Archaeologists find gold in rubble at Vindonissa

The excavation of the site of Vindonissa, the first Roman military camp in Switzerland, has uncovered remains from the early formative period of the ancient camp, including the southern timber-and-earth wall, the legionary barracks building and the forge of the field smithy.

The southern defensive wall, located 230 feet from the wall of a later fortress, is long enough to give archaeologists new evidence of the size and layout of the first camp. The barracks was discovered in the west of the site under a later road. It was a structure 30 feet wide and at least 100 feet long. It had regularly-arranged rooms and ante-chambers. This was where the first legionaries who arrived in Switzerland lived before the construction of the permanent fortress.

Other structures found include the remains of a small building just inside the first camp wall that was likely a small workshop. Next to it was an even older building from Vindonissa’s first phase containing the hearth of a field forge.

Notable artifacts were discovered in debris layers outside the later permanent fortress walls. They include coins ranging in date from the Roman Republic through Late Antiquity, blacksmithing equipment, leatherworking tools and one stone of a Roman mill. Two metal fittings believed to be the handles of a scalpel, one carved in the shape of animal head, are now being conserved in the restoration laboratory.

One of the coins was unexpectedly valuable: a gold aureus minted during the reign of Tiberius. Coin finds at the site are typically bronze and silver. Another valuable object is a carnelian intaglio carved with an image of Victoria, goddess of victory, holding her staff and wreath.

* This article was originally published here