Ancient Roman battlefield excavated in Lower Saxony[Germany]

The :Local ^ | 11 Dec 2008 | Kerstin von Glowacki

[BGHater]

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient roman battlefield from the third century near Göttingen that will rewrite history, Lower Saxony's department for preservation of historical monuments said on Thursday.

“The find can be dated to the third century and will definitely change the historical perception of that time,” Dr. Henning Haßmann told The Local.

The amazing discovery allows an insight in what must have been a dramatic battle between Romans and Germanic tribes. “The find indicates a massive Roman military presence,” Haßmann said.

So far historians believed that the battle of the Teutoburg Forest, which took place in 9 AD, resulted in the Roman’s Empire withdrawal from Germania without any further attempt to conquer the land beyond the Rhine River again. But the unearthing of the battleground near the village of Kalefeld proves that Rome didn't give up its expansionary ambitions until much later than previously assumed.

“It is pretty normal to find evidence of Roman culture all over even up in Scotland, but a find like this in northern Germany is really amazing,” Haßmann said. “And it's spectacularly well preserved.”

The dig has already brought some 600 artefacts to light during the last three months, most of them ancient weapons.

The exact location has been kept a secret so far, to keep private collectors at bay, Haßmann said. But it will be revealed on Monday by Lower Saxony's minister for science and culture, Lutz Stratmann, as well as the archaeologists that were involved in the excavation.

[wolf78]

But if Rome had taken ALL of Germany instead of just the western edges and southern part, there might never have been a Hitler, WW2 and commies in Russia.

Neither would there have been the United States. If the Roman empire had defeated the Germanic tribes like the Angles, Saxons and Jutes around the year 0, Great Britain wouldn't have been colonzied by said Germanic tribes 400 years later. The British isles would have remained Celtic and North America would probably today be half French, half Hispanic.

You have to keep in mind that - except for the language - northern Germans (like Lower Saxons and Frisians) and the English are one people. A Londoner and a Hamburger (the city, not the sandwich) share far more genetic heritage than e.g. a Hamburger and a Stuttgarter.

The US had immigrant waves from Ireland (Celtic) and Italy (Romanic), but the bulk of its white population is of Germanic descent (either directly through German ancestors or via the English colonizers).

[BGHater]

Updating with some pics.

[Liberty Valance]

Amazing! Thanks for posting.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks neverdem for this additional image:

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2008/1215/2
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/content/vol2008/issue1215/images/2008121521.jpg

[MNJohnnie]

Mass migrations of people away from violent groups in their homeland caused barbarian incursions into Roman lands eventually causing Rome’s downfall.

Where in the modern world are we seeing a similar phenomenon?

How odd that seems to be the same thing happening out of the Middle East into Europe away from the Jihadists and out of Central American into the USA away from the Drug cartels.

[SunkenCiv]

Roman Germany keyword topics, from the FRchives:

• The Romans in Ireland
• Buddha statue from 6th c found in Viking hoard in Helgo, Sweden
• Gibbon on global warming [Limes in #8]
• Graves Hint At Contact With Romans (Sweden)
• Crystal Amulet Poses Question On Early Christianity (Denmark - 100AD)
• Report: Ancient Roman graveyard found in suburban Copenhagen
• Ancient Roman battlefield excavated in Lower Saxony [Germany]
• Gold-plated Roman horse head found (near Frankfurt) [Limes in #6]
• 2,000-year-old statue of Emperor Augustus on horseback found in stream
• Near Army construction site in Germany, a trove of ancient Roman artifacts
• New finds suggest Romans won big North Germany battle [ Maximinus Thrax ]
• Students find rare Roman temple on practice dig [Poppelsdorf, Germany]
• German battlefield yields Roman surprises
• New Iron Age Sites Discovered in Finland [Roman era]
• Ancient Roman Military Camp Unearthed in Eastern Germany
• Hitting the jackpot on a dig in Gernsheim: Long lost Roman fort discovered
• Archaeologists discover 'Roman Village' in Gernsheim