Archaeological finds in Harxheim
Harxheim was first mentioned in documents in the second half of the 8th century. Archaeologiscfindings, however, provethat in the Harxheim as in the rest of Rheinhessen, people lived in the Harxheim area much earlier..
Again and again, interesting discoveries are made during archaeological excavations in Rheinhessen. This raises the question of whether there have also been exciting finds in the Harxheim district.
Unfortunately, a modern archaeological excavation has never taken place in Harxheim. There are also only comparatively few archaeological sites documented in the Harxheim district, as a request to the Directorate of State Archaeology in Mainz revealed.
The oldest finds in Harxheim date back to the Iron Age, which began in northern Central Europe around 750 BC. According to a 1980 report by the Department for the Preservation of Archaeological Monuments. 1) two Iron Age funnel pit remains, 40 cm deep and each 1.5 – 2 m in diameter, were found in a long-distance trench on the southern edge of the site, lying close together. However, only crumbs of cottage clay could be recovered.
Other finds date from the Latène period (pre-Roman Iron Age, ca. 450 BC to the birth of Christ). In its 1915 issue, the Mainz magazine reported the discovery of a Latène grave in a hollow north of Harxheim. The grave contained parts of a skeleton, around the shins were bronze buffer rings. In the early 1970s, remains of a Middle Latène grave were discovered at 83 Bahnhofstrasse. In addition to broken bottles, an iron long sword and an iron spearhead were recovered 2).
Until about 460 n . Chr. and thus almost 500 years Mainz and thus also Rheinhessen belonged to the Roman Empire and the Romans have left numerous traces in our region. Throughout the rural area of Rheinhessen there were manor houses, so-called villae rusticae. These typically consisted of a manor house, outbuildings, and yard and farm areas, and were connected to a thoroughfare by a spur road. In the Bodenheim district there seem to have been at least three such estates 3), two villae rusticae could be proven in the Ebersheim area so far. 4). It is therefore quite possible that a villa rustica also existed in the immediate vicinity of today’s Harxheim. This is indicated by sherd finds from the Middle Imperial period (117 – 284 AD), which also come from the long-distance ditch located on the southern edge of the village. 5). However, remains of an associated manor house have not yet been discovered.
Information about a very interesting find from the Roman period can be found in the Jahrbuch des Vereins von Alterthumsfreunden im Rheinlande from 1850 6). Mrs. Sibylla Mertens-Schaaffhausen, expert collector of archaeological finds, reports on the purchase of a vessel made of fired clay, which was found in 1846 in the Harxheim vineyards together with three inscribed Roman bricks (LEG XXII) and Roman bronze and silver coins. The collector dates the find to before 260 A.D. Surprisingly, the vessel contained a small Indian bronze figurine. Relief-like depictions on the vessel show symbols of the most diverse global regions and cultures. Thus, the find poses a mystery. Unfortunately, it is not known whether any further knowledge was later derived from it.
In the course of the In the 5th century A.D. the Franks replaced the Romans in the dominion. They also left a variety of traces in our region. In 1953, during an excavation in Harxheim, a Frankish burial ground was discovered at the southern end of the village east of the L425, which points to the 6. – 7th century AD was dated. Various grave goods were found, including a bronze jug, a spearhead and an axe 7).
Appendix 1 Achaeological finds in Harxheim
Source: Yearbook of the Society of Friends of Antiquities in the Rhineland from 1850
Finds from the burial ground from the Merovingian period uncovered in 1953
Image: Mainzer Zeitschrift, Volume 50, 1955, p. 116
References:
) Stümpel, Bernhard (1985): Report of the Department for the Preservation of Archaeological Monuments in Mainz for 1980. In: Mainzer Zeitschrift. Mittelrheinisches Jahrbuch für Archäologie, Kunst und Geschichte. Volume 79/80. Mainz. S. 260.
2) Stümpel, Bernhard (1974): Bericht des staatlichen Amtes für Vor- und Frühgeschichte Mainz für die Zeit vom 1. Januar 1970 bis 31. Dezember 1971. In: Mainzer Zeitschrift. Mittelrheinisches Jahrbuch für Archäologie, Geschichte und Kunst. Volume 69. Mainz. p. 238f.
3) Rupprecht, Gerd (2003): Die römische Epoche. In: Bernhard Marschall (ed.): 1250 Jahre Albansgemeinde Bodenheim. Contributions to the past and present. Alzey. S. 25 – 27.
4) Knöchlein, Ronald (2007): Ebersheim: von der frühsten Besiedlung bis in die fränkische Zeit. In: Directorate General for Cultural Heritage. Directorate of Archaeology (ed.): Archäologische Ortsbetrachtungen. Volume 10. Mainz. S. 27
5) Stümpel, Bernhard (1985): Report of the Archaeological Heritage Department Mainz for 1980. In: Mainzer Zeitschrift. Mittelrheinisches Jahrbuch für Archäologie, Kunst und Geschichte. Volume 79/80. Mainz. S. 262.
6) Mertens-Schaaffhausen, Sibylla (1850): Übersicht über die jüngsten antiquarischen Erwerbungen der Frau Sibylla Mertens-Schaaffhausen. In: Jahrbücher des Vereins von Alterthumsfreunden im Rheinlande. Volume XV. Bonn. S. 136 – 142.
7) Schermer, Heinz; Stümpel, Bernhard (1955): Bericht der rheinhessischen Bodendenkmalpflege für die Zeit vom 1. April 1953 bis zum 31. März 1954. In: Mainzer Zeitschrift. Mittelrheinisches Jahrbuch für Archäologie, Kunst und Geschichte. Volume 50. Mainz. S. 116.
