Mastershausen - Mountaintop settlement

About 2 km north-west of  Mastershausen,  above deep gorges,  stands  a narrow mountain spur  known as the  Burgberg or  ‘Fort Hill’.
Steep rock faces of slate further facilitate the defence of the 50 m long and 30 m wide mountain plateau.
A mighty 8 m deep trench cuts across the promontory at its narrowest part. About 20 m to the south is another rift though this has been, in the main, destroyed by modern roadworks. Between both trenches a natural bank arose which meant that the only possible access was via the steep shale and slate covered slopes to the east.
The mountain plateau was inhabited before the arrival of the Romans. A 1st century silver coin of Celtic origin has on its face a seated figure, which looks back over its shoulder. 
Before the figure’s abdomen is a palm-shaped object, at its feet winds a snake, and to the rear stands a curved staff. 
On the reverse side of the coin is a horse. The coin design is presumed to have been a modified Greek design, which shows the father of the gods, Zeus. 
During the 3rd century B.C. Celtic warriors, returning from their raids into the Mediterranean regions, brought back Greek coins, and this currency system, common in the Mediterranean area, was now also adopted by the Celts. 
To this day it remains uncertain who laid the terraces and dug the pillar cavities, foundations for wooden buildings, still recognizable on the plateau. So far no archaeological excavations have taken place on the Burgberg.
Roman coins found on The Burgberg show that people were active there fromthe second half of the 3rd century to the beginning of the 5th century A.D. Belt buckles and weapons, which have also been found , indicate possibly the presence of the Roman military. 
In times of crisis the population were able to retreat to the secure location of The Burgberg.  From the 3rd century on people close to the border in the Middle-Rhine and Moselle-area lived in permanent danger of impending raids by the Teutons.
The late-Roman defence programme, developed to counter the raids of the Teutons,  envisaged a series of small forts defended  with  few soldiers.
Alongside exclusively military complexes along the deep Moselle valleys there were often located on mountain spurs, numerous hideaways for the local population. Today these forts, in their strategically advantageous locations, have mostly been built over with castles dating from medieval times.
The „Burgberg“ did not just serve a protective function; numerous scrap particles indicate that metal smelting took place here.
The question remains whether the mining of iron ore had already started in Roman times or whether it goes back only as far as mediaeval times. Remains of Medieval walls show that the “Burgberg” was important over a long period.
Through the slate rock face on the western flank of the plateau is a shaft 3 metres deep with a diameter of 2 metres.  After investigative boring it is thought a depth of 13 metres can be assumed.  This shaft probably belongs to the phase of mediaeval mining on the “Burgberg”.
The history of settlement on the „Burgberg“ can be only rudimentarily and hypothetically conjectured. This mountain spur had, even before Roman times, acted as a safe haven for the  local population.
In Roman times the particular role of The “Burgberg” was as a hideaway for the local population during the raids of the Teutons. It is probable that a then existing fortification was redeveloped; it may have been a military unit that erected the residential and estate buildings, which existed from the 3rd century onwards. Perhaps, at that time, metal was already sourced and smelted on the “Burgberg”.
Shards of pottery and remains of walls provide evidence of mediaeval activities, during which time it is possible that the front ditch was formed.
Careless excavations have destroyed a lot of the archaeological evidence. The site, so significant to local history, has thus been declared a protected cultural monument in order to safeguard future research and discoveries. 

[Martin Thoma]