26 September 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

2,000-year-old unique luxury Roman villa with “underfloor heating” found in Germany

A luxury Roman villa with a thermal bath and underfloor heating has been unearthed in Kempten, Bavaria, one of the oldest settlements in Germany.

Ancient Romans lived in homes with thermal baths and underfloor heating, as evidenced by an excavation in the Bavarian town of Kempten. The uncovered house is one of the oldest in Germany.

The Domus was large, at least 800 square meters over two stories, and was situated close to the temple district, the most coveted area of the ancient city, on the western edge. It had screed floors, frescoed walls, and private hot baths with hypocaust heating under the floor.

When presenting the excavation, the city reported that the remains that had come to light were among the oldest in Germany. Due to its Roman past, Kempten is more than 2000 years old, making it one of the oldest cities in Germany.

The Domus was large, at least 800 square meters over two stories, and was screed floors, frescoed walls, and private hot baths with hypocaust heating under the floor. Photo: Michael Frick

The most exciting thing about the finds for the archaeologists: They belonged to private stone houses. “You won’t find such private buildings in stone anywhere in southern Germany at this early time – at the beginning of the first century,” says Johannes Schiessl from the city archeology department of Kempten. That means: while elsewhere the Roman settlers still lived in wooden and clay buildings, the high society in Cambodunum apparently already resided in chic brick townhouses.

Cambodunum is the oldest German city mentioned in writing. In 15 B.C., Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, the father of the Germanicus typically associated with that cognomen, and his brother Tiberius razed a Celtic settlement on the site of what would later become Kempten, founded Cambodunum.

Photo: Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/dpa

The city of Cambodunum was built in the first decade of the new millennium on a typical Roman grid plan, with major public buildings such as baths, temples, and a forum. It served as the region’s administrative center and the residence of the Roman governor of the Roman province of Raetia. Cambodunum remained the province’s capital until 120 A.D., when it was replaced by Augsburg, aka the Roman colony of Augusta Vindelicum.

The discovery of the luxury private Domus underscores that the Romanization of Bavaria, the development of an urban culture mirroring Rome’s, began in Kempten. It also demonstrates that the wealthy homes and significant civic structures in the early city, which were thought to have been constructed primarily of wood, were built with fine stone and brick.

Cover Photo: Maria Kohle / Kulturamt Kempten

Banner
Related Post

Dutch Shrimp Fishermen caught a centuries-old carved wooden statue off the coast of Texel

17 August 2022

17 August 2022

A carved wooden statue in exceptional condition has been attached to fishing nets off the coast of Texel, one of...

A new study provides the earliest evidence of rice harvesting, dating to as early as 10,000 years ago

8 December 2022

8 December 2022

A new study of stone tools from southern China reveals the earliest evidence of rice harvesting, dating back 10,000 years....

12,000-Year-Old rock art may depict extinct giants of the ice age

13 March 2022

13 March 2022

South America was filled with ice age animals more than 12,000 years ago, including car-sized ground sloths, elephantine herbivores, and...

INAH Archaeologists recover the coyote-man of Tacámbaro

26 January 2022

26 January 2022

Archaeologists win the coyote-man trial that lasted 30 years in Mexico. The litigation regarding the coyote-man of Tacámbaro, an important...

A Gold Mourning Ring Found on The Isle of Man

21 April 2021

21 April 2021

The ring found with a metal detector on the Isle of Man in December 2020 will be exhibited in the...

New Discoveries at Ancient Greek City of Paestum’s ‘Little Doric Temple’ in Italy

16 April 2023

16 April 2023

Archaeologists have made a series of extraordinary discoveries that may fundamentally alter the understanding of the past of the ancient...

In northern Iran, a hand-dug passageway was discovered used for military purposes during the Qajar era

1 August 2021

1 August 2021

A hand-dug underground passage dating from the Qajar era (1794-1925), once believed to have served military purposes, has been discovered...

An important Gallo-Roman worship complex was discovered near Rennes, France

13 June 2022

13 June 2022

An essential Gallo-Roman worship complex was unearthed by Inrap  (National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research) archaeologists at Chapelle-des-Fougeretz (Ille-et-Vilaine), near...

The mythical hero of Troy and Rome Aeneas’s peerless mosaic discovered in Türkiye

11 May 2023

11 May 2023

A large mosaic depicting the legendary Trojan hero Aeneas, the protagonist of Virgil’s epic poem “The Aeneid” and the ancestor...

An inscription with the name of the ancient city was found at the excavation site in Gordion, the capital of the Phrygians

8 August 2022

8 August 2022

An inscription bearing the name of the ancient city was found at the excavation site in Gordion, the capital of...

Torrential Rain Reveal 2500-Year-old Small Bull Statue

19 March 2021

19 March 2021

After heavy rains near the ancient Olympia site, a bronze bull statue of a bull believed to be at least...

Israeli researchers have found evidence of cooking fish 780,000 years ago at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov

14 November 2022

14 November 2022

Hominins living at Gesher Benot Ya’akov 780,000 years ago liked their fish to be well cooked, Israeli researchers revealed Monday,...

Roman boat that sank in Mediterranean 1,700 years ago is giving up its archaeological, historical, and gastronomic secrets

8 March 2022

8 March 2022

The merchant vessel, probably at anchor in the Bay of Palma while en route from south-west Spain to Italy, One...

3,200-Year-Old Temple Mural of Spider God in Peru

25 March 2021

25 March 2021

Archaeologists in northern Peru have discovered a 3200-year-old mural. The mural was painted on the side of an ancient adobe...

Neanderthals caused ecosystems to change 125,000 years ago

16 December 2021

16 December 2021

Researchers say Neanderthals changed the ecosystem by turning forests into grasslands 125,000 years ago. Around 125,000 years ago, these close...

Comments
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *