Since 1997, researchers from the Institute of Archaeology, Warsaw University have been finding traces of Roman military
presence in Crimea. Excavations have helped to discover several structures connected with the presence of Roman troops on the north
coast of the Black Sea. The first Roman military installation to be discovered and excavated in the Crimea was the ruins of a fort on
the Ai-Todor cape (ancient Charax). In the neighborhood of the fort, a barbarian burial ground was found which revealed a burying
tradition atypical of the Crimea: cremation in common, the deposition of ashes in amphorae and equipping graves with iron tools and
pieces of weaponry. Such a burial site is practically unique in the Crimea. The most similar typologically, and that has been excavated
and described in print is the necropolis at Tschatyrdag. It is important to establish whether people from the barbarian garrison were
buried near a fort which had been built by Roman soldiers. An initial survey of Tschatyrdag in the spring of 2008 produced several
sections of stone embankments and many single well dressed stone blocks. In the course of fieldwork in the summer of 2008, the best
preserved part of the defensive wall with the straight line of the wall face was found.
Research so far suggests that the fortification was built in first centuries of AD. Further excavations may produce more information....
Gilewski, Michał(Międzywydziałowe Towarzystwo Naukowe Badań i Ochrony Światowego Dziedzictwa Kulturowego "Humanica". Uniwersytet Warszawski, 2011)
in lieu of an abstract here is a brief excerpt:
"Starożytni Majowie zamieszkiwali obszary o trudnych warunkach hydrologicznych, na któ-rych opady były sezonowe i nieprzewidywalne oraz brakowało stałych źródeł wody. Stąd też istotne dla tej kultury było zarządzanie zasobami wodnymi. Przy próbie rekonstrukcji świata Majów nale-ży uwzględnić fakt, że krajobraz, który ich otaczał ulegał licznym zmianom na skutek podejmowa-nych działań w celu pozyskania i kontroli zasobów wodnych[...]"...
Kaim, Barbara(Instytut Archeologii, Uniwersytet Warszawski, 2013)
Podczas trzeciego sezonu wykopalisk na stanowisku Gurukly Depe, w południowym Turkmenistanie, kontynuowano prace zarówno w zachodniej, wyższej, jak i we wschodniej, niższej części stanowiska. Na terenie tej ostatniej, w wykopach 5 N, 6 N i 7 N odsłonięte zostały ściany kolejnych pomieszczeń dużego domostwa powstałego w v wieku, a w wykopach 5 R i 5 S – górne partie murów półokrągłej baszty z pomieszczeniem wewnętrznym, strzegącej wejścia do qala.
Głównym celem prac prowadzonych w zachodniej części stanowiska była rekonstrukcja planu przypuszczalnej warownej rezydencji. Aby odtworzyć przebieg jej północnej fasady, odczyszczono powierzchnię wykopów 12 J, 11 F,11 G i 11 h, usuwając pokrywającą konstrukcje warstwę 10–20 cm. W rezultacie tych prac, na odcinku 40 metrów, odsłonięty został mur grubości 2,4 m, zbudowany z pięciu rzędów kwadratowych cegieł. Rozpoczęto także prace w wykopie 13 I usytuowanym w obrębie południowej części rezydencji. Spośród drobnych zabytków wymienić należy dwie srebrne monety władców sasanidzkich, cztery ostraka, kilkadziesiąt przęślikow i kilka figurek terakotowych....
The article is meant as a commentary to the reference in Tacitus (Germania 45,3) to ‘fustis’, i.e., a non-metal trauma weapon of the Baltic Aestii who have been identified with the Dollkeim-Kovrovo Culture. The word fustis was understood by the Romans as a straight or a wavy stick. From the surviving Roman soldiers’ grave-stones, the fustis appears to have been used as a coercive measure, in restraining an unruly crowd or during tax collecting. The written and the archaeological sources are analysed for evidence on the use of cudgels/clubs from the metal age. Examples are invoked from ethnography of cudgel use in hunting and combat (from a distance and at close range). The Balt fustis has been interpreted also as a battle axe. The author challenges this view stressing that in writing of the fustis Tacitus makes it plain that it was not made of metal. An argument is made for the use of fustis as a hunting cudgel, something that is confirmed in the West Balt Barrow Culture, the predecessor of the Dollkeim-Kovrovo Culture. One explanation is that when Tacitus wrote his account the latter was still at an early stage when conservative cultural features presumably were still strong; alternatively the information about fustis is an archaism drawn from the period of the West Balt Barrow Culture....
Archaeological excavations of three sections of the inner areas of the fort of Apsaros were conducted by the Gonio-Apsaros archaeological expedition of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Agency of Adjara in 2014. Remains of several buildings were unearthed in the Roman cultural levels. Artifacts from these layers reflect a Roman presence in the area from the second half of the 1st to the end of the 3rd century AD....
The author recalls the famous princely Sudovian culture grave at Szłvajcaria (today within the administrative limits of Suwałki). Apart from presenting the grave fumishings according to up-to-date typological standards, he tries to reinterpret particular finds' identifying the metal fittings of a saddle and the metal mountings of a possible leather bucket aimed at hiding a horse hamess. Additionally, an engraved omament spotted on the head of a shafted weapon type Vennolum/Ilkjaer 15 is presented....
This paper examines archaeological assemblages containing military artifacts left by the Roman army on the Crimean Peninsula. The analysis allows conclusion on the tasks preformed by the Roman contingent. Dased on the archaeological and epigraphic evidence, acrivites of the temporaty Roman expeditions in the 1 st c. AD are reconstructed. Furthermore, it is argued that in the 2nd c. Roman task forces (vexillationes) served only as a political demonstation intended th show that the allies in the area were not left alone by Rome....
The Roman fort of Apsaros in Gonio (Adjara, Georgia) still holds answers to many issues connected with the Roman military presence on the Chorokhi river in ancient Colchis. In 2014, a Polish team joined the Georgian expedition to carry out excavation in two sectors directly east of the centrally located principia. The sites were chosen based on a study of the results of geophysical prospection carried out in 2012. Two phases, dated to the early and late Roman periods respectively, were recorded. The early Roman architecture was interpreted as part of the installations and structures of a large bathhouse (
balneae
), including a mosaic floor in one of the rooms. The building was destroyed at least twice, most likely in a catastrophic fire. The article discusses the stratigraphy and the dating of the early Roman
balneae
based on glass artifacts and coins....