Recent research from Kalkriese, near Osnabrück (western Germany), suggests that this was the place where the Roman legions of Varus last resisted the Germans in the famous Battle of Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE.
Archaeologists conducted complex studies on the preserved fragments of Roman armament (including lorica segmentata armour) from this site. Researchers are able to determine where a given weapon comes from or by which unit/legion it was used.
More than 550 artefacts from seven legionary camps in the region were examined and compared with the found weapons from Kalkriese. As it turns out, preserved objects from e.g. Dangstetten, the place where he was stationed in the years 15-9 BCE the legion XIX – taking part in the fighting in the Teutoburg Forest – are remarkably similar to those found in Kalkriese. Moreover, the surviving metal objects from the later expedition of Germanicus have a completely different composition than those found in Kalkriese.
The conclusions drawn from the conducted analysis suggest that the last battles of the Roman legionnaires of Varus took place in Kalkriese rather than the campaign of Germanicus, which was carried out several years after the so-called “defeat of Varus” (Clades Variana).
