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Roman Station Medieval Raw Iron Production Alleged Medieval Castle Napoleon: Battle of Hohenlinden Napoleon: Battlefield Communist manifesto 1933 Intro World War 2 Spring 1945 17. SS Division 'Goetz von Berlichingen' Part 1 17. SS Division 'Goetz von Berlichingen' Part 2

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Examination (3/4)

Examination

Topography.

In fact, it did not reveal anything with the exception of two irrelevant finds, an early modern (1500-1850) horse shoe and a small copper alloy crotal bell, 18.-19. century. Such a massive wooden structure as on the drawing must have left nails behind. Apart from that it is impossible that even a small group of persons lives on such a confined space for an extended period without losing or discarding metal items. True, maybe metal searchers visited this place and removed items. But metal searchers never find all items and especially they have no ambition whatsoever to remove all nails.

The drawing shows the topography of the place. In the center there is a creek flowing from north (1) to south where it joins a river (2). This is the very creek mentioned in the tradition concerning the disappeared woman. Taking all my courage together I jumped over it. Nothing unusual happened. Maybe it does not work with men.

There are two plateaus of equal height some 10-15 m above river level.
The eastern one carried the refuge. The refuge had three trenches (3,4,5) and the treasure recovery hole (6) in the last defence position.
The western plateau (7) is rather close by, within easy arrow distance. This plateau is not shown on the official drawing though it is important from the military point of view. Instead a protective river there is a launch position for an attack with distance weapons.

In the 9- and 10. century the Hungarians were the terror of the land. They raided villages and were the main reason why people were looking for hideouts. The Hungarians were not interested in sieges. They wanted quick attacks with little or no risk. Then they disappeared to raid another village. If a village was heavily defended they gave up and raided the next one without fortifications.

Also, the Hungarians were masters of the bow. To leave the western plateau undefended made it a very favourable position for archers, allowing them to reach the defence lines. It is difficult to defend the eastern plateau when under fire from these archers unless counter-archers were employed which seems unlikely. Especially when the defenders were ordinary village people and farmers and the attackers where hardened Hungarians with a lot of raiding experience. After a severe defeat in 955 the Hungarians returned to Eastern Europe and were never seen again in Central Europe.

The archer problem is not limited to early medieval times. Arrow and bow are very old weapons, known even in the late stone age.

Since there were no cisterns or springs on this high ground a long resistance was out of question anyway.

The searched areas are marked by purple lines. Not only was the entire refuge searched but also the entire western plateau. The creek valley between them was also searched. Especially at places where people from the refuge would have taken water (8, 9). Nothing. The very few finds were modern junk.

(C) Thorsten Straub www.metal-detecting.de 2006-2019.

The Refuge (2/4) Conclusion (4/4)