The fortified late Iron Age lowland settlement of Kerpen-Manheim in the Manheimer Erbwald (BM 153) has so far only been excavated in small parts. Since the ongoing open-cast lignite mining will lead to the total loss of this site by 2022, a complete investigation is urgently required. According to the first excavation results (HA 2017/0014), we can assume that there is dense construction with various post structures (including wall ditches), a comprehensive ditch with an accompanying earthen rampart, a palisade and possibly several gate systems. The site can be dated primarily to the late Iron Age (LT D1/2); continuity into the early Roman Imperial period is conceivable. This means that we have another late Iron Age settlement center before us, as is typical of Niederzier-Hambach (HA 382). Our knowledge of these settlement centers and the late Iron Age and early Imperial settlement of the Cologne Bay as a whole is not very advanced, which is why a complete excavation of Kerpen-Manheim or a settlement survey of the surrounding area is a major research desideratum. Based on this work, numerous questions could be addressed: To what extent can hierarchies within the settlement be determined based on the interior buildings? Who were the residents? Eburones? Other tribal associations? Are there signs of a Caesarian conquest? Is there evidence of the transition from the late Iron Age to the early Roman Imperial period?

Thanks to funding from the "Foundation for Archaeology in the Rhenish Lignite Mining Region", the comprehensive excavation and research of the earthwork of Kerpen-Manheim can begin in 2020. The planned work is multi-stage and, in addition to the excavation itself, will be accompanied by a comprehensive prospection of the surrounding area and a survey of the site itself using geophysical methods. In addition, any aerial photographs of the region or LIDAR scan data will be subjected to further comprehensive examination so that the most accurate picture of the site and the entire settlement area is created.

The excavation itself is to take place over a period of three years for 4 weeks each (12 weeks in total). Of the total settlement area of ​​around 2.3 hectares, around 2 hectares still have to be excavated. In addition to the surrounding ditch (approx. 650 m long in total with an average depth of 1 m and a width of 2 m), post holes, wall trenches and other pits of various origins are to be expected; more complex well systems are also conceivable. A stratigraphic differentiation of the layers has not yet been identified; the maximum depth of the findings should not exceed 2 m.

An excavation technician, a scientific project manager and 10 students each will be available to carry out the excavation. The excavation technician is financed by the Archaeological Institute; the costs for the work of the scientific project manager and the basic costs of the students (travel and subsistence costs) are part of the project application.

In each year of excavation, in addition to the report to the “Foundation for Archaeology in the Rhenish Lignite Mining Area”, short publications should report on the progress of the project (e.g. in “Kölner und Bonner Archäologica” and in “Archäologie im Rheinland”). After the excavations have been completed, all results of prospecting and excavation will be entered into the archaeological monument archive of the LVR Office for Archaeological Monument Preservation (BODEON) and the fully inventoried finds will be handed over to the depot of the LVR State Museum Bonn in Meckenheim. The overall evaluation should be carried out as quickly as possible and should be presented in a publication of the Rhenish Archaeological Monument Preservation. If there is interest among the students involved, parts of the overall evaluation can also be assigned as final theses.

Responsible:

• Prof. Dr. Eckhard Deschler-Erb

Coordination:

• Ing. Stefan Pircher MA
• Stephanie Braun M.Sc. (Excavation director)

Cooperation partner:

• LVR Office for the Preservation of Archaeological Monuments in the Rhineland / Titz branch (Dr. Udo Geilenbrügge / Dr. Martin Grünewald)

Funding:

• Foundation for Archaeology in the Rhenish Lignite Mining Region (2020, planned until 2022)

Publications:

• Grünewald in preparation: M. Grünewald, The fortified lowland settlement of Kerpen-Manheim (Rhein-Erft district). In: Steve Bödecker, Eva Cott, Marion Brüggler, Eckhard-Deschler-Erb, Martin Grünewald, Sabine Hornung, Jennifer Morscheiser, Petra Tutlies (eds.) Late La Tène and early imperial archaeology between the Maas and the Rhine. Contributions to the transformation of landscape and society. Materials for the preservation of archaeological monuments in the Rhineland 28 (Bonn in preparation)
• Grünewald / Haarich 2018: M. Grünewald / H. Haarich, The fortified La Tène period lowland settlement of Kerpen-Manheim. Archaeology in the Rhineland 2017, 2018, 75-7