A small settlement on the main road - the Roman vicus Nauportus

Nauportus is one of the oldest Roman settlements in present-day Slovenia and a key site for understanding the early Roman period and Romanisation in the southeastern Alps. The settlement was primarily dependent on trade and transport. It developed dynamically during the Roman period and experienced several ups and downs. It consisted of several separate settlement nuclei (Stara pošta, Dolge njive, Breg, Gradišče). We observe that these parts developed differently, but we do not understand the relationships between them and their functions. The aim of the project is to analyse and interpret the development of the roadside village of Nauportus between the early and late Roman periods. We are particularly interested in the form and organisation of the settlement in the different periods, the role of the settlement in the trade system of the Roman Empire and, on the other hand, the role of the settlement in the local and regional economy. We have set three main thematic objectives: OBJECTIVE 1: The role and function of the various settlement nuclei in Nauportus and the relationships between them. We will focus on three settlement nuclei, i.e. Dolge njive, the Breg area and Gradišče. Field documentation and small finds from unpublished investigations of wooden structure from the bank and riverbed of the Ljubljanica in the Dolge njive area from 1985 will be evaluated. It is assumed that they are the remains of a Roman dock or bridge. We will analyse field documentation and small finds of the archaeological site Kočevarjev vrt in the Breg area. We will pay special attention to the settlement functions in the Augustan period, especially the relations between the settlement area in Breg and the emporium in Dolge njive. We are also interested in the functions of the wooden buildings at the Kočevarjev vrt site, the change in architecture in the second half of the 1st century AD, when the wooden buildings were replaced by stone warehouses, the renewed change at the end of the 1st century with the construction of a large enclosure, the sparse traces of settlement in the 3rd and 4th centuries, and the decline of the settlement, probably in the first half of the 5th century AD. We will also analyse field documentation and small finds of the archaeological excavations in Gradišče 5 from 1992. Of particular interest is the relationship between the newly formed settlement nucleus in the Gradišče and the contemporary remains from the Breg area. OBJECTIVE 2: Long-distance trade along the Amber Road - the case of Nauportus. The involvement of Nauportus in the trade network of the Roman Empire will be studied between the Augustan period and the first half of the 5th century AD. We will analyse imported material from well-defined production centres, coming from well-dated contexts in the Dolge njive, Breg and Gradišče area. The type and quantity of imported material at different time horizons will be determined and the dynamics of emergence and abandonment of individual trade flows will be reconstructed over time. OBJECTIVE 3: Nauportus as a local production centre. In previous research, Nauportus has been considered mainly as a place for the influx of imported, mainly Italian products. For understanding its role a as a local production centre the stratigraphy and small finds of the archaeological sites of Kočevarjev vrt and Gradišče 5 will be analysed. We will look for evidence of the existence of workshops, production waste, craft tools and semi-finished products. We are also interested in the local (or regional) pottery production as manifested in specific, spatially limited forms and fabrics of vessels. The research will provide new insights into the development of the settlement, the Roman material culture, the immigration of Italics to the area in the early Roman period, the coexistence of locals and Italic newcomers, the trade routes between northern Italy and the middle Danube region, and the role of the settlement in the local economy.