For those interested, a post on my more historical blog about Roman-German confrontations post-AD 9. From around 300 Roman weapons are to be found in Norway (says Sigrid Undset in Saga of Saints), so I'm a little surprised at the surprise that a century earlier there was now and then something of a Roman military presence in Germany beyond the imperial frontiers.
(Update here)
Saturday, December 13, 2008
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Hmmm... difficult to comment as the information is so limited. My first reaction is that whenever archaeologists have looked at other battlefields the one thing they virtually never find is weapons, as they tend to be looted/recycled (apart from things like arrowheads which are tricky to find). There may well be other alterantive explanations, such as large-scale ritual deposition (yes, I know 'ritual' is the last refuge of the archaeologist). An interesting parallel (though much earlier) isthe deposit in the bog at Hjortspring on Als in Denmark (http://home6.inet.tele.dk/hjortspr/history.htm)
I'm assuming that German archaeologists know what a ritually deposited weapon hoard looks like, and therefore assume that this isn't one (are things like there being traces of DNA on the spearheads significant, I wonder? As suggesting these weapons haven't been cleaned since last used?) The article in the Spiegel is far more circumspect, and the biggest claims about rewriting history are being made by the Lower Saxon Minister for Science, rather than any of the archaeologists involved.
I wouldn't want to appear to be cynical about such an elevated profession as archaeology, but could the six-figure research sum have anything to do with big public claims about rewriting history?
Since Roman weapons have been found as far as Norway, I'm curious how they can tell (if this is a battle site) that the people wielding the Roman weapons were Roman soldiers. But what really surprises me is still the assumption that imperial armies are necessarily armies of conquest (and therefore there shouldn't have been any Roman armies in Germania after AD9 - even though even I know that there were). It's not as though the global powers of the last 200 years only ever sent armies to places they wanted to rule.
I shall remain quiet on the ability of German archaeologist to recognise ritual deposition... However, I absolutely agree the chain of arguement is weak. Roman weapons don't equaly Roman soldiers; there is generally lots of Roman stuff swilling around beyond the limes. Political gift giving, trade, and the fact that many 'Free' Germans probably spent some time fighting with the Romans and then headed back beyond the Rhine on retirement means that Roman weaponry was probably not uncommon. Add in the fact that locals may have copied Roman weaponry styles makes it even more confusing. Equally, I am sure that a Roman armed presence need not equate to a Roman military presence. I am sure like most border regions there was plenty of unauthorised 'police actions', razzias and general scallywaggery going on throughout the period.
And yes, I am sure the presence of a large research grant may have something to do with it....
Anyway, they're giving a press conference later today, so we'll know more then.
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