Projects / Programmes
Tracing the conquerors.
Roman Army and indigenous communities in the Karst and Notranjska regions (SW Slovenia)
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.02.00 |
Humanities |
Archaeology |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 6.01 |
Humanities |
History and Archaeology |
Roman army; forts and Roman military earthworks; conflict landscape; Roman military equipment; archaeological finds; archaeometry; airborne LiDAR; Slovenija Slovenia
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
April 28, 2024;
A3 for period
2018-2022
Data for ARIS tenders (
04.04.2019 – Programme tender,
archive
)
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
46 |
546 |
437 |
9.5 |
| Scopus |
56 |
701 |
556 |
9.93 |
Researchers (8)
Organisations (1)
| no. |
Code |
Research organisation |
City |
Registration number |
No. of publicationsNo. of publications |
| 1. |
0613 |
National museum of Slovenia |
Ljubljana |
5055482000 |
2,677 |
Abstract
The goal of the proposed research project is to improve the knowledge on the Roman military involvement in the region of Karst and Notranjska (hinterland of Trieste bay, SW Slovenia) during the period of integration into the Roman state (2nd – 1st century BC and Augustan period) and to highlight the interrelations between Romans (conquerors) and indigenous communities. Roman military engagement in many ways influenced these interrelations and caused to different reactions of the local communities to the Roman expansionistic policies. Roman military, for example, seems to be associated with the abandonment of several Late Iron Age settlements (hillforts). On the other hand, there are indigenous settlements with clear continuity into the Roman time. One of the key research challenges of studying the Roman army material evidence (alongside the typochronological, technological and archeometrical research) is the interpretation of the small finds and our ambitious goal is to contribute to the interpretation and to the understanding of sites under question in a wider historical and geographical context. The primary object of our research will be the assemblage of Roman military equipment and Late Iron Age items kept in the National Museum of Slovenia alongside topographic data provided by airborne LiDAR technology (in Slovenia high resolution ALS data is available for free). Both have great potential for archaeological interpretation of individual sites, site complexes and archaeological landscapes. We will focus on the Ulaka-Nadleški hrib site complex, a very well preserved example of the conflict landscape from the period of Roman conquest of the region east of the province of Gallia Cisalpina (Italy after 42 BC) in the last decades of the Republican era and at the beginning of the Principate. Ulaka–Nadleški hrib site complex includes the Late Iron Age settlement at the Ulaka hillfort, two Roman forts (Ulaka-tabor and Nadleški hrib) and presumably remains of a Roman military attack on the ridge that leads from the site Ulaka-tabor to the Ulaka hillfort. The fort Ulaka-tabor and the adjacent presumed remains of a Roman military attack were discovered in 2017. There is high risk that the sites will be plundered by unauthorized searchers for archaeological objects using metal detectors. Experience has shown such sites should be archaeologically investigated as quickly as possible in order to prevent great damage or destruction. Items of Roman military equipment and other stray finds, together with preliminary airborne LiDAR data evaluation suggest further, similar to Ulaka–Nadleški hrib site complex, and presumably roughly contemporaneous sites in the region. Stray finds and preliminary archaeological interpretation of LiDAR data are very promising for the Šmihel pod Nanosom site, where we are dealing with the earliest evidence for Roman military intervention in the region (mid or second half of the 2nd century BC). The most important approaches that will be integrated in the research are the processing, analysis and archaeological interpretation of the airborne LiDAR data, analysis of GIS data, intrusive and non-intrusive survey techniques, small-scale excavations and full processing of the small finds (typological, chronological and archeometrical characterisation and evaluation).
