ArcheoBudaPest 2020/16

Keywords: Roman Age, settlement, military town, building

Archaeological monitoring and preventive excavation were carried out by the Budapest History Museum between January 6 and May 8, 2020, at the properties located at 79 Kiscelli Street and 175 Bécsi Road in District III. The site lies within the area of the Roman-period canabae (military town), a few hundred meters west of the legionary fortress.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Lajos Nagy identified the remains of a pottery workshop in the courtyard of 77–79 Kiscelli Street (Nagy 1937). Although the exact location and extent of that excavation can no longer be determined, its results have provided a reliable reference for the character of the site.
Work commenced at 79 Kiscelli Street, where foundation reinforcement was first undertaken. In only one instance did the construction pits reach the archaeological layer, which appeared at a depth of approximately 2.5–3 meters (around 102.00 a.B.S.l.), where a heavily burnt and artifact-rich Roman layer was encountered.

In the second phase of the construction, shaft foundations with diameters of 1.5–2.4 meters and depths of 6 meters were excavated. The archaeological layers were disturbed only by the digging of these shafts, which would have been the only opportunity for full-area excavation. However, due to the known depth at which the archaeological layer was situated, excavation within such narrow, deep shafts was deemed unfeasible from the outset. Working within them would have posed a serious risk of collapse and was considered life-threatening. Therefore, only archaeological monitoring could be conducted, and only material that had already been removed from its context—and thus stripped of its informative value—could be salvaged.

During the course of the work, 25 shaft foundations were excavated. Each was numbered, photographed individually, and described in detail. Artifacts retrieved from the excavated soil were separately packaged (Fig. 1). The Roman layer was identified in nearly every shaft foundation, though with varying degrees of clarity. A notably high concentration of finds was observed in the eastern row of shafts in the northern part of the area. Based on the bright red burned soil found in several locations, it is assumed that one of the shafts may have cut through a kiln.

In a few cases, no archaeological layer could be detected. However, an exceptionally large quantity of finds—primarily pottery—was collected, especially when considering the very small total excavated area. Only a minimal amount of animal bone and—despite metal-detecting surveys—metal objects were found. It is particularly regrettable that the archaeological features could not be excavated and documented using standard archaeological methods, as the contextual information they once held has been largely lost. Due to the limitations of the excavation methods, the areas previously uncovered by Lajos Nagy could not be identified, although evidence of industrial activity was also recorded.

In the subsequent phase of construction, the installation of a beam foundation grid between the shaft foundations did not affect any archaeological layers, and thus no further archaeological work was required.

At the area corresponding to 175 Bécsi Road, work began with foundation underpinning beneath the adjacent buildings. At this stage, the archaeological layer was identified at two locations, appearing at a depth of several meters below the current street level of Bécsi Road, between 102.00 and 103.00 a.B.S.l.

Due to the excavation not reaching this depth during the formation of the working level, a full-surface excavation could not be conducted here either. As in the other area, archaeological monitoring was carried out during the excavation of 16 shaft foundations, in the same manner as at the Kiscelli Street section. Here, the Roman layer was observed at approximately 1 meter below the working level, typically in the form of collapsed roofing material, which gradually thinned out from west to east before disappearing entirely. During the earthworks, traces of stone walls were detected on several occasions (Fig. 2). Fewer artifacts were recovered in this area compared to 79 Kiscelli Street, but more evidence of built structures was identified.

After the excavation of the shaft foundations, the installation of the connecting beam foundation grid was carried out. Based on information obtained during the previous phase, it was known that the beam foundations would disturb the archaeological layer, and therefore a preventive excavation was conducted over an area of 65.35 m² (Fig. 3).

Across the entire western portion of the excavated area, a thick collapse layer composed of roof tiles was encountered, in some places reaching up to 0.5 meters in thickness. Only a small number of artifacts were recovered from this layer; however, several bricks bearing the stamp of Legio II Adiutrix were found (Fig. 4).

Beneath the collapse layer, a wall was uncovered in only one location, within the central beam foundation. Unusually, its superstructure was constructed from reused floor tiles, while its foundation consisted of unworked stones set in mortar, traces of which were also visible between the bricks. A significant portion of the wall extended beneath the section face and thus remained unexcavated.

In the central section of the east–west beam foundation, a break in the tile collapse layer was observed, and to the east of this, a new north–south-oriented wall was uncovered. Part of it appeared as a wall cut, while the preserved portion reached a height of 0.8 meters. It was built from stones laid in clay, resulting in a solid and well-preserved structure, and was therefore designated by heritage authorities as a monument to be preserved in situ. As the wall was located at the base of the beam foundation, it did not obstruct the development. It was covered with geotextile and sand for protection.

The contemporaneity and association of the two walls remain uncertain due to structural and stratigraphic differences (Fig. 5).

To the east of the wall, a remnant of a walking surface composed of several floor tiles embedded in compact clay was identified. However, its connection to the adjacent walls could not be definitively established.

Further to the east, no archaeological-age features were identified in the additional opened areas; however, the excavation consistently proceeded through a clay-rich, yellow, artifact-rich layer.

Beneath the Roman stratigraphy across the entire area, a dark brown, homogeneous, undisturbed subsoil was encountered, below which a light gray, compact natural subsoil was reached.
Based on the results, no building ground plan could be reconstructed. The absence of walls or wall removal trenches suggests that a structure did not originally stand at this location, and that during its possible destruction, the roof structure may have collapsed in this direction. However, the even spread of the collapse layer more likely suggests intentional leveling.

It is also possible that the building was not destroyed but rather deliberately dismantled during the Roman period. Despite metal-detecting surveys, no archaeological-age metal artifacts were recovered, supporting the interpretation that the area was systematically cleared during Roman times, and that remaining structural elements were leveled.

Contributors: Fanni Fodor (lead archaeologist), Anna Balatincz (archaeological field technician), Erzsébet Bojtár (archaeological field technician), Alfréd Falchetto (archaeological field technician), Hajnal Szász (archaeological field technician), István Fábián (surveyor), Gergő Juhász (surveyor), Tibor Kovács (surveyor)

Fanni Fodor