A New Look at Old Temples

Augusta Raurica and its Skyscape in the First and Second Centuries AD

Authors

  • Melanie Sticker-Jantscheff University of Wales Trinity Saint David

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.34976

Keywords:

Augusta Raurica, Gallo-Roman religion, romanisation, skyscape archaeology, stellar alignments

Abstract

Among the most interesting features of the provincial Roman veteran colony of Augusta Raurica (present-day Switzerland) are its sanctuaries, which were constructed during a period of profound cultural transformation. The current study examines the temples within their surrounding landscape and skyscape, to explore the possibility that their locations and orientations may bear testimony to the cosmological beliefs of the colony's inhabitants. The findings suggest that alignments with the star cluster of the Pleiades and the constellation Orion constituted a connective element between earth and sky and were used by the Gallo-Roman elites to reconcile agricultural work and seasonal festivities with new socio-political and religious requirements.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Melanie Sticker-Jantscheff, University of Wales Trinity Saint David

    Melanie Sticker-Jantscheff was awarded with MA Cultural Astronomy and Astrology in summer 2017. 

References

Altjohann, M., 1995. “Bemerkungen zum Ursprung des gallo-römischen Umgangstempels”. In Provinzialrömische Forschungen. Festschrift für Günter Ulbert, edited by W. Czysz, C.-M. Hüssen, H.-P. Kuhnen, C. S. Sommer and G. Weber, 169–203. Espelkamp: Verlag Marie Leidorf.

Bender, B., 1993. “Introduction: Landscape: Meaning and Action”. In Landscape. Politics and Perspectives edited by B. Bender, 1–17. Providence, Rhode Island and Oxford: Berg.

Berger, L., 2012. Führer durch Augusta Raurica (7th edition). Basel: Schwabe AG.

Blöck, L., 2016. Die Römerzeitliche Besiedlung im rechten südlichen Oberrheingebiet. Stuttgart: Landesamt für Denkmalpflege im Regierungspräsidium.

Boutsikas, E. and C. Ruggles, 2011. “Temples, Stars, and Ritual Landscapes: The Potential for Archaeoastronomy in Ancient Greece”, American Journal of Archaeology, 115 (1): 55–68. https://doi.org/10.3764/aja.115.1.55

Brady, B., 2015. “Star Phases: The Naked-Eye Astronomy of the Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts”. In Skyscapes: The Role and Importance of the Sky in Archaeology, edited by F. Silva and N. Campion, 76–86. Oxford: Oxbow Books.

Caesar, 1869. The Gallic Wars, trans. W. A. McDevitte and W. S. Bohn. New York. Harper & Brothers.

Campbell, B., 1996. “Shaping the Rural Environment: Surveyors in Ancient Rome”. Journal of Roman Studies 86: 74–99. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0075435800057440

Castagnoli, F., 1971. Orthogonal Town Planning in Antiquity. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.

d’Aujourd’hui, R., 1998. “Zur Geometrie des Stadtplans von Augusta Raurica – Mit einem Exkurs zum Belchensystem“, in Mille Fiori: Festschrift für Ludwig Berger, edited by K. Meier-Riva. Forschungen in Augst 25: 19–32. Augst, Switzerland: Römerstadt Augusta Raurica.

Derks, T., 1998. Gods, Temples and Ritual Practices: The Transformation of Religious Ideas and Values in Roman Gaul. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. https://doi.org/10.5117/9789053562543

Dozio, E., 2007. “Einige Bemerkungen zur sakralen Anlage in der Grienmatt (Augst/BL)”. Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst 28: 197-208. http://doi.org/10.5169/seals-395699

Ferrari, G., 2008. Alcman and the Cosmos of Sparta. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

geo.BL, 2016. GeoView BL [online]. http://geoview.bl.ch, accessed January 2018.

GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, 2015. IGRF Declination Calculator [online]. http://isdc.gfz-potsdam.de/geomagnetism/igrf-declination-calculator/, accessed July 2015.

González-García, A. C., A. Rodríguez-Antón and J. A. Belmonte, 2014. “The Orientation of Roman Towns in Hispania: Preliminary Results”. Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 14 (3): 107–119.

Gradel, I., 2002. Emperor Worship and Roman Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Haeussler, R., 2007. “The Dynamics and Contradictions of Religious Change in Gallia Narbonensis”. In Continuity and Innovation in Religion in the Roman West, vol. 1, edited by R. Haeussler and A. C. King. Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplement 67: 81–102. Portsmouth, Rhode Island: Journal of Roman Archaeology.

Haeussler, R. and A. King, 2007. “The Formation of Romano-Celtic Religion(s)”. In Continuity and Innovation in Religion in the Roman West, vol. 1, edited by R. Haeussler and A. C. King. Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplement 67: 7–12. Portsmouth, Rhode Island: Journal of Roman Archaeology.

Harding, J., B. Johnson and G. Goodrick, 2006. “Neolithic Cosmology and the Monument Complex of Thornborough, North Yorkshire”. Archaeoastronomy 20: 26–51.

Hartmann, B., 2013. “Die epigraphische Kultur der römischen Kolonie Augusta Raurica: Ein ‘epigraphic habit‘ keltischer Prägung”. Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst 34: 117–136. https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-86431

Haverfield, F., 1915. The Romanization of Roman Britain (3rd Edition). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Henty, L., 2014. “The Archaeoastronomy of Tomnaverie Recumbent Stone Circle: A Comparison of Methodologies”. PIA: Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 24 (1): 45–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/pia.464

Hesiod, 1914. Works and Days, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica, trans. H. G. Evelyn-White, 2–63. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Hingley, R., 2000. Roman Officers and English Gentlemen: The Imperial Origins of Roman Archaeology. London and New York: Routledge.

Hufschmid, T., 2008. “Die Heiligtümer von Augusta Raurica. Überlegungen zur Topographie und Interpretation”. In Topographie sacrée et rituels. Le cas d’Aventicum, capitale des Helvètes, Actes du colloque international d’Avenches, 2-4 Novembre 2006, edited by D. Castella and M.-F. Meylan Krause. Antiqua 43: 137–153. Bâle: Archéologie Suisse.

Hufschmid, T., 2016. “Drei Theater und ein Heiligtum: Aspekte von Kult und Ritus am Beispiel der römischen Theater von Augst”. In Theaterbauten als Teil monumentaler Heiligtümer in den nordwestlichen Provinzen des Imperium Romanum. Architektur – Organisation – Nutzung, edited by T. Hufschmid. Forschungen in Augst 50: 175-192. Augst, Switzerland: Römerstadt Augusta Raurica.

Hyginus, Gaius Julius, 1960. The Myths of Hyginus, translated by M. Grant. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press.

Hyginus Gromaticus, 1913. Constitutio Limitum (Constitution of Limits). In Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum, vol. 1 part 1, edited by C. Thulin, 131–171. Leipzig: Teubner.

Ingold, T., 1993. “The Temporality of the Landscape”. World Archaeology 25 (2): 152–174. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.1993.9980235

Kosowsky, M., 2016. HeyWhatsThat Testbed [online]. Accessed August 2016, http://www.heywhatsthat.com

Magli, G., 2008. “On the Orientation of Roman Towns in Italy”. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 27 (1): 63–71. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0092.2007.00296.x

Mann, N. R., 2011. Avebury Cosmos: The Neolithic World of Avebury Henge, Silbury Hill, West Kennet Long Burrow, the Sanctuary and the Longstones Cove. Winchester, UK: O-Books.

Meller, H., 2002. “Die Himmelsscheibe von Nebra – Ein frühbronzezeitlicher Fund von aussergewöhnlicher Bedeutung”. Archäologie in Sachsen-Anhalt 1: 7–20.

Millett, M., 1990. The Romanization of Britain: An Essay in Archaeological Interpretation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

NASA, 2017. HORIZONS Web-Interface [online]. Accessed June 2017, https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons.cgi

Neukom, C., and Schaub, M., 2013. ‘Die geheimsnivolle Statue von der

Flühweghalde: auf Spurensuche: vom Befund zur farbigen Rekonstruktion‘. Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst, 34: 99–116.

OpenTopoMap. https://opentopomap.org, accessed January 2018.

Pliny (the Elder), 1950. Natural History, vol. 5: Books 17–19, trans. H. Rackham. Loeb Classical Library 371. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Rappenglück, M., 1997. “The Pleiades in the ‘Salle des Taureaux’, Grotte de Lascaux: Does a Rock Picture in the Cave of Lascaux Show the Open Star Cluster of the Pleiades at the Magdalenian era (ca 15.300 BC)?”. In Actas del IV Congresso de la SEAC, edited by C. Jashek and F. Atrio Barendela, 217–225. Salamanca: Universidad de Salamanca.

Robinson, M., 2009. “Ardua et Astra: On the Calculation of the Dates of the Rising and Setting of Stars”. Classical Philology 104 (3): 354–375. https://doi.org/10.1086/650145

Rogers, J. H., 1998. “Origins of the Ancient Constellations: I. The Mesopotamian Traditions”. Journal of the British Astronomical Association 108 (1): 9–28.

Ruggles, C. L. N., 1999. Astronomy in Prehistoric Britain and Ireland. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.

Rykwert, J., 1976. The Idea of a Town: The Anthropology of Urban Form in Rome, Italy and the Ancient World. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Schaefer, B. E., 1986. “Atmospheric Extinction Effects on Stellar Alignments”. Archaeoastronomy: Supplement to Journal for the History of Astronomy 17: S32–S42. https://doi.org/10.1177/002182868601701003

Schaefer, B. E., 2002. “The Latitude and Epoch for the Formation of the Southern Greek Constellations”. Journal for the History of Astronomy 33: 313–350. https://doi.org/10.1177/002182860203300401

Scheid, J., 2003. An Introduction to Roman Religion, trans. J. Lloyd. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Schlosser, W., 2003. “Astronomische Deutung der Himmelsscheibe von Nebra”. Sterne und Weltraum 40 (12): 34–40.

Silva, F., 2012. “Landscape and Astronomy in Megalithic Portugal: The Carregal do Sal Nucleus and Star Mountain Range”. PIA: Papers from the Institute of Archaeology 22: 99–114. https://doi.org/10.5334/pia.405

Silva, F., 2014. “A Tomb with a View: New Methods for Bridging the Gap between Land and Sky in Megalithic Archaeology”. Advances in Archaeological Practice 2 (1): 24–37. https://doi.org/10.7183/2326-3768.2.1.24

Silva, F., 2015. “The Role and Importance of the Sky in Archaeology: An Introduction”. In Skyscapes: The Role and Importance of the Sky in Archaeology, edited by F. Silva and N. Campion, 1–7. Oxford: Oxbow Books.

Silva, F., 2017. “Defining Skyscape” [online]. Accessed 8th May, 2017, http://www.sophiacentrepress.com/2017/04/defining-skyscape/

Steinrücken, B., 2016. “Die Sternphasen der Plejaden in der Bronzezeit - Zur theoretischen Berechnung und kalendarischen Verwendbarkeit von Sternphasen” [online]. Accessed 25th January, 2016, http://sternwarte-recklinghausen.de/astronomie/forschungsprojekt-vorzeitliche-astronomie/#A05

Stellarium, v0.14.1beta, [online]. http://www.stellarium.org/de/, accessed July 2016.

Stohler, H., 1939. “Über die Orientierung der Stadtpläne von Augusta Raurica und Basilia Romana”. Basler Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Altertumskunde 38: 295–325. https://doi.org/10.5169/seals-115103

Strübin, T., 1971. “Bericht über die Ausgrabungen und Restaurierungsarbeiten in der vorderen Ruine Wartenberg (Muttenz) BL”. Nachrichten des Schweizerischen Burgenvereins 44 (5): 422–423. https://doi.org/10.5169/seals-161454

Strübin, T. (with contributions by B. Kaufmann, J. Tauber and H. W. Doppler), 1973. “Ein gallo-römisches Höhenheiligtum auf der Schauenburgerflue”. Baselbieter Heimatbuch 12: 214–231.

Smyrnaeus, Quintus. 1913 The Fall of Troy, translated by A. S. Way. Loeb Classical Library 19. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Tilley, C., 1994. A Phenomenology of Landscape. Providence, Rhode Island: Berg.

Trunk, M., 1991. Römische Tempel in den Rhein- und westlichen Donauprovinzen. Ein Beitrag zur architekturgeschichtlichen Einordnung römischer Sakralbauten in Augst. Forschungen in Augst 14. Augst, Switzerland: Römerstadt Augusta Raurica.

Ulrich Deuschle Panoramen, 2013. Generate a Panorama [online]. Accessed August 2016, http://www.udeuschle.selfhost.pro/panoramas/makepanoramas.htm

Van Andringa, W., 2017 [2002]. La Religion en Gaule Romaine. Piété et Politique (Ier-IIIe siècle apr. J.-C.) (New edition). Paris: Edition Errance.

van Dommelen, P., 2014. “Fetishizing the Romans”. Archaeological Dialogues 21 (1): 41–45. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203814000075

Varro, 1934. On Agriculture, in Cato and Varro, On Agriculture, trans. W. D. Hooper and H. Boyd Ash, 159–529. Loeb Classical Library 283. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Versluys, M. J., 2014. “Understanding Objects in Motion: An archaeological dialogue on Romanization”. Archaeological Dialogues 21(1): 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203814000038

Virgil, 1999. Georgics, in Virgil, vol. 1: Eclogues, Georgics, Aeneid 1–6, trans. H. R. Fairclough and G. P. Goold (revised edition), 97–259. Loeb Classical Library 63. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Vogel Müller, V., M. Nick and M. Peter, 2012. “Spätlatènezeitliche Funde aus Augusta Raurica: Zeugnisse einer vorrömischen Siedlung?”. Jahresberichte aus Augst und Kaiseraugst 33: 145–162. https://doi.org/10.5169/seals-395745

Woolf, G., 1997. “Beyond Romans and Natives”. World Archaeology 28 (3): 339–350. https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.1997.9980352

Woolf, G., 1998. Becoming Roman: The Origins of Provincial Civilization in Gaul. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511518614

Woolf, G., 2014a. “Romanization 2.0 and its Alternatives”. Archaeological Dialogues 21 (1): 45–50. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1380203814000087

Woolf, G., 2014b. Tales of the Barbarians: Ethnography and Empire in the Roman West. Chichester, UK: Wiley Blackwell.

Published

2018-08-03

Issue

Section

Research Articles

How to Cite

Sticker-Jantscheff, M. (2018). A New Look at Old Temples: Augusta Raurica and its Skyscape in the First and Second Centuries AD. Journal of Skyscape Archaeology, 4(1), 52-81. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsa.34976