The identification of Roman buildings from the air: recent discoveries in Western Transylvania

Abstract

AbstractAn ongoing programme of archaeological aerial reconnaissance in southwestern Transylvania, the first time such a programme has been conducted in Romania, revealed quite large numbers of negative cropmarks or parchmarks, particularly in the dry summer of 2000. These areas of restricted crop growth indicated the presence of buried stone‐walled buildings, predominantly of Roman date, which were previously unknown. Important discoveries included much of the internal plan of the auxiliary fort at Cigmau; an extensive civil settlement to the east of that fort; buildings within the civil settlements outside the forts at Vetel (Micia) and Razboieni; buildings and property boundaries within the municipium at Apulum (Alba Iulia); and villas at Oarda and Vintu de Jos. By contrast, positive cropmarks, enhanced growth reflecting the existence of buried pits or enclosure ditches, were observed only rarely. Explanations for this phenomenon linked to a bias in the reconnaissance programme or to a general absence of enclosed sites within the archaeological record in the area are rejected. The preferred explanation relates to local soil conditions, whereby the widespread, deep alluvial soils reduce the contrast in moisture content between buried archaeological ditches or pits and the surrounding soil matrix so that positive cropmarks are rarely formed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.