3D Reconstructions of Roman buildings from 1st century B.C. on the Celtic Hillfort in Bratislava

Margareta MUSILOVA¹ | Jana MINAROVIECH²
(¹Municipal Monument Preservation Institute Bratislava, ²STUDIO 727, Bratislava, Slovakia)

Abstract:
Recent discoveries of Roman buildings on the Northern terrace of the Bratislava castle and in the Castle courtyard from 1st century B.C., brought new questions and challenges. Roman construction techniques were brought into the milieu of Celtic settlements of Central Europe far from the Roman Empire. The Bratislava oppidum had an excellent strategic position, it was located on the Crossroads of Amber and Danube roads. The Celts who inhabited the oppidum with the Acropolis on the top of the Castle Hill had very close relationship with the Romans before the conquest of the Central Danube region. Archaeological research on the Bratislava Castle hill was conducted in the years 2008-2010 by the Municipal Monument Preservation Institute in Bratislava and in the years 2013-2014 in cooperation with a private archaeological company VIA MAGNA s. r. o.
The first constructions identified by the archaeological research performed between 2008 and 2010 were Roman type buildings I and II, it means they must have been constructed for the Celts by Roman builders. Both masontry relics, dated to the period of 50/40 – 30/20 BC were found during rescue excavations on the northern terrace of the Castle Hill. This study presents for the first time a hypothetical reconstruction of two habitation constructions and an amphorae storehouse. On the basis of analogical situations and the information available up to now we propose a hypothetical reconstruction of these two buildings, which are situated in immediate proximity.  A 3D model was created by the Štúdio 727 Bratislava, using laser 3D scanning.

Keywords: Late Laten Hillfort, Roman buildings, Amphoras, Bratislava