In 2015 a building was excavated in Erschwil on the Kirchgasse. It may have formed part of an estate. The building was erected in the last third of the first century, but abandoned already in the first half of the second century. A lime kiln testified to the later extraction of building material.
Plan of the building. Tortoli 2017, Abb. 4.The building was situated on a slope and measured 17.00 x 24.50 m. There was an upper floor above rooms 1 and 2. The ceramics belonging to the ground floor and the upper floor indicate that both floors of the western half of the building consisted of living rooms. Many other objects were found in this part of the building, of metal (such as brooches and knives), glass (vessels and beads), and bone (such as a spoon and a spindle used for spinning). Amongst the finds from the upper floor were fragments of a terracotta vessel decorated with snakes. It may have been used in relation to a household shrine. The large area to the east was at least partly covered by a roof. A smithy had been active here, witness slags and other refuse. A nearby millstone will have supported the anvil.
A complete vessel decorated with snakes (not from Erschwil). Photo: Casaulta 2017, 27.
Literature
Tortoli 2017; Casaulta 2017; Schmidig 2017.
[7-Jan-2024]
