TheLautertal Limes (in German also:Sibyllenspur orSybillenspur) is aRomanlimes section of the early 2nd century which is located between the RiverNeckar and theSwabian Jura. It extends for a distance of 23 kilometres (14 mi), running, straight as a die, from the present-day municipality ofKöngen on the Neckar (Lat:Grinario) in the northwest toDonnstetten (Lat:Clarenna) in the Swabian Jura to the southeast.[citation needed]
The 600-metre longcrop mark in the form of a long strip, known in German as theSibyllenspur, in theLauter valley between Dettingen and Owen under Teck has been known about for a long time.[1] It was interpreted differently in the past, and there is even alegend according to which it was the track of a cart belonging to a sibyl. Soil scientists and geologists thought the strip of land might be a geological discontinuity or an oldprocessional way or a road. The first investigations were carried out in 1976 by soil scientist and geologist, Siegfried Müller, in collaboration with theSchwäbischer Albverein. The results of this study revealed anarchaeological site consisting of a straight ditch system, which was classified as Roman as the result of the discover ofsherds. The Kirchheim local historian, Eugen Schweitzer, brought to the table the thesis that theSibyllenspur was alimes and thus part of the great European network of Romancenturiation.[2]
In the dry summer of July 1976,aerial archaeology by Walter Sölter discovered thefortlet on the hill ofHasenhäuslesberg near Donnstetten. This find reinforced the theory of a Romanlimes between Köngen and Donnstetten. This was finally confirmed that same year by the thenarchaeological monument conservationist of the administrative region of Stuttgart, Dieter Planck, who also evaluated the 1976 aerial photographs by Alfred Brugger. However, the thesis of the centuriation network was not able to be proven archaeologically. In 1978 theSibyllenspur was first named by Eugen Schweitzer as theLimes in the Lautertal, connecting theNeckar Limes from the Roman fort of Köngen to theAlb Limes at Donnstetten Roman Fort.[3] Subsequent studies showed that the "Lautertal Limes" consisted of apalisade and three parallelditches. Unlike theUpper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, which was protected by two ditches, the ditches here run on the outside of the palisade.
Aerial photographs by Alfred Brugger uncovered another Roman fort behind thelimes atDettingen unter Teck. Subsequent archaeological finds by theLandesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg in 1982 showed that thearchaeological find was a Roman military camp intended for the direct protection of the Lautertal Limes.
An excavation by theLandesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg in 1982 uncovered the following: theSibyllenspur comprises three parallel ditches, the outer one in the northeast being a 3.20-metre-wide and 1.60-metre-deep V-shaped ditch. To the southwest, at a distance of 6 metres, is a 2.60-metre-wide and 1.4-metre-deep V-shaped ditch (2) and, behind it, 1.5 metres away, is a 70-cm-wide and 1.10-metre-deep U-shaped ditch (3), into which the wooden posts of apalisade were driven. This presented a wooden obstacle on the enemy side; against which on the inside was probably an earthen bank (vallum). The excavation confirmed the presence of theRoman fortlet, seen on the aerial photograph taken by Dieter Planck, behind the ditches.
During these excavations, two fragments ofterra sigillata vessels were found in the ditch. Thesigillata were able to be dated to around 120 to 130 AD, based on the manufacturer's seal by the potter,Satto, who worked at theterra sigillata pottery inChémery-lès-Faulquemont (historically German:Schemmerich) nearFaulquemont (German:Falkenberg) inGallia Belgica. These artefacts classify theSibyllenspur with its V-shaped ditches and the wood and earth rampart as the long-sought connection between theDomitian Neckar Limes and the Alb Limes.[4]
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