einen Produktivitätsschub über das ubische Zentrum hinaus ermöglicht hätte.
Die Blüte des Aufanienkults gleicht einer Rückkoppelung aus der ländlichen
Peripherie in die Welt der Minervier-Offiziere und deren Familien: reflek¬
tierter Kulturkontakt, in dem der Reiz des Exotischen tatsächlich „deliberately
engineered“ erscheint/4
Abkürzungen:
CIL Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, Berlin 1862 ff.
EDH Epigraphische Datenbank Heidelberg, <http://www.uni-
heidelberg.de/institute/sonst/adw/edh/>
(10. August 2009)
1LS Dessau, Hermann: Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae, 5 Bde.,
Berlin 1892-1955.
Summary
Language Contact, Culture Contact and the Names of the
Matronaexn the Lower Rhine Area
The study offers a survey of the religious, geographic, social and ethnic back¬
grounds of the Matronae cult located between Moselle, Meuse and Rhine
during the second and third century AD. With regard to the origin and some
formation aspects of the phenomenon, representative types of Matronae
epithets are studied considering their specific reference forms (local, ethnic,
personal, curial). The paper focuses on names which exhibit characteristics of
language contact (Germanic-Celtic-[Latinj) and therewith shows that the
Matronae religion is primarily rooted in the Celtic culture. The names exhibit
various germanic traits in morphology and phonology such as the feminine
theonyms Saitchamims and Vatvims or the masculine theonym Gebrinius, the
latter documented in a sanctuary for the Aufaniae underneath the Münster¬
kirche in the city of Bonn. The name is strongly influenced by germanic pho¬
nology, while its connection to the Celtic *gabros is still highly visible. The
Matronae religion is based on fertility rites which tend to become exceedingly
attractive in contact situations. Moreover, Roman veterans seem to have
supported the diffusion of the cult amongst the territory of the Ubii and
initiated the enormous productivity of the cult and its various cult-names.
M Zur Kritik an der Ansicht, das Bonner Aufanien-Heiligtum sei prototypisch für den
niedergermanischen Matronenkult, vgl. Derks: Gods, Temples (wie Anm. 28), S.
124ff. und 130.
423
