Mysterious 1,600-year-old settlement emerges from soil with rare Roman military finds
The Schafbreite site, located within the western German town of Delbrück, has been settled since the first century A.D. The site was recently excavated by the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe (LWL).
In a June 13 statement, the LWL announced the results of its excavation, revealing a trove of discoveries that mostly date back to the fourth and fifth centuries A.D.
Officials identified hundreds of ancient features at the site, including numerous holes in the ground that were likely from ancient wooden posts.
After months of careful digging, archaeologists also found two "clearly identifiable" buildings, along with two pit houses, two wells and a cremation grave — along with several hundred artifacts.
"Seven hundred and fifty individual finds were recovered from the ancient cultural layer preserved under a thick ash soil, 600 of which were metal," said the LWL's statement, translated from German to English.
Archaeologists also explained that the site "must have been settled at different times, making it a multi-period settlement site."
"The finds from various periods also show the inhabitants had access to Roman material culture."
"The finds from various periods also show that the inhabitants had access to Roman material culture," the press release said.
The statement added, "The new excavations have expanded the picture of this site, as a burial has now been confirmed: The isolated cremation grave contained remains from the pyre, such as charcoal, cremated remains and parts of burned grave goods."
In the burial section, archaeologists found that one decedent was buried with a spearhead, two garment clasps and a broken bone comb, in addition to "a fire steel, and an animal head buckle with fittings."
"Experts date this buckle to the 4th or 5th century based on its shape. It further confirms the settlers' contact with the Roman cultural sphere, as it belonged to the Roman military belt," officials said in a statement.
Historians were unable to identify the mysterious burial. The LWL speculated that the deceased person may have been a Germanic mercenary in the Roman military.
"[It's] a special find, as it is the first burial in East Westphalia where parts of a Roman military belt have been detected, previously only known from surface finds in other regions," officials said.
Other discoveries at the site included a cattle trough, a construction pit with ceramics and a three-foot-wide well that was made from tree trunks.
"The organic preservation was so good that we recovered not only wood but also a leather fragment and even an insect wing," excavation manager Sven Knippschild noted.
He added, "Completely extraordinary and unique for the Migration Period in Westphalia was the discovery of a beam piece with various tool marks on the last day of excavation."
"[It] was certainly once part of a house and was later recycled for the well construction."
Sven Spiong, a lead archaeologist at LWL, said the site offers a glimpse into what life was like during the Migration Period.
The era, also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a time of significant upheaval and change in Europe, lasting from roughly 300 to 600 A.D.
"Sites like these help us better understand how the people of the region lived and worked during the arrival of the Romans and in the following centuries."
"Sites like these help us better understand how the people of the region lived and worked during the arrival of the Romans and in the following centuries, what interregional contacts and connections they had, and how the settlement structure changed during the Migration Period," Spiong said.
Even though the excavation has wrapped up, the recent discoveries are just the beginning of researchers' study of the archaeological site.
Experts plan to analyze the wood and charcoal found at the site to help date the site more precisely.
Archaeologists will also look at some soil from the well to learn more about what the area around Bentfeld was like over 1,600 years ago.
"This [study] may reveal changes in vegetation, landscape, and settlement between the time around the birth of Christ and around 400 A.D.," LWL archaeologist Julia Hallenkamp-Lumpe noted.
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