Students of Utrecht University and Saxion University of Applied Sciences have discovered a Roman army camp on the Veluwe, near Hoog Buurlo. The researchers believe that it was a temporary base used during a march or troop movement, where soldiers stayed no more than a few days, Utrecht University announced.
“What makes this discovery special is that the camp is located outside the northern border of the Roman Empire,” said project leader Saskia Stevens (Utrecht University). The discovery was made as part of the research project Constructing the Limes, in which scientists work with social partners to research the northern border of the Roman Empire that ran through the Netherlands and western Germany.
The recently discovered camp covers an area of approximately 9 hectares and consists of a moat, a 3-meter-wide defensive wall, and several entrances. The camp may have been a stopover on the route to the Roman army camp at Ermelo-Levenum, which is a day’s march away.
“We focus primarily on camps like this because they provide valuable insights into the military presence and activities of the Romans in the border area. For example, they show which routes the army used and how the Romans also made intensive use of the areas outside their empire,” Stevens said.
“Only four of these temporary Roman camps are known in the Netherlands,” Stevens said. For comparison, Germany has dozens, and England has hundreds.
The camp on the Veluwe is largely invisible above ground. “The traces are mainly underground. The team was able to make them visible using advanced research techniques, such as LiDAR. This is a technology that emits laser pulses, similar to radar. Aerial photographs also helped the researchers to reveal the camp elements.” Archaeological research, with metal detectors and several test trenches, confirmed the find.
An advantage of this approach is that the largest part of the nature reserve in which the camp was discovered has remained untouched.