Pit without finds = worthless pit? Investigating a Roman military camp from Caesar’s Gallic Wars (58 – 51 BC) near Hermeskeil (Germany)

Abstract

The Roman military camp at Hermeskeil (Germany) is the only securely dated temporary camp from the time of the Gallic Wars (58 – 51 BC). Two distinct phases of use have been identified, each lasting between two and six weeks. Despite the short period of use, the up to 15,000 soldiers who occupied the camp left behind some waste, which would most likely have been deposited in pits. So far, however, only one pit has been discovered. The excavated pit was almost devoid of identifiable archaeological materials. Given the shape and stratigraphy, with alternating dark organic layers and overlying soil material, we hypothesised that the pit was used as a latrine. Using multi-element analysis, we were able to distinguish between the geological background and the anthropogenic pit fill. High concentrations of organic carbon, phosphorus and nitrogen, as well as zinc, calcium and lead, show that the pit was used for waste disposal. Following Δ⁵-sterol, stanol and bile acid analyses, we found signatures related to the presence of herbivore (horse, ruminant) and omnivore (pig, human) faeces. The exclusive use of the pit as a latrine could be ruled out, as human faecal indicators were only found in one pit layer. We also found evidence of coinjection of faeces and undigested animal and plant tissues. The plant material recovered may have been used to cover the faeces. The presence of animal tissues was indicative of the disposal of slaughterhouse waste (stuffed intestines) generated during food preparation. Our study points the way for future investigations, as archaeological information can be found even in pits without macroscopic finds.