Roman Provincial Archaeology

Projekat MoDeCo2000 (Dizajn maltera za konzervaciju – Rimska granica na Dunavu 2000 godina kasnije/Mortar Design for Conservation – Danube Roman Frontier 2000 Years After: MoDeCo2000) jeste naučnoistraživački projekat finansiran iz programa PROMIS, Fonda za nauku Republike Srbije. Trajanje projekta iznosi dve godine, od sredine 2020. do sredine 2022. godine. Nosilac projekta je Arheološki institut, koga zastupaju dr Emilija Nikolić (rukovodilac) i dr Mladen Jovičić. Arheološki institut projekat sprovodi zajedno sa Institutom za ispitivanje materijala u Beogradu (Ljiljana Miličić, Ivana Delić Nikolić) i Tehnološkim fakultetom Univerziteta u Novom Sadu (dr Snežana Vučetić, dr Jonjaua Ranogajec). Članovi istraživačkog tima su stručnjaci različitih naučnih oblasti, kako humanističkih tako i tehničko-tehnoloških i prirodnih, te je multidisciplinarni pristup svakako jedna od najvećih vrednosti projekta.

У но вем бру 2021. го ди не из вр ше на су ге о фи­
зич ка сни ма ња и ар хе о ло шка ис ко па ва ња на ло ка ли те ту у се лу
Не при ча ва. Ис тра жен је про стор по вр ши не око 600 m2 ра ди
до ку мен то ва ња свих не по крет них обје ка та и струк ту ра ко ји
су угро же ни из град њом са о бра ћај ни це. От кри ве на је пе ри­
фе ри ја пра и сто риј ског (стар че вач ког) на се ља и обје кат ма њег
по љо при вред ног га здин ства из IV ве ка. На кон ис тра жи ва ња
обје кат је пре вен тив но за шти ћен.

Der Beitrag möchte zeichentheoretische Überlegungen für die Frage nach dem methodischen Zugriff auf die semantische Dimension römischer
Wohnhäuser und ihrer Ausstattung fruchtbar machen. Zu diesem Zweck werden zunächst einige allgemeine Grundzüge der Semiotik skizziert und die Begrifflichkeiten definiert. In Auseinandersetzung mit verschiedenen architektursemiotischen Arbeiten nähern wir uns anschließend einer Betrachtungsweise an, die einzelne Ausstattungselemente als Zeichen innerhalb eines Kommunikationsprozesses und die römische Architektur als das zugrundeliegende Zeichensystem auffasst. Die Anwendbarkeit dieses Ansatzes wird am Beispiel zweier Einzelzeichen erprobt. Hier erweist sich, dass eine Anwendung nur vor dem Hintergrund umfangreicher archäologischer Grundlagenforschung einerseits und einer eingehenden Auseinandersetzung mit den gesellschaftlichen Diskursen andererseits sinnvoll ist.

This paper focuses on researches already undertaken and presented in this conference: starting from the work previously carried out for the setting up, at the urban scale, of a consistent database for the fortified walls of the city of Turin � which updates reading diagrams, maps, archival documents �, it intends to make thematic analysis aimed on the one hand to survey the �existing� and to critically read historical layers, on the other hand to digital reconstructions. In this regard, city gates constitute a homogeneous architectural 'category' that follow the complex transformation � by enlargements, overlays, reconnections � of the walls layout. On the gates, we are organizing a collection of digital representations, uniformly designed and organized to test study approaches, operating methods, purposes and modes of the graphic communication: starting from the analysis and instrumental survey of the only well-preserved gate (Porta Palatina, I century AD) for the represent...

Manuel Zeiler (2023): Große Katastrophe. In: In: LWL-Museum für Archäologie und Kultur (Westfälisches Landesmuseum Herne), S. Leenen, L. Mentzl & D. Mölders (Hrsg.): Modern Times. Archäologische Funde der Moderne und ihre Geschichten. Begleitband zur Ausstellung vom 8.9.2023-18.8.2024. Bönen, 290-293.

Kurzer Bericht zur Untersuchung eines Kalkbrennofens bei Brilon-Alme (Hochsauerlandkreis, Südwestfalen), der in einem Areal frühen Bleibergbaus aufgrund der modernen Steingewinnung untersucht werden musste. Gusseiserne, dekorierte Ofenplatten des Rokoko wurden hier in sekundärer Verwendung gefunden.

Short report on the investigation of a lime kiln near Brilon-Alme (distr. Hochsauerland, South Westphalia), which had to be investigated in an area of early lead mining due to modern stone extraction. Decorated Rococo stove slabs of iron were found here in secondary use.

A small, round terracotta mould is on display at the permanent exhibition of the Aquincum Museum of the Budapest History Museum. It portrays an episode from the story of Danaë from Greek mythology: the scene where Zeus visits the imprisoned Argive princess in the form of a golden shower. Although the depiction is rather risqué, it likely has a classical antecedent. The mould came from the site of one of the Aquincum Civil Town’s pottery workshops, but according to the records it was found not among the ruins of the workshop, but in a grave from the area, which later came to be used for burials. The artefact was either a mould used for producing applied medallions for vessels or a cake mould – highly popular in the
Danube region – used for baking cakes (dulcia, liba, or crustula).

Both from an artistic and statistical perspective the funerary portraiture from Palmyra constitutes the unique set of visual monuments attested at the Roman East. The men of Palmyra were frequently shown with the writing tools held usually by the right hand. The writing tools constitute the largest group of Palmyrene male attributes, yet definitely not a homogeneous one. On their funerary representations, Palmyrenes were shown with styluses, tablets, rolls and open polyptychs whilst the codexes and the capsae occasionally appeared in the background. Further, tablets can take wide and narrow forms. Moreover, the tablets and possibly the squeezed papyrii could have been shown as schedulae, the narrow, trapezoidal form of iconographic representation which has been worked out by Palmyrene workshops by the mid-second century. Contrary to tablets and schedulae the representations of other objects like codexes are small in number, approximately less than a dozen. Still, they are extremely interesting because they document the familiarity with Graeco-Roman imagery. The Palmyrene workshops were replicating similar models and were operating on the akin technological level as at the other sites of the vast Roman Empire. But the evidence provided by the broader contexts attested in Palmyra and Roman East makes it possible to reconstruct the several identities that were related to social roles performed by Palmyrene men: (a) schoolboys; (b) citizens of the Greek polis and the Roman Empire; (c) representatives of the Roman civil and military administration; (d) merchants and caravan organizers; (e) tomb owners; (f) priests. There is also some evidence on the education and literacy of women. The wide spectrum of possible identifications depicts the broad range of social roles that were stressed by writing tools shown in the figures’ hands.

The reconstruction of ancient diets by means of stable isotopes analyses acquires a deeper meaning when their results are compared with other odonto-skeletal indicators which are strongly contextualized in the light of historical and archaeological evidence. Nevertheless, the outcomes can be contradictory or, more realistically, they may not completely satisfy our hypotheses on how complex and diverse conditions - such as health status, life style, diet and nutrition - can actually interrelate in the life course of an individual.In this study we present and discuss evidences from Isola Sacra and Velia, two Roman Imperial Age coastal towns. The õ15N and õ13C values are compared with demographic and health status parameters, such as age, sex, stature, auricular exostoses, DISH, cribra orbitalia, enamel defects. 

PhD thesis on late Roman archaeology in Northern Gaul with specific topics on the late Roman archaeological record in Flanders (Belgium) and material culture studies on crossbow brooches, handmade pottery and late Roman terra nigra foot-vessels. Results related to socio-cultural transformations, economic and demographic decline, identity, local communities, migration & mobility, as well as methodological conclusions regarding creating progress in late Roman material culture studies and considerations on existing biases in research on the late Roman period / Late Antiquity.

Petrographic analysis of the late Roman handmade pottery found during the excavations of the coastal fort at Oudenburg: fabric descriptions, provenance and technological analysis, notes on mobility and migration. With contribution of S. Vanhoutte.

This paper deals with copies of famous artworks in Roman Greece. The analysis of two case studies (the Cnidian Aphrodite by Praxiteles and the Doryphoros by Polykleitos) leads to general remarks about the phenomenon of copies of nobilia opera in Greece during Roman imperial times. It reflects, it is argued, the Roman perception of the Greek past.

Forest ecosystems are crucial in environmental protection and improvement of living conditions in urban and rural communities. Novi Sad, as the capital of AP Vojvodina, has a forest fund and natural forest communities. The aim of this paper is to analyze the state of the forest fund under the administration of the city of Novi Sad. The data considered are related to the forest communities of Fruška Gora and rhytic water ecosystems within the Upper Danube region. Forest plantations under the management of state forest farms were considered. Perspectives of the development of forestry in the territory of Novi Sad were considered in the context of sustainable development of agriculture

Children’s graves were discovered in numerous burial grounds of Roman times in the South-Western and Central Crimea. Despite the large number of excavated graves, there are no special investigations on the peculiarities of the children’s funer-ary tradition. The paper provides a brief description of specific features identified in the spread of children’s burials at Fron-tovoe 3 cemetery and focuses on a number of graves dating back to the 4 th century AD. All of them were made in separate niches. They have a typical set of grave goods for the chronological period under consideration. Special attention is paid to the specific location of children’s burials in the cemetery. In conclusion, the author offers a review of published children’s burials from synchronous sites.

This study explores “ bonescapes” from the Roman civilian city of Carnuntum. Animal bone samples from four different areas are evaluated according to their context types and taphonomic origin, and with respect to the quantities of the domestic triad represented, i. e. cattle, caprines (sheep and goat) and pig. Taking the well-studied animal bone assemblage of House 2 as a reference point, the composition of the domestic triad is compared to the spatial and temporal developments found in each of the four different areas.

Op 5 en 7 juli 2021 heeft Ex-Situ Archeologie een archeologische opgraving uitgevoerd op het perceel aan de Langestraat 9 in de historische binnenstad van Huissen, gemeente Lingewaard. Het twee dagen durende veldonderzoek is opgestart als proefsleuvenonderzoek. Tijdens de eerste werkdag werden twee vindplaatsen aangetroffen, die door de bevoegde overheid als behoudenswaardig zijn geclassificeerd. Hierdoor is een doorstart gemaakt naar een archeologische opgraving, die gedurende de tweede en laatste dag van het veldonderzoek is uitgevoerd. In deze rapportage worden de onderzoeksresultaten van zowel het proefsleuvenonderzoek als de opgraving gepresenteerd.

Bij het onderzoek zijn in totaal twee vindplaatsen aangetroffen. Vindplaats 1 bestaat voornamelijk uit meerdere ophogingslagen uit de Late Middeleeuwen. Dit pakket heeft een dikte van circa twee meter en bestaat uit verschillende lagen. In deze lagen werd uitsluitend laat-middeleeuws vondstmateriaal aangetroffen. Opvallend was de afwezigheid van bouwpuin in dit gehele pakket. 



Vindplaats 2 betreft nederzettingsresten uit de 17e -19e eeuw. Tot deze vindplaats worden verschillende fragmenten muurwerk en vloerniveaus gerekend. Deze vindplaats is voornamelijk aan de zuidelijke helft van het onderzoeksgebied aangetroffen.

The imperial complex in Gamzigrad–Romuliana had an opulent decoration program for rooms and open spaces. Some of the most sumptuous decorative elements were the mosaics and surfaces covered with luxurious marble tiles. The mosaics were mostly used to cover floors of the most representative buildings, such as Palace 1, thermae, or the cross-shaped building in the southwestern corner of the fortification, and traces of them were noted in vault decorations in the mentioned objects as well. The mosaics were made in opus tessellatum and opus vermiculatum techniques. Composition patterns with a square or a circular base were used the most, and fields were organized into carpets, filled with different geometric, vegetative, and figural motifs.
A special group of decorative floors from the buildings of Romuliana consists of those decorated with cut marble tiles (sectilia pavimenta). The central part of the most representative room in the palatial complex – aula was decorated with this precious technique, as well as the appertaining two stibadia (triconch and tetraconch). Out of the floors decorated with this technique from Palace 1, only the substructure and imprint of tiles in the mortar remained. A reconstruction of motifs used was made based on an analysis of those elements, first and foremost based on the most approximate analogy, chronologically and stylistically – Galerius’ imperial complex in Thessaloniki.