Roman Provincial Archaeology

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird aufgrund von intensivem Quellenstudium des lokalhistorisch relevanten Archivmaterials und Geländebeobachtungen, die Existenz der - nunmehr bereits durch erste Untersuchungen durch das BDA bestätigte - Ziegelei in Witzmannsdorf (Marktgemeinde Wallsee-Sindelburg) postuliert.

The Western aqueduct of Nicopolis ad Istrum is one of the best studied Roman conduits excavated so far in modern-day Bulgaria (Църов 2017, 165–325). The focus of this article is the water-catchment at the village of Mussina, excavated by the author in 2017. Furthermore, personal observations along the route of the aqueduct are also presented here. The water-catchment is situated in the Polyanata site, 587 m southwest of the church in the village of Mussina. It is located about 30 m northeast of the entrance to the Mussina Karst Cave and 1.50 m north of the remains of the Raevi Mill (Fig. 1, Ill. 1). After it was built the terrain was re-shaped (Fig. 12). North of the catchment there is a modern dam,
built in the late 70s of the 20th century along with a trout hatchery (Fig. 1, Fig. 12). This raised the terrain in front of the spring-box, and nowadays it is partially or completely underwater (Fig. 9, Fig. 15, Ill. 1, Ill. 2). It is an octagon-planned structure made up of 32 stone blocks of dolomite limestone, as is the surrounding rock massif extending to the
Roman stone quarries between the villages of Hotnitsa and Samovodene (Appendices 1and 2). The inside width of the facility on the second row is 4.23 m between the long sides of the blocks and 4.60 – 4.65 m between the corners. Its outer width is about 5.30 m. The total height of the stone masonry is 2.20 m and the wall thickness is 0.50 – 0.55 m. The blocks are arranged in four vertical rows of 8 pieces per row (Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 8). The stone blocks are numbered from 1 to 32 starting from the bottom row (row 1).
The water comes from the cave (Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig. 5). There are three artificial dams inside it. Two of them were described by D. Tsonchev as the “Big Dam” (Fig. 4) and the “Small Dam”, and the author noted that the smaller one had a mortar with crushed pieces of bricks in its structure and was probably from the Roman period (Цончев 1935, 134). The 2017 site observations indicated that the big one was built entirely of stones
and modern bricks. The structural features of the Small Dam do not provide grounds to refer it to a certain period. However, after sacks of straw were piled over it to divert the water to the entrance of the cave, it was found that the water level at the catchment did not change. This means that the Dam was built to divert water to Branch III (after Цончев
1935, 134, 137), which supplied water to the mill in front of the cave. Therefore the Small Dam seems to have been built in modern times. In a description of the cave made during the mapping expedition in 1978, the authors mentioned that the millers had made the Big Dam and the Small Dam around 1920, having found a previous wall of an older mill (Даалиев, Стрезов 1978). This hypothesis finds support in the existing third dam, made of modern bricks and concrete. It blocks Branch III (after D. Tsonchev) (Fig. 3, Fig. 5). Branch IV is presented in the cave plan, made by D. Tsonchev, as leading right to the water-catchment beyond the cave (Fig. 3). In fact, in this branch there are three in108
surmountable cracks in the rock. On the left there is a crack with underground streams that are almost inaccessible. The water passing through it probably comes from the small pond beyond the second (small) dam, and seeps through cracks in the rock. When the
water passes through the two dams it drains into the floor of hall “g” (after D. Tsonchev) and connects again with the already mentioned underground stream and takes out water of constant temperature of 13.9 – 14.1°. During the 2017 excavations it was found that the flow rate at the water-catchment was about 50 l/s. After going out of the cave, the water passes through a rock-cut underwater gallery about 1 m in width, about 3 – 4 m in length and about 1.50 m high. It is located just southwest and west of the water-catchment and is invisible on the ground surface now (Fig. 6, Fig. 10). Blocks nos. 1 and 2 on the lower (first) row of the catchment have collapsed and a joint was formed through which one can pass inside the gallery (Fig. 9, Ill. 2). A wall was also found in the gallery (Fig. 11), adjoined along the outer faces of blocks no. 1 on the first row and nos. 9 and 10 on the second. As block no. 1 has already subsided, the wall now seems to be “hanging out”. It is built of bricks, mortar, stones and gravel. Its front surface is smooth and its lower surface – irregular. The rock gallery and the wall might be a bypass to divert water during the construction of the catchment and, if needed, to drain the inside of the facility. The subsidence of the first row in the western part of the catchment shows that the bottom in this part is at a lower level. This can be explained by the fact that water from the gallery enters the catchment at this point. After the facility was abandoned and filled with trash and stones, the water burst through the structure itself and caused the blocks to be displaced.
The water-catchment is built of 32 stone blocks made of dolomite limestone, as is the surrounding rock massif (Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, Fig. 9, Ill. 1, Ill. 2). The blocks are arranged in four vertical rows of 8 pieces per row. A numbering of 1 to 32 is presented starting from the lowest row (row 1) (Appendix 1 – 2). All the blocks (no. 1 to no. 16) from the
first and the second rows are preserved;blocks nos. 19 – 23 and the left half of block no. 24, which is not in situ now, are preserved from the third row, and blocks nos. 27 – 30 of the fourth row. The first and the third rows are made of blocks of isosceles-like trapezoid shape, and the second and the fourth – of hexaagonal ones. The corners of the trapezoidal blocks lie on the angles of the hexagonal ones. The fourth row is drawn 0.12 m inwards the catchment and its corners are slightly eccentric compared to those of the lower rows. Perhaps a corbel arch dome was made in this way. Beds for U-shaped iron clamps, now
missing, were found on the first and second rows. Two mouths are formed in the wall of the facility. One of them is at a lower level and the main channel of the aqueduct begins from there. The other one is higher and probably served as a spillway channel, through which, in higher waters, the excess water was directed to the main channel (Fig. 2). The
following structures of eth aqueduct were localized to the northwest of the catchment: a linear rock cutting, a round hole, and part of the right wall of the channel with a buttress (Fig. 124, Fig. 14, Fig. 15).
By analogy to the water-catchment of the main aqueduct of Ratiaria, the caput aquae of the Western aqueduct of Nicopolis ad Istrum could be dated to the same period – the early 2nd c. AD, as Roman bricks with stamps of Hadrian (117 – 138) were found in the conduit structures of the aqueduct in Ratiaria. The two water-catchments are almost similar in terms of construction techniques and plans. The construction of 109
the Western aqueduct of Nicopolis ad Istrum began most probably during the reign of Trajan (98 – 117) and was continued by his successor Hadrian (117 – 138) (Църов 2017, 165 – 166).
The author of this article also documented with GPS points of the route of the Western aqueduct of Nicopolis ad Istrum (Appendix 3). The study covered the distance from the water-catchment to the water reservoir before the city. The exploration was based on points previously known from the publications, and on new ones, suggested by local guides in the villages of Mussina, Dichin and Vodoley. A total of 59 points were documented (Fig. 16, Fig. 17, Fig. 18). The estimated length of the conduit is 20.3 km. The elevation difference is 24.404 m, measured at the bottom of the channel in Mussina and the bottom of castellum aquae before Nicopolis ad Istrum. If the aqueduct was mouted 4 meters from the bottom of the reservoir, the difference in the level would be 32.404 m (Fig. 17).

The roman archaeological site from Dierna - Orsova is almost unknown and the most of the field research and excavations are poor published. The sad part of the situation is that the entire roman municipium and castrum are now under 6 meter deep waters. The Danube Iron Gate Hidrological project from the communist period destroyed the entire area. Writing about Dierna is now possible just using old maps and trying to reevaluate old archaeological excavations. We belive that finding the ancient shipyard of Dierna can give us a chance to know more about this important trade city.

The paper aims to focus a series of ceramic pots, intentionally perforated on the bottom, dated to the first half of the 1st century CE and aligned along the walls of the rectangular room which was found in Via Caprera 8 in Cagliari (Italy), and subjected to an archaeological excavation. The latter pots were likely reused as ollae perforatae, perforated planted pots used in the Roman arboriculture and horticulture in both domestic and religious contexts.

The figure of Aristaeus as cultural hero is well known to myth, since it is traditionally referred to him as the inventor of many rural techniques, in particular beekeeping. His protection on honey production characterizes a bronze statue of the hero from Oliena (NU), in East Sardinia, dated at the end of the 2nd - 3rd century A.D. because he is represented covered with five bees. This image is unique in the iconography of Aristaeus usually depicted winged or with mural crown and it is generally associated with his civilizing role in Sardinia, where he introduced agriculture and founded the city of Cagliari. The aim of this paper is to analyzed the semantic relationship between the atypical iconography of the Sardinian statue of Aristaeus, the meaning of honey connected with divination, and the role of bees as guides of urban foundations.

Identity in Roman Provinces is based on continuation and adaption of Pre-Roman dress. Pre-Roman textiles and clothes play a major role in the understanding of the differences and community between Pre-Roman and Roman. For Roman province Noricum (part of Austria nowadays) we know costumes depicted on tombstones of the 1st and 2nd century AD. As much as we can recognise that those garments are somewhat different to urban Rome, we can deduce that their appearance is based on local Iron Age traditions.

Fixing administrative limits inside the Roman Empire was a political process. It implied jurisdiction on the territory and it allows us to perceive nuances and details between the two divided territories. From this point of view, studying the division between Baetica and Lusitania helps us to understand the administrative landscape of the provincial ensembles. However, the research on west area has suggested two polarised hypotheses. These do not permit us to appreciate the territorial coherence correctly. This paper is a review of all the documentation available from Serpa and Moura (Portugal) and it provides a reasoned reading of the frontier landscape of this area.

During the period referred to as Late Antiquity (ca. 300-700 AD), the European continent underwent a major transformation when the medieval world replaced the Roman Empire. It was a time defined by many changes, such as the breakdown of the Western Roman state, the emergence of medieval kingdoms, the increasing influence of Christianity and the Catholic Church, the Germanic migrations, etc. While these events each had a sizeable impact on the course of history, it is still often unknown how small communities in various regions experienced these changes or how their day-to-day life was affected.

Während der Spätantike (ca. 300-700 n.Chr.) erfuhr der europäische Kontinent einen bedeutenden Wandel, als die mittelalterliche Welt das römische Reich ersetzte. Es war eine Zeit, die von vielen Veränderungen geprägt war, wie dem Zusammenbruch des weströmischen Staates, dem Aufkommen mittelalterlicher Königreiche, dem zunehmenden Einfluss des Christentums und der katholischen Kirche, den germanischen Migrationen usw. Während diese Ereignisse jeweils einen beträchtlichen Einfluss auf den Verlauf der Geschichte hatten, ist es oft noch nicht bekannt, wie kleine Gemeinschaften in verschiedenen Regionen diese Veränderungen erlebten oder wie ihr Alltag beeinflusst wurde.

This article reviews the current state of affairs regarding our knowledge on eating habits and dietary proportions in the Roman world. The narrative is centred on the main components of the ancient diet: cereals, wine, olive oil, meat, fish, vegetables, fruits and pulses. Focal points in the discussion are food types and calories. The author integrates literature, archaeology and natural sciences, and devotes particular
attention to the possibilities and constraints of our datasets. What emerges is a complicated picture in which it remains difficult to answer basic questions and to identify general patterns. By offering a series of thinking tools, however, the article provides a new framework for researchers to increase our understanding of the classical diet in the future.