The Danube limes in Croatia

Vukmanić, Igor. (2017). The Danube limes in Croatia. PhD Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Archaeology.
(Poslijediplomski doktorski studij arheologije) [mentor Sanader, Mirjana].

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Abstract

The research subject of the doctoral thesis ”Danube Limes in Croatia” is the archaeological sites that were part of the Roman imperial frontier in the early centuries AD, situated in the present-day Republic of Croatia, as well as the sites which were related to this surveillance and defense system along a single border line. Therefore, the aforementioned locality consists of registered, documented and recently discovered sites which were constructed in Baranja, Slavonia and Srijem for any of the purposes stated above. These sites have been related to all known inscriptions and stamped tile products which can either confirm or hint at different attributions to military units, i.e., construction activities for (parts of) Roman legions, cohorts or cavalry units. Moreover, for the topic of the research, special attention was given to studying primary archaeological results (field surveys, excavations), geophysics (magnetometric, georadar and geoelectric method) and aerial reconnaissance (satellite imagery and aerial photographs). Research goals The above mentioned actions in the Croatian Danube region aim to achieve the following, using a range of literary or visual resources in accordance with current findings: 1. A detailed reconstruction of the ancient Roman historical landscape, with an emphasis on the remains of Roman military structures. 2. Determining the chronology and types of Roman fortifications. 3. Determining the main construction phases on sites built by the Roman army from early 1st to late 4th century AD. 4. Determining which Roman military units were present in Baranja, Slavonia and Srijem and when. 5. Establishing, according to the study, whether there are any similarities with Roman military buildings in Hungary, Croatia and Serbia. 6. Trying to determine whether Roman military stamped tiles indicate the location of those units. Research goals of this thesis are based on the following hypotheses: 1. Due to similar geographical and topographical features in Hungarian, Croatian and Serbian border regions, locations and types of Roman military installations were built according to similar criteria. 2. Croatian Danube region is characterized by two different entities: Baranja on the one hand and Slavonia and Srijem on the other. 3. Due to topography, i.e., edges of flooded area along the Danube, watchtowers did not have to be built neither in Croatian, nor in the Hungarian part of Baranja. 4. Roman main traffic road in Baranja was not built immediately next to the Danube, but alongside it. This route along the river or its flooded area branched out towards forts or fortifications as a cul-de-sac (side-routes). 5. Protection of frontier in Early and Late Roman period was organized in different ways. 6. Nominal Roman authority in the western part of the Empire – which collapsed in 476 AD – should be viewed separately from demilitarization, that is, leaving some of the frontier areas. Methodology In order to consider the Danube Limes in Croatia in the overall context of the Roman imperial frontier, the following methodology will be applied in the thesis in an attempt to achieve the aforementioned goals: 1. Analysis of the Roman frontier area in the former Roman province of Pannonia, which is located in present-day Croatia, Hungary and Serbia. This will be conducted on the basis of collected archive material, both domestic and from abroad, literature and reviewed scientific discoveries or hypotheses. The research will gather facts about individual Roman sites in the Croatian Danube region and document the state on the sites ending on December 31st, 2016. 2. Study of confirmed, likely and possible types of Roman military installations in the Croatian Danube region by measuring, among other things, the distance between the sites with tools from http://geoportal.dgu.hr and https://www.google.hr/maps. Longitudes and latitudes of the sites will be read at http://twcc.fr/en/?sc=WGS84&dc=WGS84&wgs84=18.62454056739807%252C45.80 632215092364&z=17&mt=hybrid#. 3. Interdisciplinary approach to research will focus on: 1. Expert archaeological field surveys (reconnaissance, reambulation, supervision). 2. Non-destructive survey methods (magnetometric, georadar or geoelectric method, study of aerial photographs). 3. Archaeological excavations. 4. Interviewing the residents in the Croatian Danube region. Results Expected results include: 1. Establishing whether the specific landscape features could have been responsible for building predetermined types of military structures. 2. Defining the sites that were part of the Limes system in Croatia. 3. Organizing the sites along the Limes according to type. 4. Determining which sites were part of the Late Roman military frontier zone. 5. Determining, where possible, the size of former Roman fortifications along the Danube. 6. Reassessing the interpretations of identified sites. 7. Documenting the state and archaeological potential of Roman sites along the Danube in Baranja, Slavonia and Srijem. 8. Drawing, where possible, potential sites and their dimensions on maps. 9. Determining the routes towards Roman fortifications in the Croatian Danube region. 10. Documenting Roman military stamped tiles that have been discovered so far in the area in question. 11. Articulating the Danube Limes in Croatia as precisely as possible.

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