The most sensational find, an iron face mask from a Roman cavalryman’s helmet, also reveals signs of plunder – the silver foil was roughly torn off it.
Eight pits containing the bones of men aged 20 to 45 have been found, with many skulls showing gaping holes from fatal blows. The pits tally with a Roman account of how legions under commander Germanicus discovered the battlefield in 16AD and buried the heaps of bleached bones they found. The soldiers also found skulls nailed to trees.
Some historians still dispute that Kalkriese is the battlefield but after 20 years of excavation, they are in the minority. The more than 5,000 artefacts found, ranging from spear tips to ornate tableware exhibited in a well-devised museum at the site, paint a conclusive picture of a devastating ambush on a Roman column that was not prepared for trouble.
Why else would it have been transporting luxury goods and dining sofas, as well as ample cash? Also, none of the 1,600 coins found were minted after 9AD.
Traces of fighting were found in a wide area around Kalkriese, which ties in with accounts by Roman historians that the battle raged for four days and began with ambushes on the thin column of legionnaires and supplies that stretched 15km as they marched along narrow forest paths.
They were commanded by Publius Quinctilius Varus, a Roman general, and were heading south to spend the winter in a base by the Rhine.
Arminius, the commander of a troop of Germanic cavalry attached to the Roman army as auxiliaries, is believed to have led Varus into a trap by persuading him to make a detour to put down a rebellion.
Varus trusted Arminius and agreed to change course. Arminius, intent on launching a revolt that would help him found his own kingdom, rode off with his unit to join up with fighters from other tribes hiding in the forests and launched a series of ambushes.
The legionnaires, used to fighting battles in open ground using their shields, spears and swords, were not able to use their tactics in the forest.
After days of guerrilla-style attacks up and down the column, the battle is believed to have culminated at Kalkriese, a bottleneck between a hill and a moor where Varus fell on his sword rather than be captured.
“We should be glad that the battlefield wasn’t found in the 18th or 19th century, let alone during the Nazi period, because it would have become a pilgrimage site for German nationalists,” said Mr Bendikowski.
Two world wars have left Germans deeply cautious about national myths.
An easy-going, peaceful patriotism has replaced the old brand of aggressive nationalism, and today’s interest in Arminius mainly reflects curiosity about what really happened in that fateful September 2,000 years ago.
“The myth of Hermann will continue to pale,” said Mr Bendikowski. “What will remain of him will be the experience of a historical myth.
“We will remember how a nation tried to invent itself and how history was constructed. It will help us to understand ourselves and other nations better.”
dcrossland@thenational.ae