Hiker stumbles upon site where Roman offerings were made 2,000 years ago in Swiss Alps
Situated between snow-capped peaks in the Swiss Alps sits a rocky plateau. Those who make the difficult trek up find themselves rewarded with the plateau’s stunning and awe-inspiring view. As archaeologists found, it’s a view that people have been admiring for millennia.
The plateau is part of the Ammertenhorn mountain in Switzerland.
While passing through this area in 2020, a hiker stumbled upon something seemingly out of place and alerted local authorities, the Canton of Bern and the Bern Historical Museum said in a joint news release on Feb. 20.
Archaeologists returned to the plateau and found a collection of Roman artifacts, city officials said. Excavations uncovered hundreds of Roman coins intermixed with 27 rock crystals. Photos show a few of these items.
A bronze leaf-shaped fragment with a punch-marked design was also unearthed, a photo shows. Experts identified this as an offering made to fulfill a vow.
But why did people climb this peak and leave offerings 2,000 years ago?
Archaeologists believe this plateau was a holy site, possibly treated as a pilgrimage site, the release said. The types of artifacts unearthed are similar to offerings left at other Roman religious sites.
Down the mountain from the plateau, archaeologists previously found a Roman sanctuary, officials said. An inscription at the Thun-Allmendingen sanctuary describes how locals left offerings to an Alpine goddess to appease, thank or ask something of her.
“It shows that the Roman population of the region didn’t only worship the mountains from afar, but also went up and close to them to deposit votive offerings,” the excavation’s project manager, Regula Gubler, told Newsweek.
“The rock crystals we found occur naturally up there but may be part of the reason the location was considered significant (or) auspicious,” she said.
“We are only at the beginning of the investigations,” Gubler told Newsweek.
The archaeological finds from the plateau will be on display at the Bern Historical Museum, according to the release.
Ammertenhorn is within the Canon of Bern and about 105 miles southwest of Zurich.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the Canton of Bern and the Bern Historical Museum.
This story was originally published March 15, 2023 at 9:56 AM with the headline "Hiker stumbles upon site where Roman offerings were made 2,000 years ago in Swiss Alps."
