Feldkirchen in Kärnten

The origins of Roman Feldkirchen reach back until Augustan time. Till now, structures and finds of the Later Preroman Iron Age have not appeared obviously at any location in the area of Feldkirchen. Therefore, it`s not possible to reconstruct a settlement continuity from the graveyard of the Middle Latène-Period situated on the east banks of the river Tiebel to the Roman settlement, already established there in the 1st century AD. Very important for the development of the Roman small town of Feldkirchen was certainly the advantageous geographical situation at an intersection point of important street routes and the possibility to cross the river. The remains of Roman furnaces, the extensive iron slag mounds and the metallurgical examinations carried out by G. Sperl are significant for a Roman iron production centre. Furthermore, in the surroundings of Feldkirchen we know several inscriptions which have to be connected with Roman magistrates concerned with the production of the famous Ferrum Noricum. The archaeological investigation of the Ferrum Noricum shows great deficits. In Feldkirchen it seems that the Roman iron production apparently didnt go back to local Late Iron Age structures. Otherwise we have to consider that during the last centuries BC the Celtic population collected ore-bearing rock in the swampy areas of the hinterland. Therefore only with a research project combining archaeological excavations, large-scale surveys, archaeological and geological prospections and archaeo-metallurgical investigations it would be possible to receive a better understanding of the settlement and production structure in the first centuries AD. The Roman small town of Feldkirchen which we may have to identify with Beliandrum mentioned on the Tabula Peutingeriana obviously played an important role in this economic system.