To the south of Bözen, about 10 kilometers to the west of Brugg, a villa rustica was excavated by Rudolf Laur-Belart In 1922-1923 and 1928. The building was erected on a slope, near a spring and overlooking a brook. It measured 33 x 22 m. There were traces of annexes to the north-west, but these were not excavated.
View of Bözen. Photo: Wikimedia, Brian.Hall A seems to have had wooden dividing walls with foundations of limestone, and wooden columns supporting the roof, resting on stones (1-4). The hall will have been used for agrarian purposes. In the south-east corner of the hall, room B was later installed. Here remains of red plaster were found and a flask of green glass. The front of the building consisted of a porticus (C) flanked by tower-like projections. In the projecting room D remains were found of plaster with red, yellow, green and black panels, separated by narrow bands, also black bands. In the western projection bathing rooms were installed. The furnace was located in room E, which had been added later to the projection. Room F must have been the caldarium, room G the tepidarium, room H the frigidarium, and room J the apodyterium. The walls of the two heated rooms were covered with red-brown plaster, the floors were raised. Room L may have been a simple barn. An iron arrowhead was found here. Outside the building a fragment of a handmill was found.
Plan of the villa. Hatched walls belong to a later building phase. Laur-Belart 1929(1), Abb. 9.
A thick layer resulting from a fire was encountered. The ceramics were not dated by the excavator, so the dates of construction and destruction remain unclear (late first century and around 260 AD?). Unfortunately no photos were made or published of the ruins.
Reconstruction drawing of the villa by Hans Baumgartner. Laur-Belart 1929(2).
Literature
Laur-Belart 1925; Laur-Belart 1929(1), 102-108; Laur-Belart 1929(2); Drack 1950, 64; Hartmann-Weber 1985, 165-166.
[22-Aug-2023]
