{"id":2036,"date":"2021-10-15T12:16:05","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T10:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archaeoregion.at\/?p=2036"},"modified":"2021-11-22T10:33:51","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T09:33:51","slug":"retznei-from-celtic-farmstead-to-roman-spring-sanctuary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archaeoregion.at\/en\/retznei-from-celtic-farmstead-to-roman-spring-sanctuary\/","title":{"rendered":"Retznei: From Celtic farmstead to Roman spring sanctuary"},"content":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/span>\n
Retznei is located on the southern edge of Rosenberg hill, about 4 km south of Frauenberg hill and directly west of the Mur river. At this convenient location there was already a small village settlement in the Bronze Age and remains of several buildings from the Celtic era have also been discovered.<\/h5>\n

However, the site is mainly known for its Roman buildings – two richly equipped thermal baths and a building that may have been a sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Fortuna Augusta, judging from the dedication altar found there.<\/p>\n

The village of Retznei is known mainly for its quarries and cement works. Fossils of fish teeth, sea cow ribs, sea urchins and crabs found there date back to about 15 million years ago. In addition to these geologically significant finds from times long before the appearance of humans, there is also a historically and archaeologically important site in Retznei, the importance of which has become increasingly clear.<\/p>\n

When we started spading in April 2004, no one believed that the results would be significant. The site, owned by the Perlmooser Lafarge company, was mostly covered by a spruce forest, and only in the front area, near the road to Aflenz, was a meadow. In the first section, we immediately came across a massive mortar floor. This screed was exceptionally well preserved, and it was only 30 cm below the turf, so that we enthusiastically continued the work.
\nIn the meantime, after several years of excavation, we can name most of the excavated rooms: For example, we know that at the beginning of the excavation, we uncovered the so-called Nymphaeum (a sanctuary). But at that time, everything was still unclear and we assumed that it was a Roman villa, namely the complex that the Graz archaeologist Friedrich Pichler had already written about in the 19th century, and which, after his short three-month excavation, was covered up again and forgotten.
\nAfter the first months of excavations we started to clear the forest and to extend our sections. And even after the laborious removal of the rootstocks, we only needed to remove the humus and came across 2000-year-old building rubble. In it we found countless fragments of wall paintings that had adorned almost all the rooms of the Roman estate, remains of marble wall paneling and decorations made of stucco. The layout of a luxurious bathing complex soon became apparent, and the findings showed the wealth of the inhabitants of that time. In this building we made one of the most beautiful finds: an ivory relief depicting a small Eros holding grapes in his hand, probably symbolizing the season of autumn.<\/p>\n

After we had excavated this bath building, we examined its surroundings more closely. In the process, immediately to the northwest of the building, we came across more walls, floors, even the remains of a water pipe, and finally a room with a mosaic floor. Almost all rooms were equipped with underfloor heating and decorated with wall paintings. In the meantime we know that this building was also a bath – thus already the second thermal bath excavated by us.
\nWe asked ourselves why there were two Roman baths in one place in Retznei. But instead of answering this questions, new questions arose. Because when we had the opportunity to dig deeper in some areas under the Roman floors, we came across remains of older buildings, still made of wood, dating back to the Celtic era. These were several so-called pit huts dug into the ground, but also at least one large building in post construction. Since the Celtic remains had already been destroyed in the Roman period, we cannot reconstruct their shape exactly today. What is clear is that there were several houses scattered in a relatively large area. Many findings from that time help us to classify them. Thus we found in old waste pits the remains of everyday life disposed of at that time, such as pots, bowls, but also bones and other food remains. Of particular interest to us, however, are the finds that were lost by the Celtic inhabitants. These include several bronze brooches and a decorated bronze belt hook. These pieces tell us that already the Celtic inhabitants of Retznei were relatively wealthy.<\/p>\n

One of the members of the Celtic aristocracy must have lived here in Retznei. Remains of a fortification of this period have not been found so far, therefore one can conclude that the inhabitants felt quite safe. Southwestern Styria was a relatively densely populated region in the Celtic period. We know names of people living here like Iantumarus, Docnimarus, Noibio, Castio (for men), Sammuni, Brigia, Bisugnata (for women) from gravestones found in Vogau, Ehrenhausen and Gamlitz. The contact with Roman culture began at a time when the Celtic tribes were still politically independent, but radually they adopted more and more aspects of Roman culture – first consumer goods, which were imported, then their architecture and building techniques and certainly also the Latin language. On the other hand, the Romans recognized the importance of raw materials, especially iron, which was available here in good quality, and intensified contacts. Small merchant settlements were founded, and in the time of the Roman Emperor Augustus, Noricum was completely incorporated into the Roman Empire. Without fighting, the Celtic inhabitants submitted to this fate, since they knew that they would have had no chance against the overpowering legions anyway, and on the other hand, they did not have to fear any great encroachments under Roman rule.<\/p>\n

Continuing our research, we made a large section in the southeast of the area, and were able to uncover a gate construction there, through which the building complex could be entered. We assume that there was a road leading north to Aflenz to the quarries and further to Frauenberg hill, where an important sanctuary was located in Roman times. Through the gate one could enter the large courtyard area, towards which several buildings were oriented. In a prominent position on the left was the Nymphaeum, which must have had an important purpose. It is a cult building and must have served as a chapel or a smaller sanctuary. In the large semicircular room was the center of this building, there probably wer several altars, perhaps even statues. A dedication altar was found during the excavation of 1873, it bore an inscription indicating that it was dedicated to the goddess Fortuna.<\/p>\n

Opposite the present road is the Rosenberg, a long ridge that stretches between the Mur and the Retzneibach rivers. There – only a few meters away from our excavation area – is a spring; the water emerges from the permeable limestone of the mountain at a natural layer boundary, and we assume that in former times, before the present quarry was built, much more water was available. The Roman baths and the sanctuary clearly show that water was very important to the Romans, and it is quite possible that this spot where the water emerged from the mountain was considered a place of cultic worship.<\/p>\n

So, after six years of excavation, we think that this spot was not a villa, but a spring sanctuary built at the place where the water poured out of the stone. The two richly equipped bathing facilities fit well into this picture, since for the Romans visiting the baths was an important part of the cult.<\/div>

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Text:<\/strong> Mag. Dr. Bernhard Schrettle<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Retznei is located on the southern edge of Rosenberg hill, about 4 km south of Frauenberg hill and directly west of the Mur river. At this convenient location there was already a small village settlement…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1512,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-fullwidth.php","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-roman-settlement","category-sanctuary","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archaeoregion.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archaeoregion.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archaeoregion.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archaeoregion.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archaeoregion.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2036"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/archaeoregion.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2194,"href":"https:\/\/archaeoregion.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036\/revisions\/2194"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archaeoregion.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archaeoregion.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archaeoregion.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archaeoregion.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}