Franz HUMER
(Archaeological Park Carnuntum, Bad Deutsch-Altenburg, Austria)
Carnuntum is the largest archaeological site in Central Europe. The former capital of the Roman province Pannonia Superior is now being systematically excavated. In a part of the civilian town the excavations of a Roman city quarter give a good idea of Carnuntum´s inner-city development structure. After the first uncovering of the monuments in the middle of 20th century the ancient ruins were restored with modern grey cement mortar and several walls partly reconstructed. The ruins of the Open Air Museum do not look very attractive today, however, and can hardly be understood by visitors. That comes from the fact that since 1957 modifications and restorations have been carried out without following specific instructions concerning the preservation of historical monuments. Because of the conservations method used at that time and damage caused by weather, the ruins are now in a poor state. For this reason, since 1996 the city quarter is being examined anew within the framework of the project „Archaeological Park Carnuntum“. After clarification of the chronological problems, the uncovered ancient buildings will be conserved – following the usual international guidelines on archaeological preservation of historical monuments – and put on display. This will be in the form of restorations, partial and complete reconstructions or else medial presentations (virtual reality). The excavations are combined with scientific publications and inclusion of the visitors to the archaeological fieldwork. In the Open Air Museum are shown different shapes of restoration and following presentation of archaeological monuments in the field area: stabilization of masonry, partial and complete reconstructions. Five examples show different possibilities of handling with the archaeological heritage from roman times in Carnuntum: paved roads, three residential buildings with garden (House I, House II, villa urbana) and one public bath.
Keywords: Archaeology, Basic research, Virtual Reality, 3D-Reconstructions on original site