REMARKABLE PREHISTORIC AND EARLY HISTORIC FINDS AND SITES IN THE AREA OF THE RIGHT BANK OF THE RIVER RHINE

Details about the publication by Hans-Eckart Joachim.

Probably the most significant finds in the area of today's borough of Beuel are undoubtedly the skeletons of a man, a woman and a dog from the late Ice Age discovered in 1914 at the Oberkasseler Stingenberg. In the meantime, they have brought worldwide fame to our Oberkassel in the scientific community. At 14,000 years old, they are nearly the oldest modern humans in Germany ever. The dog is also one of the oldest of its kind. Recent new research has yielded significant further findings.

Also in the Bronze and Iron Age, 2,000 to 1st century B.C., people already lived in our area; they left behind many objects which are described. Regular settlements of our Celtic ancestors from the 5th to the 1st century have been excavated in 1999 and 2004 in Neu-Vilich and in Vilich-Müldorf. In V.-Müldorf a fortification from the 1st century was uncovered, which was completely unknown in form and kind in the expert world. In addition, a very early Germanic settlement had been connected to it.

During the Roman occupation, from about 50 BC to about 350 AD, there is evidence that the area on the right bank of the Rhine served as a military training area for the Bonn Legion; in the districts of Geislar, Neu-Vilich and V.-Müldorf, no fewer than five military training camps have been documented to date. With a boundary stone, found on the airport motorway shortly before the Sieg, the Bonn Legion recorded in the 2nd/3rd century AD that the foreland on the right bank of the Rhine also served them as farmland and pasture; a copy stands behind the Beuel town hall.

Stone monuments of the Romans are also known from the Beuel area; they are presented in this publication for the first time in pictures and full texts. These include in particular a monument commemorating a victory of the Romans against the Germanic tribes in 231 AD; copy at the Josefskirche in Beuel. Another sensation was the discovery a few years ago of an inscription stone in Schwarzrheindorf dating from 221 AD with the name BONNA for the civilian settlement south of the Roman camp; it is the first and so far only name stone of this kind for Bonn ever.

The Merovingian (Frankish) settlement of the right bank of the Rhine, which lasted from the 5th to the 8th century AD, has also been researched for a long time. However, the numerous grave finds from around 1900 are unfortunately almost all of uncertain attribution, as they originate from looted excavations at the time. However, this has changed decisively since two excavations have been carried out recently which give Bonn on the right bank of the Rhine a special status: firstly, a settlement between Vilich-Müldorf and Bechlinghoven was excavated between 2007 and 2013 which, because it was not built over in later times, revealed 93 building features with hitherto completely unknown large buildings. This early V.-Müldorf existed there until the middle of the 8th century.

Secondly, at least 571 burials and thus one of the largest cemeteries of the Merovingian period in the Rhineland were excavated in 2011 in the area of today's Joseph-Schumpeter-Allee in the Bonner Bogen (former cement factory). As with the aforementioned 1st century fortification of V.-Müldorf, no comprehensive scientific treatment is yet available.