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Archaeology or archeology[a] is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes.
Archaeology has various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time.
The discipline involves surveying, excavation, and eventually analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Read more...
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In addition to the wall, archaeologists found shards of pottery and animal bones at the site
Obviously, the only conclusion that accounts for all the evidence is that the wall was built to keep the animals away from the pottery.
For reference: the baths in the city were destroyed exactly a hundred years later, in 375 CE. So odds are that the fort was mildly effective to keep the barbarians out.
And by "barbarians" I mean likely Franks. In the long term... well.
This is a map of the Franconian dialects. I edited it to show Aquae Granni / Aachen, right in the middle. "Franconian", "Frankish", you should get the picture.
If something works for more than a lifetime, I wouldn't call it mildly effective.
Did it work?
Odds are that the fort worked rather well in the short term, and that Aquae Granni / Aachen fell for logistic reasons.
Context: the Roman Empire was a mess back then, being split twice (by Diocletan then Constantine), between the fort being built and the city falling for tribals. Couple that with Aquae Granni being mostly a vacation town in the middle of nowhere, and why it fell becomes clear - "too low priority, we aren't sending supplies there, let the citizens fend off themselves against the bar-bar-bar".
Do they speak German in Germany?
From the article:
But what we know is that it works. We have no indication of any big destruction after the castrum was built.
