Raeticus, Germanus, Ianuarius and other itinerant potters

A contribution to commercial questions

Abstract

The vicus of Vitudurum, today Oberwinterthur, canton Zurich, is situated in NE-Switzerland. The settlement lay on an important main road, which ran from the legionary fortress of Vindonissa in the west eastwards towards Raetia. According to the results of dendrochronological analysis the establishment of the settlement took place in 4 BC. A large-scale construction of the western quarter “Unteres Bühl” started around 7 AD. At least 16 plots had wooden rectangular houses with a common frontline and a common porticus. The wooden houses were constantly altered and rebuilt until the 3rd century AD. The centre of the vicus lay at the “Kirchhügel”, which had been settled since the Augustan period. After a fire around 70 AD the first stone buildings - a temple and a bathhouse - were erected there. In 294 AD, the Kirchhügel was fortified with a wall with towers. An inscription names the instigator and the date as well as the name of the vicus “Vitudurum”. Finds, graves and pithouses indicate that the settlement continued until the early medieval period.