Roman Limes Research Articles

A Contribution to the Integration of International, National and Local Cultural Heritage Protection in Planning Methodology: A Case Study of the Djerdap Area

The paper focuses on the question of how the application of a multilevel, integrated, and territorial approach can contribute to the protection of cultural heritage through planning instruments in Serbia. The principles of territorialization, integration and digitalization highlighted in the recent strategic documents of the Republic of Serbia are related to international recommendations and theoretical concepts and analyzed with regards to the possibilities of their implementation in planning methodology. The case study is the spatial plan for the Djerdap National Park, a special purpose area with already recognized international and national importance. The research suggests that the encompassed cultural heritage, except the Roman limes, is still recognized at the level of individual entities. The study emphasizes the importance of aligning all levels of governance to safeguard the whole spatial entity rather than focusing solely on its particular areas. The international and national significance of the planning area contributes to the strengthening of awareness of heritage and its institutional protection. However, the vitality of the area, which is key to its sustainable development, comes from the local level. Planning documents contribute to the integration of local values and local communities into development programs and projects.

Herennius Germanus – veteranus of legio IIII Flavia and the Archeological Complexes of Ratiaria and Its Territory

The archaeological studies of the frontier zones of the Roman Empire are of particular importance due to the abundant excavated data that can be directly linked to historical sources and epigraphic evidence known for centuries. In the Lower Danube region of the Roman Limes, an area that has not been as extensively explored as the areas in Central and Western Europe, there are now a lot of new rescue and regular excavations. The new field data, which were obtained from details unearthed near the village of Sinagovtsi, Vidin region, only 15 km away from the ancient centre of Ratiaria, are important as they might help clarify the way of life in Antiquity if linked to and interpreted together with the already known epigraphic, historical and numismatic data.

PXRF and Polychromy: Identifying Pigments on Limestone Statuary from the Roman Limes, Preliminary Results

This paper presents the preliminary results of an investigation on the unexplored topic of polychromy on provincial stone sculptures from the Roman provinces in Germania through the innovative application of heritage materials science techniques. A group of three life-sized statues dating to the 1st Century CE recovered from Ingelheim, near Mainz, retains remarkably well-preserved traces of pigments. These are ripe for emerging non-invasive technologies supplemented by micro-sampling to validate results and provide information relating to mixing and layering not available to the naked eye. The most strikingly visible areas of extant polychromy were retained on the sculpture of a young woman, reported on here as the first phase of this programme of research. The results suggest that the statue was originally covered in a gypsum layer before the application of complex and diverse recipes of pigment applied as mixtures and in layers to create required hues and shadowing on sculpted features. The palette includes ochres and green earth mixed with small amounts of minium (red lead), realgar and lapis lazuli (ultramarine blue) added to create skin tones, and a vibrant blue-green tunic created from Egyptian blue, bone black, ochres, cinnabar and green earth; the palla and peplos contained ochres, bone black, and orpiment, and mixes of these created the detail of coloured jewellery. Of great interest was the detection of bone black on many features, particularly as a shading agent to enhance sculpted features, such as folds in cloth, providing a more realistic and flowing articulation. This is a revolutionary observation that provides previously unexplored insights into artistic polychromic practice in Antiquity.

Пряслица со знаками с памятников рязано-окской археологической культуры середины I тыс. н. э. (культурный и исторический контекст)

The paper introduces four spindle whorls with various ornamental signs from the sites of the Ryazan-Oka archaeological culture. As archaeologists have long established, spindle whorls were undoubtedly part of the technological complex of weaving – weights for spin-dles, however, in most cultures of Eurasia they had secondary sacred-magical functions and, accordingly, were often decorated with various signs in which they see calendar or cosmogonic symbolism. In three cases, these spindle whorls were placed in burials as a sep-arate element of grave goods. It is possible that the emergence of the tradition of putting various images on spindle whorls was borrowed by local residents as a result of contacts with the Chernyakhov archaeological culture, where there are finds in the burials of spindle whorls with supposed images of “Germanic” runes. Accordingly, the “Ryazan-Oka” signs on spindle whorls were a kind of import that representatives of the local “Ryazan-Oka” elites received as a result of contacts with provincial Roman limes cultures.

Review, Andrea Popa, Managementul integrat al patrimoniului cultural mondial în România. Studiu de caz: Frontiera romana în Dacia. Siturile de epoca romana de la Bretcu, Comolau si Borosneu Mare [Integrated Management of World Cultural Heritage in Romania. Case Study: The Roman Frontier in Dacia. The Roman sites of Bretcu, Comolau, and Borosneu Mare] (Sibiu: Editura ASTRA Museum, 2023)

The book titled “Integrated Management of World Cultural Heritage in Romania. Case Study: The Roman Frontier in Dacia. The Roman sites of Brețcu, Comolău, and Boroșneu Mare” is the result of the effort of Ms. Andrea Popa, carried out within the Doctoral School of the University “Valahia” of Târgoviște, successfully defended in 2023. The monograph is structured in four parts: 1. Introduction; 2. Types of Roman sites. Components of the Roman Limes in Dacia from the UNESCO Tentative List. Case studies from the proposed research area; 3. Management of the Roman frontiers in Europe; 4. World Heritage Stakeholders in Romania, followed by Final Conclusions, Bibliography, Abstract in English, and some appendices, which complement very well the analytical part of it. Each chapter is made up of four to seven paragraphs, which reveal a successful structuring of the work.

Modeling a key limes: Least-cost and spatial analysis to uncover a Roman intramountainous path in the Aures, Algeria

The present paper investigates the contribution of modern archaeology techniques in affirming a hypothesis on a Roman road in a territory long considered isolated. The adopted approach seeks to emphasize the chrono-historical potential of the Wadi Abiod valley in the Aures (Saharan Atlas), despite its geoenvironmental conditions being not well understood, using new and more in-depth studies to support Roman archaeological research. Accordingly, this work applies an integrated approach of research-combined methodologies, and technologies linked to the least-cost path (LCP) modeling on an archaeological case study previously analyzed using the typo-morphological circuit modeling, with a review of the pros and cons of these methods for the understanding of past movement. The research delivers new insights into the Roman expansion mechanisms in the valley, enhancing the idea of rediscovering the Roman limes and taking a multidisciplinary approach that explores the complex relationships between classical and modern analysis. The paper highlights the necessity of interconnecting multi-source information to reconstruct ancient routes, considering the geoenvironmental and cultural influence of ridgeways in shaping past mobility.

Raw glass and glassworking practices beyond the Roman limes: A case study of the late Roman workshop in Komarov (Middle Dniester, Western Ukraine)

AbstractThe chemical composition of 42 samples of raw glass from the Komarov settlement on the Middle Dniester was studied by means of SEM-EDS, EPMA and LA-ICP-MS analyses. We singled out groups of colourless glass of Levantine and Egyptian origin, the chronology of which indicates that the workshop could be dated to the 4th – early 5th century. The data on the chemical composition of the raw glass do not confirm that glassmaking industry existed here in an earlier period, as was previously believed. The manufacturing in Komarov combines the use of high-quality perfectly decolourized raw glass with intensive use of cullet, which might point out either different levels of the glassware manufactured here, or selective recycling. The characteristic features of the workshop's raw glass supply are the absence of the HIMT glass and late spread of antimony-decolourized glass.

Borderlands archaeology and the quest for an improved ‘walled-off salad’ recipe

Archaeologists should always have their say in the interpretation of the archaeological record. Moreover, they should not allow those interpretations to be misappropriated by others, whether politicians, journalists or specialists of other disciplines. By contending that borders are a timely topic for archaeological attention, Emily Hanscam and Brian Buchanan (2023) make a decisive epistemological step forward within the field, also opening up the potential of the discipline's specialised knowledge for wider dissemination and impact. They advance from a straightforward position: the argument that re-bordering in the contemporary world, notably through the increasing fencing of borders (Bissonnette & Vallet 2020), often originates in a normative and normalising discourse on the past. The best example, according to the authors, is Hadrian's Wall, which appears as a common justification for the building of contemporary walls on a growing number of international borders. Their text unfolds a comparison between the archaeological findings about that one short segment of the Roman limes in northern Britain and the supposed properties of the contemporary infrastructure on the US/Mexico border, which successive US presidents have sought to reinforce—chief among them Donald Trump.

Centrality on the periphery: an analysis of rural settlement hierarchy in the Dutch part of the Roman limes

The Lower Rhine region was of crucial importance for the Roman empire as a transit zone from Gaul to the North Sea. The river Rhine functioned both as a transport artery and as a defence line. Huge investments were made in the first century CE to protect this economic lifeline, by installing a line of forts and legionary camps along the river from Cologne up to the North Sea, known as the Lower Germanic limes. Unlike areas further south, however, its hinterland did not witness a development towards a ‘central place’ settlement pattern, but instead shows seemingly separate trajectories of development of the ‘urban’ and ‘rural’ settlements. In this paper, the apparently weak socio-economic interaction between the towns, forts and rural hinterland is analysed using a model of settlement hierarchy originally developed by Bertoncello et al. (2012). Data on building materials and ceramic imports found in archaeological surveys and excavations in the Dutch part of the region were used as indicators of socio-economic status, and settlements were classified accordingly. Statistical and spatial analysis of the resulting settlement classification revealed a weak hierarchy of rural settlement in the region, that was to some extent influenced by the development of towns.

Staroveké kulty vo svetle archeologických nálezov v antickej Gerulate

The sophisticated system of Roman Limes fortifications that protected the Roman Empire is 3000 km long in Europe, and the entire frontier stretches over 5000 km. Parts of it have been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1987. The last section, the Danubian Limes, the western part, which includes Germany, Austria and Slovakia, was added in July 2021. Gerulata castle was located on the northern borders of the Roman Empire, in what is now the Bratislave-Ruscove city district. The fortified area of the frontier was a complete settlement unit with a castle, vicus, civil settlement, burial grounds and wider hinterland formed by the villas rustici. Archaeological finds also indicate a rich religious life with cults that spread across the empire, including Gerulata. The diversity of religious expression in Roman society did not lead to the creation of a unified religion. In the 3rd century BC, the Roman pantheon was enriched with Greek deities, and in the same period, at the time of the Second Punic War, Eastern Oriental cults reached Rome and were fully established by the 2nd century AD. Evidence of these cults was found in Gerulata on votive and tombstone monuments and also on everyday objects (lamps, vessels).

Cultural and natural heritage as a driver of sustainable landscape development

The Roman Limes - a former natural border of the Roman Empire has been recognized as a cultural landscape with exceptional universal values of international importance by UNESCO. In the Republic of Serbia, the Roman Limes encompasses the Danube river valley. Within this part of the Roman Limes, the Djerdap segment, which includes sites of different historical periods, stands out. However, most of the sites are underwater due to the construction of the Hydroelectric Power Plant. Physical inaccessibility to cultural heritage has led to insufficient presentation and promotion, but also a lack of information about its existence. Therefore, the main goals of this paper are to spread knowledge about the existence of the cultural and natural heritage of the Djerdap segment, as well as to identify the potential for their integration into contemporaneity. The results are presented through an urban-architectural project that is the sublimation of formed critical attitudes about the cultural heritage treatments. The expected results of the research include raising awareness of the importance of the cultural and natural heritage of the Djerdap segment through the promotion of cultural routes, as well as forming a potential model for their use in the process of establishing sustainable landscape development.

Roman frontier crossing Mocanului Valley

Several years ago, within Limes Transalutanus Project (2014-2017), we dealt with several segments of the Roman limes in Teleorman County. Briefly, that meant aerial and terrestrial survey, geologic sampling and geophysics, in most of the cases. The old renditions of the frontier line, as being a rampart without a ditch, were intriguing and unusual, thus they had to be checked in the field, including by test digging. One spot chosen for a complex investigation was located several kilometres south of Roşiorii de Vede, along Mocanului Valley, where the most common traits of a Roman border (a tower, the frontier palisade and segments of the road) were present and relatively well preserved. The test excavation confirmed the fact that the frontier obstacle was made by a large palisade and the defensive ditch was missing. The Roman road has been also sectioned, having the expected width and bulgy shape, being made, however, entirely of clay, as the stone is absent in the plain. The watchtower is rather large, relatively far from the palisade, and had been strongly burned, as well as the palisade. Such objectives, located in a close range, illustrate the typical parts of a late frontier setup.

The Roman Limes in Bulgaria – in Focus

The Roman Limes in Bulgaria – in Focus

MITRAIZAM NA PROSTORU JUŽNE SRBIJE – ISTORIJSKE OKOLNOSTI

The cult of Persian god Mithra, the Invincible Sun god, was the most significant and present cult in the Roman Empire. Epigraph and archeological evidence of worship of Mithra was recorded in all provinces of this huge Empire on three continents. Cult monuments were discovered in that way even on the territory of modern south Serbia, i.e. parts of the Roman provinces Upper Moesia and Thrace. This paper describes six such monuments: two votive altars with inscriptions from Osmakovo near Pirot and Ravna and four relief icons capturing tauroctonia from Ragodeš and Rasnica near Pirot, Ražanj near Aleksinac and Mramor near Niš. The aim of the paper is to emphasise certain historical circumstances of the growth of Mithraism in south Serbia taking the analyses of these monumetns into consideration. This region is seen as favorable for the spread of this eastern religion for numerous reasons. It is a rich mine region, the intersection of many imporant Roman roads on the Balkans and the main camp of some military units. All these circumstances resulted in the significant presence of the cult of Mithra. The period of the growth of Mithraism stretches from the middle of the 2nd century to the middle of the 3rd century, which is clearly confirmed by epighraph vows. The iconographic analysis of relief stones reveals that they belong to the Danube type and that Mithraism reaches south Serbia from lower Podunavlje through the Roman limes on the river. The lower frieze with side scenes from the Mithra cult legend points to the religious centres in Dacia as models in making the icons.

Kulturno i prirodno nasleđe Đerdapa - izgubljena istorija ili potencijal za održivi razvoj?

The Roman Limes, the former natural border of the Roman Empire, has been recognized as a cultural landscape with exceptional universal values of international importance by the relevant organization for the protection of cultural and natural heritage - UNESCO. The Danube River is an integral part of the Roman Limes, a testimony to the culture and traditions of the peoples who lived on the banks of the Danube, as well as cultural heritage in general. Within the part of the Danube River that passes through the Republic of Serbia, the Djerdap segment stands out. It includes sites of different historical periods (prehistoric, ancient and medieval) and is significant cultural heritage on an international level. However, most of the sites are underwater as a result of the construction of the Djerdap Hydroelectric Power Plant. Consequently, insufficient access to its cultural heritage has led to its insufficient presentation and promotion, but also a lack of information about the existence of the cultural heritage. Therefore, the main goals of this paper are to spread knowledge about Djerdap's cultural and natural heritage, to promote its importance, to identify potential for integrating the cultural heritage into contemporary trends through the affirmation of cultural routes, and to establish sustainable development of the cultural landscape. The results of the research are presented through an urban architectural project that represents the sublimation of critical attitudes formed with regard to the protection, presentation and promotion of cultural heritage. The project draws from a literature analysis, case studies and examples of good practice relevant to the research. The expected results of the research include raising awareness of the importance of Djerdap's cultural heritage through promoting a cultural route and forming a potential model for the use of its cultural heritage in the process of establishing sustainable development of the cultural landscape.

Contemporary Approaches to the Revitalisation, Presentation and Promotion of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Part of the Roman Limes — Case Study of the Late Antique Tomb in Brestovik

Contemporary Approaches to the Revitalisation, Presentation and Promotion of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Part of the Roman Limes — Case Study of the Late Antique Tomb in Brestovik

The Roman limes road between Călugăreni and Sărățeni

The Roman limes road between Călugăreni and Sărățeni

The amphitheatre of Aquincum, Nagyszombat street: reconstructions and their presentation

In 2021, the local government of District III of Budapest had three information boards installed as a contribution to the project entitled “Complex touristic development of the Roman limes at Óbuda-Aquincum” (VEKOP-4.1.2-17-2018-00001). Two of these were set up in the area between Nagyszombat Street, Pacsirtamező Street and Zápor Street, near the amphitheatre of the military town, while the third one was installed at the ruins near Kórház Street, in front of the east gate of the one-time legionary camp. Reconstruction drawings of the monument, prepared by the author, have also been put on display at both sites, who shares, in the present paper, some background information about the boards, and discusses the questions of theo-retical and actual reconstructions and their presentation.

New inscriptions from rural Cyrenaica

AbstractThis paper publishes four inscriptions recently discovered by chance in the Cyrenaican countryside. Nos 1, 2 and 3 are in Greek. No. 1, from a tomb near Mgarnes, is a funerary stele inscribed in verse for a woman whose family was of some importance in the city of Cyrene. No. 2, from the same tomb, is an anthropomorphic stele for another woman, which is discussed on the basis of the dead person's name and the vicinity of the stone to the preceding stele. No. 3, from the middle plateau below Cyrene, is a marble panel with the epitaph of two women named Cornelia, increasing our knowledge of the Cornelii family in Cyrenaica. No. 4, from near Khawlan in the south-east, is a boundary stele in Latin mentioning the boundaries of the province; combining this with the evidence from another such stone from el-Khweimat, close to Gerdes el-Gerrari towards the south-east, also mentioning the provincial boundaries, we are now able to outline the Roman limes in the central part of Djebel Akhdar.

Implications of new mineral phases in the isotopic composition of Roman lime mortars at the Kom el-Dikka archaeological site in Egypt

Over time, the carbonated components of lime-based mortars dissolve and recrystallise, inducing calcite cementation in the resulting micro- cracks and pores, favouring self-healing capacity. In such types of mortars, the binder may originally contain gypsum, or, on the other hand, dissolution and precipitation processes of compounds from different sources (soil, construction materials or airborne particles) may derive in the formation of new saline minerals. The uptake of such components may interfere with chemical and physical analysis, hindering the interpretation of the data needed to determine the identification, provenance of raw materials, formulation, and production processes of mortars, carried out in archaeometric investigations.This article discusses the presence of such mineral phases in the mortars sampled at the Kom el-Dikka archaeological site located in Alexandria, Egypt, and their effect on the findings. A multi-technique approach was undertaken to characterize the ancient mortars and determine their behaviour and evolution, by using the following analytical techniques; polarised optical microscopy (POM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM–EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetry (TG), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and ion chromatography (IC). The results achieved through archaeometric and geochemical investigations show the presence of different mortars at the Kom el-Dikka site. Also, petrological techniques successfully explain the variation in isotopic composition (13C and 18O) patterns mediated by the presence of the saline and carbonate phases.