Roman Settlement Research Articles

NUMISMATIC FINDS FROM THE SITE OF BANJAČE

The paper discusses numismatic finds from the site of Banjace, a total of 63 pieces of Roman imperial coinage found in rescue excavations conducted in 2005 at Dugopolje near Split. Only one piece is different from the rest because of its state of preservation and qual- ity. It is a Roman imperial coin dated to the 2/2 of the 2nd century AD. The other coins are dated to the 4th and 5th centuries AD and attests to the existence of a Roman settlement at Banjace throughout the entire 5th century.

New information on the east and south-east Carpathian storage vessels (1st- 4th C. AD)

"Food production, storage and consumption are the most important steps towards the economic stability of a region and society. Storage vessels were used in all Getic, Carpic and Roman settlements for storing provisions in good conditions and keeping the food protected from pests, fungi and insects. Their production was not random and ethnographic sources demonstrate the correlation between certain types of fabrics, manufacturing techniques and vessel shapes. Generally, the shape of a vessel can determine its function. Storage vessels can be used for keeping cereals but also liquids like wine or water. Attention paid to the design of this type of vessel reveals not only the significant role of these containers in the everyday life of society, saving families from starvation, but also provides us information on the economic, cultural, and social life. A large variety of storage vessels has been found in the territory between the Carpathian Mountains, the Black Sea and the Prut River. These vary from large dolia to small vessels used for storing different quantities. This paper discusses only the medium and small storage vessels. There is an important correlation between these containers. "

Urban planning and ritual action in colonia ulpia traiana (Xanten, Germany): Understanding a non-solar orientation pattern

There is increasing evidence to suggest that cosmological factors were applied in the planning and orientation of Roman towns, at least under Augustus. Among others, this is the case of Colonia Augusta Praetoria Salassorum (Aosta) in Italia, Colonia Urbs Iulia Nova Carthago (Cartagena) in Hispania Citerior Tarraconensis, Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum (formerly Colonia Copia Felix Munatia, Lyon) in Gallia Lugdunensis, Colonia Augusta Treverorum (Trier) in Gallia Belgica, and Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (formerly Ara Ubiorum, Cologne) in Germania Inferior. For the sake of strengthening the sample of cities studied, and identifying orientation patterns from a chronological and astronomical perspective, a number of public structures from Colonia Ulpia Traiana (Xanten) in Germania Inferior were measured. This town was a Roman colony, founded in A.D. 98 by Trajan with a contingent of veteran soldiers and a group of Germanic people. The result was the establishment of a typical Roman settlement with an orthogonal urban grid, whose planning and orientation took cosmological factors into account. In this case, in contrast to the previous examples, we propose that the decumanus maximus was not oriented directly according to the solar arc, but that instead it was possibly linked with other celestial bodies. In addition, the Gallo-Roman temple supposedly dedicated in this town to the Matronae or the Matres was oriented according to the major lunar standstill (“lunistice”). Therefore, this study aims to present the first results regarding the urban orientation of Colonia Ulpia Traiana according to a non-solar pattern, and attemps to provide a preliminary explanation for it from a cultural perspective.

Coto de la Isleta (Chiclana, Cadiz). New data and perspectives on the Roman settlement pattern in the southern area of the Bay of Cadiz

A pesar de su ubicacion inmediata a la desembocadura meridional del cano de Sancti Petri y al islote homonimo, una zona vital desde la perspectiva historica y geoarqueologica en el marco de la bahia gaditana, el estudio del resto de las marismas y yacimientos arqueologicos del tramo sur del cano ha sido escaso hasta el momento. En este trabajo se retoma su analisis aportando nuevos datos sobre el poblamiento de la zona en la Antiguedad, a partir de la discusion de nuevas evidencias disponibles para el caso de Coto de la Isleta, identificada desde hace decadas como una posible cetaria romana. El examen de la topografia del yacimiento y de nuevas evidencias materiales dejadas al descubierto por la erosion costera permiten proponer una reinterpretacion de esta supuesta funcion pesquero-conservera y una posible relacion con el toponimo Ad Herculem .

A Magical Amulet from Durostorum (Moesia Inferior)

The paper analyzes a magical amulet discovered in 2007 by Radu Petcu in the civilian Roman settlement of Ostrov-Durostorum, province of Moesia Inferior. The intaglio, made of lapis lazuli, is a ring stone and depicts the so-called Pantheos or Polymorphic Deity . Following a description of the iconography, a history of research on the interpretation of this deity is presented. An interpretation of the Greek texts on the obverse and reverse of the intaglio is then offered, assisted by a review of comparanda. Finally, the conclusions are made, envisaging the apotropaic role of the amulet and the importance of the new vox magica. Keywords: Magical Amulet; Durostorum; Pantheos; Polymorphic deity; vox magica.

Samian deposit (cache) from Papkeszi (Veszprém county, Hungary)

A collector handed over to the Hungarian National Museum 15 items of samian ware which he had discovered on the outskirts of Papkeszi. All of the vessels were plain ware: Drag.33 cups or Drag.18/31 platters. 12 pieces bear stamps, with exception one they were all made by the workshops of Lezoux in the Antonine period. Their accordance as a set is evidenced by the graffiti naming Verus on 8 pieces. The cache of Papkeszi and its closest paralell in space and time the one of Gorsium indicate that they were both purposely hidden deposits. Cache from the same era are also known from Noricum and Pannonia. Deposits from Gorsium and Aquincum can be related to the Marcomannic–Sarmatian attacks of AD 178–179 which among others resulted in the destruction of the earth-timber fort of Celamantia. Based on samian and brooches the Roman settlement of Papkeszi was inhabited from the Flavian Age. Although its inhabitants might have hidden a cache of terra sigillata as a significant treasure, the Marcomannic–Sarmatian wars (AD 166–180) did not cause any considerable interruption in the occupation of the settlement.

Worked bone and antler from Halmyris: An insight on everyday life of a frontier post of Scythia

Halmyris is one of the most important Roman settlements from the Danube Delta, in the easternmost part of Scythia province during the late Antiquity. Its remains are located 2.5 km east from the present-day Murighiol village and 2 km south from the Saint George distributary of the Danube (in Antiquity named Peuce). The fort (2nd – 4th century AD) and early Byzantine city (5th-early 7th century AD) experienced a long existence benefiting of strategic position. Archaeological research on-going from 1981 led to the discovery of the three gates, the thermae, the praetorium, the Basilica with crypt, the barracks on the western side and of the military complex near the north Gate. Additionally, a large number of epigraphic fragments documents the existence of a unique (throughout the Roman Empire) ‘sailor's village’ - vicus classicorum and we may suppose that workshops for processing bone and antler were based there. In autumn 2014, research in the extramural area of the fort started due to necessity of building a new site-museum and tourist's information point. In this paper bone and antler finds found as a result of the excavation are presented.

Geoarchaeological Core Prospection as a Tool to Validate Archaeological Interpretation Based on Geophysical Data at the Roman Settlement of Auritz/Burguete and Aurizberri/Espinal (Navarre)

Geophysical survey methods are broadly used to delimit and characterize archaeological sites, but the archaeological interpretation of geophysical data remains one of the challenges. Indeed, many scenarios can generate a similar geophysical response, and often interpretations can not be validated without access to the subsoil. In large geophysical surveys many anomalies are detected and validation through archaeological trenches can not be afforded. This paper analyses the validity of geoarchaeological core survey to check the archaeological interpretations based on geophysical results. The Roman site located at Auritz/Burguete and Aurizberri/Espinal (Navarre), provides a great case of study as many investigations have been carried out. After the gradiometer survey performed in 2013 a sediment core survey was designed. 132 cores were drilled using a hand-held coring machine and the sediments were analysed in situ. Site delimitation and archaeological interpretations based on magnetic data could be improved or corrected. In this regard, the core survey proved to be an useful methodology as many anomalies could be checked within reasonable time and resources. However, further geophysical investigations trough GPR revealed unexpected remains in areas where no archaeological deposits were identified through coring. Excavations showed poor conservation level in some of those areas, leading to thin archaeological deposits hard to identify at the cores. The sediment core survey, therefore, was proved to be inconclusive to delimit the archaeological site.

Living on the Edge? Transformation of a Marginal Pleistocene Landscape Into a Settlement Area in the Northeastern Part of the Netherlands

ABSTRACTThis paper will examine settlement location during the Iron Age in the northeast part of the Netherlands, an area shaped by Pleistocene geology. In recent years, a number of Late Iron Age/Early Roman settlements situated on the low lying slopes of sand ridges and nearby stream ridges revealed traces of an earlier Iron Age occupation. Palynological data revealed that this part of the landscape was used by humans before it was transformed into an area of settlement. An analysis of excavation data from two key sites at Denekamp-De Borchert and Groningen-Helpermaar, as well as other known sites, lead to the conclusion that the transformation of ‘peripheral landscapes’ into permanent settlement locations was preceded by a phase of arable cultivation which left no trace of permanent habitation. It is also suggested that the impact of human behaviour on the natural landscape in the Early and Middle Iron Age was much bigger than previously anticipated. When excavating this type of settlement areas dating to the Late Iron Age, archaeologists must be aware that only of a small group of archaeological features exist. The proposed model for the choice of settlement location may be more widespread, because of similarities in landscape between the study area presented here and other landscapes in Northwest-Europe (e.g. parts of Germany and Denmark).

An Attempt to Integration of Different Geophysical Methods (Magnetic, GPR and ERT); A Case Study From the Late Roman Settlement On the Island of Rab in Croatia

AbstractIn 2016 within the RED Project Roman Economy in Dalmatia: production, distribution and demand in the light of pottery workshops, 5 selected areas around the Podšilo Bay were geophysically surveyed. During the fieldworks in the Lopar protected area, located in the northeastern part of the Island of Rab a gradiometer, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) were used. The main aim of the project was to document presence of the Roman architecture in two areas of the bay’s hinterland as suggested earlier by finds of pottery and glass. Geophysical studies conducted in the Lopar area revealed presence of underground remains of ancient structures, probably from the late Roman period and connected with a ceramic production centre at the present seashore. The most interesting results were obtained for the area no. 4, the site where magnetic, georadar and ERT surveys revealed an ancient regular building at 0.4-0.6 m depth. The survey performed in the Lopar area clearly indicates that integration of different geophysical methods enables detailed and effective identification of buried archaeological structures.

‘Written in Bone’: New Discoveries about the Lives and Burials of Four Roman Londoners

AbstractThe Museum of London selected four individuals for multidisciplinary scientific analyses in order to establish their ancestry, aspects of their personal appearance and health. We also reinterpreted their burial context in order to better understand how identity was constructed and expressed in this unique Roman settlement. Our study discovered the presence of people with Black and White European ancestry, some of whom had migrated from the southern Mediterranean. The most surprising result was that Harper Road woman's chromosomes were male. Overall, our experience of undertaking a multidisciplinary study served to further underline the need for these different techniques to be used in combination when investigating past identities. The mtDNA results were very broad and required the mobility isotopes to better understand their significance, while the aDNA evidence confirmed the osteological analysis. In terms of public engagement at the Museum of London, the ability to determine hair and eye colour had a significant impact.

Map of Roman Settlements

Map of Roman Settlements

The Nora Virtual Tour: an immersive visit in the ancient city

The ancient city of Nora was a Phoenician, Punic and Roman settlement rising on a peninsula in the south-western coast of Sardinia. Since 1990, the University of Padova has been carrying on an interdisciplinary research project of excavation, architectural analysis, historical reconstruction and cultural promotion of tourism in this site. The excavations allow us to increase our knowledge of Middle Imperial Roman urban planning and to get a better understanding of the whole city and its history; the restoration of excavated monuments using gravels with different colours helps more than 60,000 tourists every year to recognize the function of different areas. In spite of this, visitors experience difficulty in understanding a landscape of ruins with barely visible evidence. Thus, a complete virtual reconstruction of the ancient city has become essential. 3D models of the Phoenician and Roman settlement have been developed, reshaping archaeological plans produced in 25 years by Universities that work in the site. The main monuments of the Roman city and the major crossroads have been rendered in greater detail, using sample-based textures that give a photorealistic effect and implementing the models with furniture and decorations selected through reliable sources of information. 3D reconstructions are now available for tourist groups led by a guide in the Nora Virtual Tour: stereoscopic images have been rendered and uploaded in an app for mobile headsets that provides immersive virtual reality for the users. The guide controls the devices with a tablet using a Bluetooth connection: at the beginning of the visit, the tourists can view equirectangular panoramas of the ruins taken from a helicopter, then they are accompanied to hot-spots where the ancient monuments are shown in an evocative Roman reconstruction.

Sallunto-Bersumno-Scodra Roman roads

The paper presents data concerning Sallunto-Bersumno-Scodra Roman roads (Rijecani-Podgorica-Skadar) and intermediate communities in the southeastern parts of the province of Dalmatia. While researching ancient roads in the southeastern part of the province of Dalmatia (Montenegro), we relied on recorded oral sources, epigraph statues, milestones, bridge and road remains in the area. We discussed also contemporary historiographers' various opinions about the location of stations. Using the data obtained after visiting the area itself and the data from Peutingeriane and the Antonine Itinerary, we believe that the road led to the east from the Sallunto station (Rijecani) to Anderba (Niksic) and then to the Varis station (Povija), Halata (Spuž), Bersumno (Podgorica), across the Cinna station (Vuksan-Lekic) into Scodru (Skadar). Archaeological remains (the Roman settlement and road remains and the fragments of milestones) found in Rijecani, Niksic, Podgorica, Tuzi, Vuksan-Lekic and Skadar (the southeastern parts of the province of Dalmatia) point out that this area was connected by the network of Roman roads. However, it is believed today that Publius Cornelius Dolabella started building the road network and that it was finished during the rule of Claudius, i.e., in 48 AD. All the other dates (the 3rd and 4th centuries) and inscriptions are related to the road repair or renovation. We, however, do not have enough records which would enable us to determine easily reliable and precise location of these stations today. Therefore, the systematic research of this area, left to be done, will enable us to do that.

A systematic method for estimating the populations of Greek and Roman settlements

The last few years have seen a growing interest in the urbanism of the Greek and Roman world. This has led to a consensus of sorts about some of its vital statistics, such as the sizes of the populations of the most important settlements and the size of the overall urban population, the urbanization rate (i.e., the share of individuals that lived in urban, rather than rural, contexts), and the total population. A good example comes from W. Scheidel in the Cambridge economic history of the Greco-Roman world. According to him, it is likely that c.1.5 million people lived in the 5 largest cities of the Greco-Roman world by the 2nd c. A.D. These included Rome, which is usually agreed to have had a population of about 1 million; Alexandria, which might have had c.500,000; Antioch, which could have had at least 150,000; and Carthage and Ephesus (Scheidel does not give explicit figures for those).

Roman road communication Epitauro-Resinum

Roman Road Communication Epitauro-ResinumIn this paper, we present data on the Roman road communication Asamo-Epitauro-Resinum (the present-day Trebinje-Cavtat-Risan), with the settlements along the route. From the road station Ad Zizio (the present-day village of Mosko or Uksici in the area of Ljubomir) the road led south to Asamo (Trebinje), then over the road station Epitauro (Cavtat) to Resinum (Risan, or Rose). The archaeological finds (the remnants of a Roman settlement, road, fragments of milestones) from the sites in Trebinje, Cavtat and Risan (the south of the province of Dalmatia) suggest that this area was, relatively early, connected with the network of Roman road communication. During the exploration of the ancient road communications and settlements in the south of the province of Dalmatia (southern Herzegovina, south-eastern Croatia, south-western Montenegro) we used original written sources and material remains from the site. Based on the visits to the sites in Trebinje, Cavtat and Risan, and the data obtained from oral sources as well, we believe that the road station Asamo is located in Trebinje, the road station Epitauro in Cavtat, and the road station Resinum in Risan, or Rose. Even though a significant number of findings is in favour of both of the thesis that the ancient Resinum is located in Risan, or Rose, systematic researches which would confirm this are yet to be conducted at this site.

LIVING AMONG RUINS: THE MEDIEVAL HABITAT IN THE ANCIENT SETTLEMENT OF POROLISSUM AND IN ITS SURROUNDINGS

After more than century of archaeological research and thousands of artefacts discovered in the Roman age settlement of Porolissum, the rare medieval finds were not given much attention. Also the preoccupation of studying the roman ruins was, justly predominant at the expense of the few medieval sites that can now be sketched on the map of the Roman settlement. The artefacts found in Porolissum, dated from different periods of the Middle Ages indicates us that the same geographical features that made humans inhabit that specific area since Prehistory, thru the Iron Ages and culminating in the Roman Era, made the medieval people to live among the ruins.

Now you see them, now you don't: Defining and using a flexible chronology of sites for spatial analysis of Roman settlement in the Dutch river area

In this paper, we present a method to deal with poorly dated site inventories for purposes of (supra-) regional settlement pattern analysis. We created a site database for the Roman period in the Dutch River Area on the basis of existing digital inventories, and analyzed the quality of dating information provided in those inventories in order to better understand the development of settlement patterns during the Roman period. We did this by applying principles of aoristic analysis, dividing the time spans assigned to each registered artefact over the archaeological periods considered, and then simulating the probability of finds belonging to a specific archaeological period. Using this method, it is possible to judge the quality of dating information per site, and to analyze patterns of settlement density and site location while taking into account the uncertainty of dating information. Our analyses broadly confirm earlier studies, but they also provide a more solid, quantitative basis to previous work. Furthermore, they highlight the limitations of using the currently available information for settlement pattern analysis.

Plant remains from Roman period town of Obulco (today Porcuna) in Andalusia (Spain)—distribution and domestication of olive in the west Mediterranean region

The aim of this work is (1) to identify the key characteristics of agriculture and the role of olive in Porcuna (Andalusia) of Roman period and (2) to derive a conclusion about the origin of cultivated olive. The study of the literature showed that the olive is one of the most esteemed fruit species in the Classical Mediterranean world and is considered to have been domesticated first in Levant region. The signs of cultivation appear since the Neolithic. The authors analysed 18 samples from archaeological sites. Sorting and identification were carried out using a binocular microscope with the help of comparative collection of seeds/fruits and identification atlases (Digital Seed Atlas of the Netherlands: Cappers et al. 2006). A total number of 19,616 remains was studied. The remains belong to groups of fruit trees, cereals, pulses and synanthropic plants. The cultivated species were used for domestic purposes. The cereals, pulses and mesocarps of the fruits served as food. Important characteristic trait was the overrepresentation of olives. The authors give a summary of the development that led to the cultivation and domestication of the olive tree and to reconstruct its early diffusion using different sources of information, such as archaeobotanical analysis, archaeological data and genetical studies. As a result, a better understanding of the domestication and use of olive on a Mediterranean scale is given. This study also discusses cultivated and synanthropic species in Roman settlements on the Iberian Peninsula.

Morphological reconstruction of Roman styli from Iulia Concordia—Italy

Iulia Concordia is an important Roman settlement known for the production of iron objects and weapons during the Roman Empire. A huge number of well-preserved styli were found in the bed of the main channel of the city. In order to shed light on the production processes used by Roman for stylus manufacturing and the conservation state of the finds, a neutron tomography analysis was performed on NEUTRA beamline in Switzerland. SEM-EDS analyses were performed on few selected objects in order to identify the composition of metal decorations. Here, we present results from our investigation conducted on 91 styli, disclosing, in a non-invasive way, the morphological characterization related to the ancient Roman working techniques.