Das Kastell Schaan und die Transformationsprozesse des Alpenrheintals in der Spätantike: Entwicklung – Netzwerke – Mobilität – Bevölkerung

Abstract

The settled landscape of the Alpine Rhine Valley was marked by a striking change in the location of settlements from the valley floor to higher altitudes during the 4^th century and a distinct decline in settlement activities in the 5^th century. From the end of the 3^rd century, the valley lay in the immediate hinterland of the limes, as evidence of the presence of civil servants and of the construction of the castrum at Schaan in particular clearly demonstrates. The then predominant hilltop settlements were not under state control, which explains why the civil servants’ presence can only be proved for the valley. With the construction of the castrum at Schaan, non-local persons can first be detected in a region that, outside the military base, stayed rooted in its local traditions. In the castrum of Schaan and in the entire Alpine Rhine Valley, it is nevertheless obvious that the extensive transregional networks existed until at least the end of the 5^th century.