The soil was black, peat-like, and still moist considering the time of the year. I moved my metal detector over the small hole I had dug. Again, I heard the sharp, double-toned ringing in my headset indicating a round solid object. There appeared nothing obvious in the hole, so I carefully lifted a small amount of soil in my hand and again moved the machine over the whole. Nothing. Whatever lay in the earth gathered in the palm of my hand.
Thus began one of the more amazing archeological journeys and detective work in modern times. When I was visiting Germany in 2003, my travels brought me to the Kalkriese/Varusschlacht Museum and excavation site near Osnabrück and the Teutoburg Forest, the locale of the infamous battle of the Germans against Varus in 9 AD, ending in the annihilation of three legions. While the main reason for my visit was a Mommsen exhibit, I was of course intrigued and excited by the fact that the battleground had finally been discovered and by the artifacts shown in the museum. In the museum shop, I found the book "Auf der Suche nach den verlorenen Legionen," by Major Tony Clunn, and I was fascinated by his tale. A little later, I acquired the English version which Major Clunn had self-published in the UK. Now, in 2005, he has found an American publisher for his book. A link to an interview describing the new edition is below.
The current book is a revised and updated version of the two mentioned above. It traces one man's tenacity, pursuing a theory in what the author calls "the long, exhilarating, and often frustrating journey to document where Varus and his men met their end."
Major Clunn, at the beginning of the events in 1987 stationed with the British Rhine Army in the Osnabrück area, is an amateur archaeologist and military historian, a combination well suited to the task he set himself. He had been intrigued by the assertion of the 19th century German historian Theodor Mommsen that coins found in the Kalkriese area indicated a specific topographic gap as the location of the Varus Battle. This assertion had always been met with deep skepticism by archaeologists and historians up to our era, whereas Clunn's military historian expertise led him to giving more credence to the claim. After he found several coins himself, pin-pointing the 9 AD time frame, he contacted the local archaeological authorities to gain official permission to continue his excavations. This was granted to him, although Wolfgang Schlüter, the man in charge, very much doubted that anything would come of it.
The results are now known to anyone interested in Roman and/or military history.
The two men eventually began to work closely together, even when Major Clunn was stationed in other parts of Germany and in London. Upon his retirement, Major Clunn settled in the Osnabrück area, and he continues to involve himself in Kalkriese and other archaeological research projects related to the subject. He received various awards in Germany, recognizing his work, as well the British OBE for his services to Anglo-British relations.
The book, based on his diaries and other records, tells a gripping tale! From early beginnings of just finding coins the story moves on to the exciting find of three pearl shaped stones which turned out to be sling shot pieces, to co-operation with Dr. Schlüter's team, to the famous silver battle mask and other military objects, and finally bones of slain soldiers, much of which can be seen now at the Kalkriese/Varusschlacht Museum. Along the way, the author made friends with local farmers and land-holders on whose properties he did his his excavations, sometimes assisted by his children, as well as with other archaeologists, the most notable being Frank Berger, a world leading coin expert working at the Kestner Museum Münzkabinett in nearby Hannover. The reader follows the story from day one and shares the author's "exhilaration and frustration" as it unfolds. There are a number of surprises here which I will not reveal, as it would spoil the suspense; therefore, this is not a lengthy review.
Interspersed in the narrative is an imaginative fictional re-telling of the events leading to the battle and the battle itself, based on ancient historians, various archaeological finds, and Major Clunn's knowledge of the topography, thereby fleshing out the story.
Visits to the archaeological site of Varus's winter camp near the town of Haltern and similar locations round out the picture.
