When you move to a new place if often seems as if it takes a while to become comfortable with your surroundings, and it can often feel as if everyone else "belongs" and you are an outsider. In truth, we are all immigrants and the descendants of immigrants, joining wave after wave of those who made the journey before us. That is certainly the case here in the Odenwald.
Homo Heidelbergensis
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| Homo Heidelbergensis reconstructed by John Gurche |
One of the earliest pieces of evidence of humanoid presence in our area comes from the discovery of a single jaw bone of a prehuman whom scientist call Homo heidelbergensis, discovered in 1907 near Heidelberg, in the southern Odenwald. Since that time, more fossils of Homo heidelbergensis have been found in Europe, Asia and Africa. The species, which is believed to have migrated from Africa between 400,000 and 300,000 years ago, is the ancestor of the Neanderthals, Denisovans and modern humans.
Homo heidelbergensis was the first humanoid to live in colder climates and their stocky, wide bodies were probably an adaptation to help them survive in areas where they needed to conserve warmth. The species was a real groundbreaker in the evolution towards modern humans. They would also have been one of the first to control fire, use wooden spears, construct simple dwellings and hunt large animals.
Homo heidelbergensis was not much smaller than the average human today. Males averaged about 175 cm (5' 9") tall and weighed an average of 62 kilos (136 lbs.). Females were around 157 cm (5' 2") with a weight of about 51 kilos (112 lbs.)
Stone Age
After the retreat of the last ice age, a peasant culture penetrated into the Odenwald, bringing with them the spread of early agriculture in the region. These were the people of the Linear Pottery Culture (Linearbandkeramik), so named for the decorative technique they used on their ceramic
ware, most of which were simple cups, bowls, vases and jugs. It is thought that they originated in Serbia and Hungary and that migration took place at a rate of about four kilometres per year as they moved to settle in highly-fertile marshy areas or near rivers.
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| Linear Pottery Vessel destroyed in 1944 |
In the Odenwald, we find only trace evidence of this culture's existence. Vessels from this period have been found near Lengfeld, Habitzheim and Zeilhard, where there was evidence of a settlement. In the Gersprenz Valley, there was also a settlement at Gross-Bieberau. In 1935, in the village of Altheim, another settlement was uncovered, and archaeologists found elongated, oval-shaped dwellings, fireplaces, pottery shards, a grindstone and animal bones. Between Trautheim and Wiesengrund near Darmstadt, various Neolithic-worked stones have been found, as well as a richly-ornamented pot that was, unfortunately, destroyed during a World War II air raid on Darmstadt in 1944.
Towards the end of the Neolithic period, a new group of people migrated to southern Hessen, the Corded-Ware Culture people (Schnurkeramik-Kultur), named because of the corded look of ornamentation on their pottery. This culture placed its dead in ceramic vessels and buried them
under raised hills, along with offerings of food, drink and other useful items to help them on their journey into the afterlife.
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| A Corded Ware Vessel |
Evidence of the Corded-Ware Culture have been found in Reinheim, where a bell-shaped cup was uncovered, and in Altheim where an unusual six-footed, richly-ornamented dish was discovered. Burial findings at Eckweg include a cup with corded decorations, and artefacts from a similar culture which used herringbone patterns on their pottery. Stone axes, a sickle and copper axe from the end of the Neolithic period have been found, showing the transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age.
The Bronze Age
The lines between one age and another are, of course, not always clear, and there was a transition period of about a thousand years between the Stone Age and Bronze, during which time the use of metal largely overtook that of stone. Using bronze, a mixture of copper and tin, the production of weapons and jewellery became more elaborate and gold was seen as a valuable substance. Traders brought both trade goods and precious metal over trade routes in the Odenwald and along the Bergstrasse, routes that stretched from the south up to the North and Baltic seas.
After the early transitional period between the Stone and Bronze Age, two separate cultural eras are observed in the Odenwald, one lasting from about 1900 - 1200 BC and the other from about 1200 to 800 BC. Numerous hill graves north of Traisa give evidence of these cultures, and shards from a hill in Traisa indicate that there was a Bronze Age settlement there.
Later, a new culture entered the Odenwald from the Alpine foothills and brought a significant change to practises in the area. These people were known as the Urnfield People, so named because of their custom of cremating their dead and placing the ashes in urns, which were then buried in fields. Burials have been found in Nieder-Ramstadt, Gross Bieberau, and in the Gersprenz and Muemling valleys.
The origin of the Celts is a subject of debate. One theory suggests that the people we know as the Celts were descendants of the Urnfield People and that their culture slowly evolved to take on those characteristics we now classify as Celtic. Whether this is true or not, it is now widely agreed that the Celts originated in a narrow band that stretched across central Europe, an area which includes the Odenwald. This area is considered the Celtic homeland.
Almost all of the Celtic archeological finds in the Odenwald date from the Hallstatt or very early Laténe cultures, although many local place names originate from the Laténe period. Messel, Mümling and Viernheim are all examples of Celtic-origin names. Even the name "Darmstadt" is actually derived from the Celtic "Darmundstadt",: Dar is from the Celtic word for Oak, Mund (Mountain), Stadt (Place), so it’s not really Intestine (Darm) Town at all.
Iron Age (The Celts)
During the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, the people known as the Celts could already be found in the Odenwald Region. Again, there was not an immediate change from one age to another, but a fluid transition in which the use of iron replaced that of bronze. During this time, settlement in the area became denser, and we can now find more evidence of what life would have been like for our Iron Age predecessors, not only as archaeological artefacts, but now from written accounts by Roman historians.
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| The yellow band shows the core Hallstatt territory by the 6th century BC |
The Celtic period is divided into two different time periods, the Hallstatt period (750 - 500 BC) and the Laténe period (480 BC - to Roman Conquest). The Hallstatt Celts were so named from the rich grave finds discovered in Hallstatt, Austria. The Laténe Culture, which arose from the Hallstatt Culture, was named after the La Téne archaeological site on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland.
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| The Muemling River in Erbach |
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| Celtic Grave Goods from Hochdorf, Germany |
A fairly large Celtic settlement existed along the road from Gross-Umstadt to Lengfeld, as well as in Habitzheim. Other Celtic discoveries have been found in Triasa, Ober-Ramstadt and in the forests between Rossdorf and Darmstadt. A hill grave at Altheim was discovered in 1935, revealing artifacts such as urns, small vessels, an iron sword and four small bronze implements. Other grave mounds have been found at Herring, Hummetroth, Ober-Nauses, Höchst and Wiebelsbach.
The Romans and Early Germanic Tribes
It is sometimes difficult to know which tribe of people lived in which area, though Roman historians can give us a very good idea. Tacitus has this to say about the people living in the Odenwald at the time of the Roman occupation:
"I am inclined not to reckon among the people of Germany the cultivators of the Agri decumates, settled though they may be between Rhine and Danube. All the wastrels of Gaul, all the penniless adventurers seized on what was still no man's land. It was only later, when the frontier line of defence was drawn and the garrisons were moved forward, that they have become a sort of projection of the empire and a part of a province."
The Romans described Celts as Gauls, so it seems that there were still Celts in the area, and the Odenwald had not yet been taken over by the Germanic tribes coming from the East when Tacitus was writing in 98 AD.
In addition to the Celts, there would have been some Germanic people living in the region, even if on the fringes of the Odenwald. In the reigns of both Vespasian (69 - 79 AD) and Domitian (83 - 85 AD), historians talk about battles between the Romans and the Chatti tribe, fighting which occurred as the Romans attempted military incursions across the Rhine.
Despite these battles, by the end of the 1st century, Vespasian occupied the area between the Rhine and the Danube, creating the Agri Decumantes. Historians dispute whether this term refers to the
division of the area into ten districts or whether it refers to a type of tithe system imposed upon the native inhabitants. Regardless of which idea is correct, the area remained under this administration until the construction of the border fortification system known as The Limes, which allowed the Romans to have greater control of the area. It was after this fortification of the frontier, no later than 125 a.d., that the territory came under civil rather than military administration, and it became a civitas known as the Civitias Auderiensuim with the town of Dieburg as its administrative center.
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| The Limes Fortification System |
In 260 - 285, civil unrest in Rome caused the recall of Roman soldiers from many of the outlying provinces, including the area between the Rhine and The Limes. Lying in wait on the other side of the Limes were the Alemanni, a Germanic tribe who had inhabited the Baltic Sea region east of the Elbe River during the early days of the Roman Empire until they were driven west by the Huns. The soldiers return to Rome allowed the Alemanni Tribe to move west across The Limes and gain dominance in the Odenwald region. This dominance lasted until 496 whenthe Alemanni were defeated by the Frankish King, Clovis, and they were then absorbed into the Frankish kingdom; however, the name "Alemanni" lives on. It is from that name that many languages such as French get their name for Germany, Allemagne.
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| Charles the Great (Charlemagne) |
Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire at the end of the 5th century, the Franks began to conquer the other Germanic tribes and had, by the end of the 8th century, developed into the Carolingian Empire. When the Frankish king, Charlemagne, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in 800 AD, he and his successors began to be recognised as the legitimate successors of the Western Roman Empire.
Sources:
Bishop, Ray. “Roman Colonization of the Main Valley and Odenwald | Romans, Knights, Doughboys: Lingering Memories in a European Landscape.” Romans Knights Doughboys Lingering Memories in a European Landscape RSS, www.raybishophistory.co.uk/german-frontier-of-the-roman-empire/the-drive-to-the-east/roman-colonization-of-the-main-valley-and-odenwald/.
Das Muehltal im Odenwald, http://www.muehltal-odenwald.de/geschich/mu/fruh_vor.html, Accessed August 16, 2017.
Hahn, Ludwig Dr.. Die Vorgeschichte der Stadt und Ihrer Umgehung, http://www.ueberau.de/vorgeschichte.htm, Accessed August 16, 2017.
Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. “What Does It Mean to Be Human.”Homo Heidelbergensis | The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program, 1 Mar. 2010, humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-heidelbergensis.
Tacitus, Cornelius. “Germania by Cornelius Tacitus (A.D. 98).” Germania (Ancient Germany) by Cornelius Tacitus, www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/tacitusc/germany/chap1.htm.
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