ergebnisse der Prospektionen von 2004
und 2016 vor. Prospektiert wurden etwa 2
Sämtliche Funde (Keramik, Ziegel, Dachschiefer, Glas und Metall) wurden
in einer Lehrveranstaltung aufgenommen. Die Daten wurden in einer QGIS- und
ArcGIS-Umgebung zusammen mit Lidar-Scans, den geomagnetischen Daten und
anderen geographischen Informationen analysiert. Die Gesamtverteilungen der
Ziegel und Keramik wurden detailliert untersucht. Vor allem die Verteilung
der Ziegelfunde folgt den einzelnen, auf dem Magnetometerplot erkennbaren
Parzellen. Die Keramik ist dagegen überwiegend im Hinterhofbereich
konzentriert. Bei zukünftigen Prospektionen in anderen römischen
Wederath-Belginum (Gde. Morbach, Kr. Bernkastel-Wittlich; localization: Fig. 1,
insert) is one of the remarkable rural archaeological sites in
Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The archaeological ensemble consists of a
Celtic and Roman cemetery, the Roman vicus Belginum with at least three sanctuaries and an
early Roman military camp (Fig. 1). The ancient name of the vicus is known from a
Roman inscription (
The archaeological site Wederath-Belginum during the Iron Age (Eisenzeit)
and the Roman times (Römerzeit). Localization of archaeological
features, and the survey areas from 2004 to 2008 (1–4, yellow) and 2016 (5,
green). Archaeological features are as follows. Vicus: Roman vicus; Lager: Roman military
camp; Gräberfeld: Celtic and Roman cemetery; “StumpferTurm”:
medieval tower. Legend is as follows. Straße: road; Grabhügelgruppe: group
of tumuli; Wagengrab: wagon burial; Grab: burial; Siedlungsstelle:
Belginum was located at the intersection of the ancient west–east road, linking the capitals of the Roman provinces Gallia Belgica and Germania Superior, Trier-Augusta Treverorum and Mainz-Mogontiacum, and the north–south route connecting the rivers Moselle and Nahe (Haffner, 1989).
The site Wederath-Belginum has been the subject of systematic archaeological research since 1954 (overview in Haffner, 1989, and Cordie, 2007). The burial ground has been comprehensively published in six volumes so far (details and references in Cordie, 2007).
Excavations in the settlement area itself were carried out in 1969–1973 and
2000–2014. The excavations showed that strip houses were present at the
Belginum. They are typical for the Roman northwest provinces. The plots are about 10
Wederath-Belginum, archaeological survey 2004, 2016.
Wederath-Belginum, archaeological survey 2004, 2016.
Since 2004, prospections of various types have been carried out at the
Belginum site in the framework of course-related university training with the aim to
gain knowledge of the Iron Age settlement (Lukas et al., 2012), the Roman land use, and the extent
of the vicus. Students participating came from the universities of Leipzig (UL),
Trier (UT), and Munich (LMU). Within Belginum's surroundings (Fig. 1), several
Already in late autumn of 2004, an approximately 50
In advance of the construction work for the federal road B50neu, large areas
south of the federal road B327 (Hunsrückhöhenstraße) were geomagnetically prospected in 2013 by
the company Posselt & Zickgraf (Marburg) (see below Figs. 2–3).
Surprisingly, it turned out that the vicus extends about 200
In October 2016, a joint field exercise for 10–15 students of
(geo-)archaeology and geo-informatics organized by UT and LMU was carried
out in the vicinity of Belginum in an agricultural field of approximately 1
During the first couple of days, the students surveyed the field on a
1 m density grid. All non-local finds (pottery, bricks, glass, metal, etc.) were
deposited into plastic bags together with a unique identification code.
These were then three-dimensionally sited by means of a total station
(Leica) and a differential Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
(TopconPositioning Systems, Inc.). As collected fragments in 2016 were
abundant, the finds of the site's western part were sampled at
The aim of this prospection was to gather information about dating and material culture in this newly discovered western part of the settlement.
The archaeological finds were inventoried and classified into the general
material groups pottery, bricks, roof slate, glass, and metal during another
course at LMU. They were later recorded in an Excel spread sheet. In the
consecutive GIS exercise in 2017, these tables were integrated into an
ArcGIS geodatabase, which required reorganization of the standard
archaeological table structure into an appropriate geodata format. The
prospection areas of 2004 and 2016 partly overlap at the north-northeastern
region south of the federal road Hunsrückhöhenstraße B327 (see Fig. 1 No. 1 and 5). The 3-D
position data were projected to ETRS89/UTM32N and archaeological
attribute data were merged with the point data for further find density
analysis following Allen (2016), exemplary for pottery and bricks. In
concordance to the sampling, a regular fishnet of 5
The classification and inventory of the finds during a course in winter 2016/17 at LMU revealed a dating in a time span from the late first to the third centuries common era. This is consistent with the results of the 2004 prospection (see above). During another course in winter 2018/19 at LMU, handmade pottery of the late Latène or early Roman period (second half of the first century before common era) was discovered. This is the first indication for a late Latène (late pre-Roman) to early Roman settlement at Belginum itself.
The data collected in the above-mentioned bachelor theses (Over, 2018; Mägdefessel, 2018) were summarized in the overall mapping using ArcGIS (see Figs. 2–3).
The geomagnetic prospection from 2013 (Posselt & Zickgraf) revealed several cellars and some houses south of the B327 (see Figs. 2–3). The width of the houses is mostly equal to the plot widths. There is, however, sometimes a small distance between the houses, as the excavations in the last decades have shown (Cordie, 2007). Every house has a quadrangular or rectangular cellar in its front part. The width of the cellars is sometimes equal to the house or plot widths. In general, the cellars are smaller.
The number of fragments per search grid cell and the kernel density map of
the bricks (Figs. 2–3) show a clear relation to the single plots. The bricks
are distributed from the cellars to the probable house extents up to the
backyard area. This means a distance of 30 to 40
Focussing on the density or heat maps of bricks within the houses (see Fig. 2), we can see a strong concentration of bricks within the houses. This is probably due to the fact that after leaving the houses at some point the roof truss collapsed inwards (see Bentz, 2013, p. 78). As a result, the roof tiles fell into the interior of the house. This is a quite different mechanism compared to earthquakes, where walls generally collapse to the outside (Stiros, 1995, p. 729, Fig. 4).
From the excavations of the years 1969–1973 and 2000–2014 in the vicus Belginum, we know
that the place was not subject to a fire disaster, but had been abandoned.
The descriptions of the ruins of the vicus in the early 19th century show
that at that time some of the houses towered right up to the first floor
(Merten in Cordie, 2007). In the middle and second half of the 19th century,
stone and bricks were robbed for modern road and house construction and thus
completed the destruction of the vicus. Today, not a single upright wall is
present. However, part of the vicus must have already been demolished in late
antiquity. The new
The distribution of the ceramic sherds shows a different pattern (Fig. 3).
Here, the finds are concentrated in the rear part of some houses and in the
backyard area. The major concentration of pottery is present in the rear
part and in the backyard of three houses in the northern part of the survey
area (Fig. 3). From an archaeological perspective, this distribution makes
sense. When a Roman strip house is excavated, the major quantity of
(storing) vessels, glass, and other household items will be discovered in
the backyard. Here, the waste pits are usually localized. The waste pits
were partly destroyed due to agricultural work in the last 2 centuries,
and their contents came to light. The plowing activity might shift ceramics
and other finds downhill by about
This work has shown that curricular practical course prospections bring further insights into settlement archeology. This can be achieved with systematic field surveys, geophysical surveys, lidar scans, and aerial photographs obtained by plane, drone, or fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle.
The use of various archaeological and geophysical prospection methods and the following GIS analyses brought a significant gain in knowledge for the site Belginum regarding size and type of development – without excavation.
For the next years, there is an ongoing project regarding the spatial distribution of pre-Roman and Roman findings in the vicus Belginum. This will result in some theses at LMU and UT. Furthermore, due to illegal activities of non-authorized detectorists, find co-ordinates will not be published. They will be, however, stored in due course in the find archive of the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier.
RC and WRT organized the archaeological prospection, funding, and the identification of the findings. RR and WRT were responsible for on-site data catchment. JS and RR organized the GIS course and GIS analysis. JS, RR, SM, and PO analysed GIS data. WRT and RC interpreted GIS data. WRT and RR wrote the paper with contributions from all co-authors.
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
This article is part of the special issues “Geoarchaeology and past human–environment interactions”. It is not associated with a conference.
The work has been carried out using ESRI ArcGIS and QGIS. Special thanks go to the students eagerly collecting fragments despite sometimes harsh weather conditions. Lidar and topographic map raster data (Basis-DLM) have kindly been provided by Rhineland-Palatinate's surveying office Vermessungs- und Katasterverwaltung (topicality), 2014, 2015. The Archaeological Heritage of Rhineland-Palatinate at Trier (GDKE) kindly gave the necessary permissions. The group of students from Munich was gratefully supported by LMU and the local archaeological association (Förderverein Archäologiepark Belginum e.V.). For correcting the English in a previous version of the paper, we are grateful to Anneli O'Neill (LMU Munich). All remaining errors are, of course, our own.