03-18-2004, 05:24 PM
Robert,<br>
I never said it was a fort. And you will recall from Tacitus that Varus rather foolishly 'trusted' the Germans, billeting his troops penny packet into the German villages. The Kalkreise site was in all likelihood a remount station for imperial couriers along an important trade route, much like the 'pony express' stations of the old west. It was probably garrisioned/guarded by a mere century.<br>
<br>
I believe I have all the catalogs, and have seen most of the Kalkreise exhibits, and save for the mule skeleton, still say virtually everything would fit in a shoebox. Those "hundreds and hundreds of artifacts" amount to things like tiny nails and pottery chips, each bit considered an artifact to make it sound much more impressive than the finds really are. We all know the important military finds, and there aren't many. And as said before, everything peters out as one leaves the immediate environs of the Kalkreise 'station'. Nothing at all to indicate a harried march column in any direction despite thousands of hours of fervent metal detecting to find such traces which are the only thing that could make the Varus connectgion plausible.<br>
<br>
It is absurd to think Germanicus' troops would have conveniently lost the big copper Asses (the post 9 AD coins) on top of the supposed Kalkreise Varus battlefield. In one of the largest Roman fort sites in Germany, the fort at Marktbriet for two legions (dating from virtually the same time period), I believe only one or two coins were found, period. And you think these soldiers are going to coincidentally lose these numbers of these large copper coins right on top of the nonexistant 'Varus' battlefield?<br>
<br>
Spiegel is a somewhat sensationalist magazine, but the basic facts are real. Knowledgable experts in the Numismatic field have proven that coins on the site date it later than 9AD. period. Get over it. This is not the "Germannic Holy Ground" everyone first thought it was, despite the rather bizarre torchlight shows, and the millions and milllions more Euros being spent to turn a tiny skirmish at a remount stable into "the Greatest Moment in German History". <br>
<br>
Dan<br>
PS.I was asked not to say more about the new excacavations yet, but may be able to shed some light after this weekend.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>
I never said it was a fort. And you will recall from Tacitus that Varus rather foolishly 'trusted' the Germans, billeting his troops penny packet into the German villages. The Kalkreise site was in all likelihood a remount station for imperial couriers along an important trade route, much like the 'pony express' stations of the old west. It was probably garrisioned/guarded by a mere century.<br>
<br>
I believe I have all the catalogs, and have seen most of the Kalkreise exhibits, and save for the mule skeleton, still say virtually everything would fit in a shoebox. Those "hundreds and hundreds of artifacts" amount to things like tiny nails and pottery chips, each bit considered an artifact to make it sound much more impressive than the finds really are. We all know the important military finds, and there aren't many. And as said before, everything peters out as one leaves the immediate environs of the Kalkreise 'station'. Nothing at all to indicate a harried march column in any direction despite thousands of hours of fervent metal detecting to find such traces which are the only thing that could make the Varus connectgion plausible.<br>
<br>
It is absurd to think Germanicus' troops would have conveniently lost the big copper Asses (the post 9 AD coins) on top of the supposed Kalkreise Varus battlefield. In one of the largest Roman fort sites in Germany, the fort at Marktbriet for two legions (dating from virtually the same time period), I believe only one or two coins were found, period. And you think these soldiers are going to coincidentally lose these numbers of these large copper coins right on top of the nonexistant 'Varus' battlefield?<br>
<br>
Spiegel is a somewhat sensationalist magazine, but the basic facts are real. Knowledgable experts in the Numismatic field have proven that coins on the site date it later than 9AD. period. Get over it. This is not the "Germannic Holy Ground" everyone first thought it was, despite the rather bizarre torchlight shows, and the millions and milllions more Euros being spent to turn a tiny skirmish at a remount stable into "the Greatest Moment in German History". <br>
<br>
Dan<br>
PS.I was asked not to say more about the new excacavations yet, but may be able to shed some light after this weekend.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<p></p><i></i>
