The weekly digest of topics is in a separate post.
Posted on 09/08/2024 5:16:22 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Since 2021, a team from the University of Basel has researched the landscape in the Crap Ses area between Cunter and Tiefencastel in collaboration with the Graubünden Archaeological Service... Using a high-resolution digital terrain model and LiDAR data, the team investigated the hilltop site. LiDAR features laser scanning of the ground to show even slight height differences in the terrain as a grayscale image, and in the Colm la Runga corridor, it revealed the profile of the artificial fortification of the hilltop.
Resting undisturbed for two millenia 7,000 feet high in the Swiss Alps, the previously unknown Roman military camp was fortified by three ditches and a wall with ramparts. The site of the camp offers a view of four key valleys—Landwassertal, Albulatal, Domleschg, and Surses—and Lenzerheide, a heavily traveled mountain passageway. The perch gave Roman soldiers stationed at the camp a perfect vantage point to spot any incoming enemies.
A team of students from the University of Basel joined volunteers in August to research the structures inside the wall-ditch system. So far, the find has yielded weapons and equipment belonging to Roman soldiers, including lead sling bullets and boot nails. The slingshot lead bears the stamp of the 3rd Legion, which was involved in the battle at Crap Ses, giving experts an obvious tie between the ancient battlefield and the newly discovered military camp. The dating of the artifacts also links the camp to the same period as the battlefield, roughly 2,000 years ago.
The discovery helps experts track the advancement of Roman forces 2,000 years ago with precision, showing their movement from Bergell over the Septimer Pass to the Tiefencastel area and from there toward Chur and the Alpine Rhine Valley.
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
The weekly digest of topics is in a separate post.
The other GGG topics added since the previous digest ping, alpha:
That must have been a hellish duty station
Listen! I don’t want to hear ANYTHING from ‘Popular Mechanics’ until my flying car is hovering in my driveway.
I’ve been WAITING since 1960! ;)
Probably a nice spot to control the pass into northern Italy, the bright side being, there was probably little threat once it was secured.
lol!
PM’s late rival, Pop Sci, had a cover pic, probably in the late 60s, showing a glass-topped vehicle with a family sitting around a small dining table as the car drove itself along the highway. Other similar vehicles were in the background.
Talk about going out to eat...
General Winter ( and fall and spring) would have controlled that pass with snowfall and avalanches.
They were there and knew differently.
Thanks, SunkenCiv.
It was two degrees warmer then. That should have helped some. I’m surprised we are here at all since 2 degrees is an existential crisis.
It was probably a cold assignment but the Swiss have always been a productive people so there was probably plenty of food and the building were probably constructed for the cold. It must have sucked in the winter but with plenty of food, wine and the local Swiss women it couldn't have been too bad.
“ Crap Ses area between Cunter and Tiefencastel …”
Wow. Really?
In the first century BC, Alpine tribes such as the Salassi, the Noricans and the Vindelici were raiding northern Italy, as far east as modern-day Slovenia, and blocking the passes to Germany and Transalpine Gaul. From around 30 BC to AD 8, the Romans waged an extensive campaign in modern-day Switzerland and Austria to suppress them. This camp may have been established during that campaign.
Its on the border with present-day Italy near Lake Como - so given Roman history, they probably figured it was really important to keep a garrison there
As Napolean said: “Italy is like a boot, you have to enter it from the top.”
On a serious note, thank you SunkenCiv for another interesting and educational thread.
:^)
People can barely function driving cars in two dimensions, and you want to add a third?
I sure don’t want any drunk illegals (or anyone else) crashing on the roof of my home.
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