THE GERMAN EXPERIENCES AND THE ROMAN VILLA OF BORG (ASSR,GERMANY)

Les expériences aLLemandes et La viLLa romaine de Borg (sarre, aLLemagne) résumé Bettina Birkenhagen conservateur, Perl, Borg La villa romaine de Borg est de type villa rustica, un ensemble agricole, comprenant un secteur palatial (pars urbana) avec un manoir et un grand secteur économique (pars rus-tica). Depuis l’époque romaine, il y a eu très peu d’activités agricoles ou architecturales, ce qui fait que les vestiges sont en très bon état de conservation. La villa romaine de Borg comprend l’ensemble des fouilles de l’une des villae les plus grandes de la région Saar Mosel ainsi que la reconstruction complète de la partie palatiale de cette installation (pars urbana). Dans la mesure du possible, cette reconstitution se fonde sur des découvertes locales ou sur des résultats de fouilles d’installations similaires de la région (Echternach au Luxembourg, par exemple). Lorsque cela s’avère nécessaire, la littérature antique (Vitruve, par exemple) ou contemporaine est consultée (pour la re-constitution des peintures murales, par exemple). Aujourd’hui, les édifices reconstruits se dressent sur les fondations des murs romains (autant que possible) et restituent l’apparence que les édifices étaient censés avoir à l’époque, c’est à dire entre le iie et iiie siècle après J.-C. Les objectifs de la reconstruction de la villa romaine de Borg sont essentiellement les sui-vants: une place primordiale accordée à l’authenticité aussi bien qu’à la fonctionnalité de l’aménagement; de manière tout aussi importante, la volonté de rendre accessible l’ap-proche de l’archéologie, du monde de l’Antiquité et de ses fouilles de manière descriptive pour le plus grand nombre de visiteurs, de jeunes et d’enfants. Avec les fouilles en cours, nous espérons trouver de nouveaux résultats intéressants qui viendront s’ajouter à nos connaissances sur les colonies romaines. L’accès au patrimoine gallo-romain est rendu possible par l’aménagement qui est propice aux visites familiales, ainsi qu’à tout autre public, spécifique ou non. Le nombre important de visiteurs par an (50 000 env.), en provenance non seulement des pays voisins, mais du monde entier, prouve que ce type de conservation du patrimoine culturel est bien accepté et rencontre un intérêt très large. the german experiences and the roman viLLa of Borg (saar, germany) abstract Bettina Birkenhagen Heritage Curator, Perl, Borg The Roman Villa Borg is a so-called Villa Rustica, an agricultural facility, with a palatial manorial area (Pars Urbana) and a great economical area (Pars Rustica). Since Roman times there was very few agricultural and architectural activity, so that the Roman remains and foundations are still in very good condition. The Roman Villa Borg unites both the excavation of one of the largest villa rustica in the Saar Mosel area and the complete reconstruction of the manorial area (Pars Urbana) of such a faci-lity. As far as possible, this reconstruction is based on local findings or on excavation findings of similar facilities of the region (e.g. Echternach in Luxemburg). If necessary, either antique literature (eg. Vitruve) or modern literature (eg. for the reconstruction of the wall paintings) was consulted. Today, the reconstructed buildings stand on the antique Roman foundation walls again (as far as possible) and show the assumed appearance of the facility in the 2nd to 3rd century AD. The objectives of the reconstruction of the Roman Villa Borg are mainly the following: excep-tional importance is attached to the authenticity as well as to the operability of the facility. There is also the will of making the archaeology and antiquity accessible in a descriptive way for the visitors and to facilitate for children and young people the approach to antique history, finds and features. With the further excavations we expect new and interesting research re-sults, which extend the knowledge over Roman settlement history. Target-group-specific the entrance to the Gallo-Roman inheritance is made possible by the family-friendly adjustment of the Villa for all subpopulations. The numerous visitors (annually approx. 50,000) - meanwhile not only from the neighbouring countries, but from the whole world - prove that this kind of preserving the cultural inheritance is accepted and encounters a broad interest. the german experiences and the roman viLLa of Borg (saar, germany) Bettina Birkenhagen Heritage Curator, Perl, Borg he roman Villa borg is a so-called Villa rustica, an agricultural facility, with a pa-latial manorial area (Pars urbana) and a great economical area (Pars rustica). the facility is situated next to the border to Luxemburg and France in the saar mosel area in a wooded range between the villages borg and Oberleuken, com. Perl, district merzig-Wadern. since roman times there was very few agricultural and architectural activity, so that the roman remains and foundations are still in very good condition. the roman Villa borg unites both the excavation of one of the largest villa rustica in the saar mosel area and the complete reconstruction of the manorial area (Pars urbana) of such a facility. as far as possible, this reconstruction is based on local findings or on excavation findings of similar facilities of the region (e.g. Echternach in Luxemburg). If necessary, either antique literature (e.g. Vitruv) or modern literature (e.g. for the recons-truction of the wall paintings) was consulted. today, the reconstructed buildings stand on the antique roman foundation walls again (as far as possible) and show the assu-med appearance of the facility in the 2nd to 3rd century aD. Exceptional importance is attached to the authenticity as well as to the operability of the facility. HIstOry OF rEsEarcH anD ExcaVatIOn The history of the excavation already began about 1900, when the teacher Johann Schneider observed unnatural elevations in the terrain. He found bricks and wall remainders besides Roman ceramics. Because of the two World Wars the research of Schneider unfortunately fell into oblivion, and more than half a century passed until this spot again drew the attention of science. Expanded illicit excavations threatened to destroy the ground-monument to such an extent, that the State Conservation Department of the Saarland in 1986 felt bound to establish a systematic excavation. As a body responsible for this project, the district Merzig-Wadern respectively the Cultural Foundation of the district of Merzig-Wadern was found. Since August 1986, an area of about 2 hectares was released on the spot, fenced in and prepared for excavation. In cooperation with the community Perl as property owner and the employment office of Saarlouis and Me-rzig the archaeological investigations began on April the 1st 1987. By establishing an infras-tructure like an excavation house with office-rooms, lounges and storerooms, ideal working conditions were created. Because of the large find accumulation, first of all ceramics and wall paintings, an additional building was established in winter 1987/88, which is used as maga-zine and workshop. In summer 1989 a third house was built, which served the visitor support and also cultural meetings. Interested groups, particularly grades, have been informed about the excavation with modern media (slide show and video). These tasks have been taken over by the new media house as well as by the large hall and the seminar room after the completion of the living and working quarters. In 1994 the resolution was passed to reconstruct the facility, respectively the manorial area. In 1997, the first complex of buildings (bath with Tavern) was finished, 2004 the last building so far, the gatehouse, was handed over to its regulation. Further excavations and reconstructions are in planning. During the excavations of the Pars Urbana, pre-Roman findings could be proven as well. Apart from Iron-Age settlement structures (postholes, pits etc.), which appeared directly under the Roman stone foundations, also graves from the Urn field culture as well as a funeral from the Bell beaker culture were proven. In addition, isolated finds of flint tools and -fragments were made, which already point to settlement activity in the Neolithic period. The level of THE GERMAN ExPERIENCES AND THE ROMAN VILLA OF BORG (SAAR, GERMANy) Bettina Birkenhagen knowledge so far points to a sporadic use of the residential area around the Villa Borg from the Neolithic period over the Bronze Age up to the early Iron Age. From the late Iron Age into the late Roman period, a continuous settlement of the place is clearly proven (from the 1st century BC up to the end of the 4th century AD). The excavation was highly revaluated in 1994 by its admission into the key program «Kelten, Germanen, Rˆmer im Mittelgebirgsraum zwischen Luxemburg und Th¸ringen» of the German research association (DFG), which contains the study of «Romanisation». Parts of the re-sults are issued in the publication of Dr. Martin Frey «Die Terra Sigillata der galloroemischen Villa Borg, Kreis Merzig-Wadern» as well as in A. Haffner/S. von Schnurbein (Hrsg.), «Kelten, Germanen, Rˆmer im Mittelgebirgsraum zwischen Luxemburg und Th¸ringen. Kolloquien zur Vor- und Fr¸hgeschichte 5. Akten des Internationalen Kolloquiums zum DFG-Schwerpunkt-programm «Romanisierung» in Trier vom 28. bis 30. September 1998 (Bonn 2000)». The objective of all these efforts is to give visitors the possibility to experience antiquity in an interesting way. Three-dimensionality obtain the space feeling; wall paintings, furniture as well as the representation of functional details illustrate the housing comfort and the technical achievements of that time. HOW tO crEatE accEssIbILIty FOr a PubLIc From the outset it was a request of the Cultural Foundation to make the results of the scientific investigations accessible for a broad public. Already soon after opening the first sketches, the question about the securing of the archaeological findings arose. For all involved partners it was clear that, even with the most expensive preservation methods, the architectural findings in the area could only be kept up medium-term. In order to secure the antique substance at longer term, the partners in the decision-making bodies considered establishing a protective building. The spatial effect of the no longer existing original is taken up by the appearance of the protec-tive building, which - even with the biggest restraint - goes beyond its actual function. In order to counteract that, a timber construction was planned, which should allusively be an approach of the original structure. Different criteria (purely functional, modern arrangement, following the appearance of the buildings etc.) were discussed and calculated. Finally, the model of a protective building turned out to be unsatisfactory, since the substance, which was to be pro-tected, would essentially have consisted of foundations. Therefore another solution was sear-ched for. After numerous discussions and several colloquia with specialists from home and abroad, the Culture Foundation of the district Merzig-Wadern (as the body responsible of the facility) in agreement with the National Office for Conservation came 1994 to the decision not only to excavate the entire facility, but also to reconstruct it scientifically. All involved partners were conscious that this project was not an original and detailed reproduction, but a model conception, in which also hypotheses and possibilities are to be pointed out and converted. The modern buildings are established on the antique foundations, which has the consequence that the manor house is not right-angled. This circumstance however is noticeable rather with the view of the sketch plan than on the premises themselves. The building phase, in which the mansion had its largest expansion (from 2. to the 3. century AD) is reconstructed. Nevertheless every information and finding won by the excavation was to be integrated into the reconstruction on the antique foundations. Also different sources (historical literary sour-ces, research results of other excavations etc.) were consulted. For these reasons, Borg is rather a model on a scale 1:1 than a reconstruction. Still there are voices, which express themselves against such a reconstruction. Conserving the existing findings would surely have been the archaeologically correct method. However, do not the constantly high numbers of visitors in Borg and other facilities e.g. in Pompeii show that the visitors not only want to see foundation walls? That e.g. children and young persons do not at all know what to do with such «ruin fields»? It does surely not make sense to reconstruct each excavated facility again. THE GERMAN ExPERIENCES AND THE ROMAN VILLA OF BORG (SAAR, GERMANy) Bettina Birkenhagen But archaeologists as well can get important insights during the reconstruction of buildings, which would not have been illustrated by simply evaluating the results of the excavation. The Roman bath with Tavern - the first section - was finished 1997. The director of the archaeo-logical park in xanten, Dr. Gundolf Precht, was very helpful with the implementation of this building as well as with the following building projects. tHE rEcOnstructIOn OF tHE buILDIngs From the first cut of the spade to the opening of the first reconstructed building, 10 years passed by. In this time there was much discussed, planned, rejected, and planned again. The scientific realizations and requirements faced the different desires of the owners, which had to withdraw again behind certain construction specifications. Altogether, after fighting over a decision for a long time, one agreed on a concept, which is continued until today. Why did one decide for an in-situ-reconstruction? This had surely several reasons. First there was a need to protect the walls against further destruction by weather and environmental conditions. Secondly, at the beginning of the excavations it had been already decided that also the Pre-Roman findings should be examined. As the excavation plans clearly indicate, an Iron Age settlement with at least three buildings beneath the Roman stone foundations could be proven. To accomplish an exact investigation here, the Roman foundations had to be cleared away to be able to examine the wooden building preceding the manor house. A majority of the walls were not as well or only partially preserved before the reconstruction. Also the different Roman building phases made a partial dismantling of the brickwork around the one of earlier building periods necessary to be able to document these early phases. Also considerations were made to establish the reconstruction in direct proximity of the excavation. This thought was however rejected again. To let the plant rise at its original place also belonged to the concept of reconstructing the villa as authentically as possible and also as a scientifically founded reconstruction of the buildings. Since 1997 four sections were finished, as follows: the roman bath with tavern. From the beginning, it was planned to reconstruct that bath fully functional. By the reconstruc-tion of the Roman bath the visitor has the possibility to experience «Roman live» first-hand. While public hot springs and soldier baths followed only a few sketches and operation dia-grammes and therefore were very well to arrange and to classify. Private mansion baths are characterised by an indeterminable number of variants. Here the taste of the client and not least the size of his purse are reflected. The bath did not only serve for hygiene in the antiquity. It was firmly merged into the daily routine (preferred bathing time: afternoon) and an informal event. One bathed with friends, acquaintance, business partners and the family. Private and business agreements were made or the current daily politics discussed. Since the daily bath had such a high value, the actual bath areas are often attached with a dwelling character, which served the recovery, relaxation, communication in the broadest sense and were fur-nished accordingly. the small input area fulfils the function of a wind shield. The dressing room (apodyterium) follows this concept. The shelves served for the file of the dresses and bath implements. Wood-sandals were necessary, because the floors within the warm bath range became very hot by the under-floor heating. From the entrance area of the bath also the latrine is accessible. The water flushing took place via a channel, which ran un-der the floor of the building. The water from the roof was collected in eaves (Rigolen) along the inner court and then passed through a pipe to the latrine. ... - tailieumienphi.vn