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Roman fortifcation terms in German
#16
Hi Gilbert,
.... IIRC they did not reconstruct the wooden tower at Rainau-Buch with plasters, because they tried and ran into durability issues.
As far as I also can recall, I myself was severely swearing and cursing while trying to plaster "around" the edges in my house. O.K. I'm not a "learned" craftsman of that trade,
..... but this was inside and not exposed to weather of any kind. :oops:
The other one reconstructed by the same team (Around arcitect Siegbert Huther) will be risen near Michelstadt and be sporting only minor changes, if I understood them right here:
They will mod the decorative woodworking a bit. (Decorative woodworking in roman times will be dealt with in Siegbert Huther's doctorate papers which I mentioned in my report.)
In context of the Friedrichhall-Kochendorf numerus camp I remember them saying that (at least on the Odenwald-Limes) these smaller camps would be built a the sites of watchtowers.
The demonstrative pic they showed at Michelstadt made clear the relations between watchtower(s) and camp. (Although I cannot remember whether there was both a wooden and a stone watchtower before, here
a I was a bit too far away to notice all details of the pics and tables they projected.=
So I'm looking forward for the Saalburg Museum to publish the papers of this colloqium and I'll be reporting on that publication. ( In that other thread )
The construction techniques involved most of the building/woodworking techniques we know today ( except for electric tools, of course) and S. Huther mentioned the were even more (and hitherto lost)
woodworking techniques utilized by the Romans, about which he said he would detail them in his doctorate papers. ( A friend of mine, -- carpenter,-- is already drooling for that book ! :mrgreen: )
As to the Pohl website: it clearly shows plastered tower exteriors and external gallery, the later one , according to both Schallmayer and Huther would have led to stability issues on "the average tower" and besides this
the traces of the water running from the eaves provided no place for such a gallery, being quite close to the foundations' traces on both the wooden and stone-watchtower (on the Odenwald-Limes).
Maybe the Saalburg publication will shed a more focused light on that.
Hoping to have been of service.

Greez

Simplex
Siggi K.
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#17
Hello to you also Simplex;

Oh the joys of plaster reconstruction! I had to document 19th century exterior plastering when I restored my office. Our Historical Commission did allow micro fibers as a substitute for horse hair. I can only imaging trying to document 1,900 year old techniques and materials. However, the plastering makes sense. It would offer some protection from rot and decay, and also at least give some fire resistance to an otherwise completely indefensible structure. “Hey Arminius - want to get drunk and grill a few Romans in their wooden tower tonight?”
I will await your synopsis of [almost] Dr. Huther’s Thesis. I have some interest and a little expertise in 19th century construction techniques, and my initial thoughts would be that in a pre-industrial frontier society, there might be more similarities than differences, even though separated by 1,800 years. Hand tools are hand tools. It might take ten minutes to learn how to use them but years of experience to become an artisan. That is why I was curious to know if the archeological evidence could determine if the clapboards were sawn or riven. Actually I think “sawn” is deemed archaic and “sawed” is current usage, but I prefer sawn.
The old Rainau-Buch Wachturm was my first watchtower. In those days before you could pull up anything in the world on the internet, I remember questioning that the blockhaus construction was of Scandinavian, northern and eastern European origins, and not something that one would associate with the Roman Empire.
The problem with “improving” upon restoration work is often common here as well. You cannot approach a restoration project in terms of power tools, but rather, how would I make this if all I had were a hammer, axe, saw and chisels. The ancients did quite well without Bosch or Makita.
Once again, thanks for your time and your response.

Gilbert
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#18
Has anyone ever used a draw knife? I love the things; so much easier than anything else and the multitude of ways to use a collection of wood chisels is near endless. I roughed out my own spear shaft in 10 minutes including the socket end for the head! I bought a Norse Throwing Axe and I really am able to shape things fairly quickly. I always keep the shavings for kindling as well. I shall wait for the thesis as well. I am always willing to learn old proven methods. Big Grin
Craig Bellofatto

Going to college for Massage Therapy. So reading alot of Latin TerminologyWink

It is like a finger pointing to the moon. DON\'T concentrate on the finger or you miss all the heavenly glory before you!-Bruce Lee

Train easy; the fight is hard. Train hard; the fight is easy.- Thai Proverb
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#19
Hi there;

You might want to consider picking up a spoke shave as well. You can do really fine finish work with that tool, and they are actually still available. Do a google search.

Gilbert
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#20
I found this to be a non-mechanical Spoke Shave and thought I would share it. It is a Japanese model but is very nice. Even goes through steps on how to make it all with hand tools.
[url:3f1u8ti9]http://www.japan-tool.com/kanna/Cabinet_Makers/Cabinet_Maker.html[/url]
Like a block plane and a draw knife had a child. Big Grin
Craig Bellofatto

Going to college for Massage Therapy. So reading alot of Latin TerminologyWink

It is like a finger pointing to the moon. DON\'T concentrate on the finger or you miss all the heavenly glory before you!-Bruce Lee

Train easy; the fight is hard. Train hard; the fight is easy.- Thai Proverb
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#21
Thanks Gilbert, thanks Craig
...but I gave up plastering for good a long time ago ;-) ) )
Back to the subject: The Romans may well have been able to do decent plastering -- there's proof enough of it in other cases, but again, if I got right what they said they did not do it on the Odenwald-limes for sure and most probably also on the Obergermanisch-raetische Limes. The wooden-towers reconstructed after most recent findings is at Rainau-Buch on the ORL and shortly next at Vielbrunn (Odenwaldlimes).
Ah, BTW for those who like to deal with the Limes A-Z (In German) there is a new paperback : [url:rlhyne46]http://www.chbeck.de/productview.aspx?product=24233&toc=3232[/url]. >>> "Leseprobe"
For those already a bit "in the know" I'd recommend Andreas Thiel's books . I got 'em and I like them. The link to them is listed in Noxia's first post.
More on them : [url:rlhyne46]http://www.theiss.de/[/url] >> (FINDEN) >>Thiel >> Klick >> eh voila, -- presto Tongue ublications No. 1, 6 and 7.
BTW: Noxias link proves even more helpful if you look at this: [url:rlhyne46]http://www.deutsche-limeskommission.de/fileadmin/dlk/images/dlk/pdfs/Der_Limes_3_2009_2.pdf[/url] (hope that they'll also be publishing the older issues from "Der Limes" as pdf -- very good pics and graphics)
Page 7 : wooden watchtower.
So, I think that is it.

Greez

Simplex
Siggi K.
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