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A temporary marching camp used by the Roman military has been discovered near the village of Hoog Buurlo in the Veluwe region of the Netherlands.
The research was carried out by ‘Constructing the Limes’, a project focused on exploring the Roman frontier known as the Lower Germanic Limes, which ran through the Netherlands and western Germany. As part of this project, a computer model was developed to predict possible Roman army routes and camp locations in the Veluwe. The model identified this spot near Hoog Buurlo as a likely place for a camp, and LiDAR elevation images and aerial photography revealed topographical features consistent with this conclusion. Archaeologists then excavated several trial trenches and carried out a metal-detecting survey of the entire site to confirm this.
The camp, which covers an area of c.9ha, is rectangular with rounded corners – the typical shape for a Roman encampment – and features a V shaped ditch more than 2m deep, and 3m-wide earthen defensive ramparts with several entrances. Only a few artefacts have been uncovered, including a fragment of Roman armour, but these finds suggest that the camp dates to the 2nd century AD.
The small number of finds is unsurprising to researchers, who believe that this site was a temporary camp, probably only used for a few days or weeks at a time by soldiers on the move. It may also have served as a stopover on the journey to the camp at Ermelo-Leuvenum, which was around a day’s march away. This discovery is significant as only four such temporary camps have been found in the Netherlands, and they provide valuable information about Roman military operations in this area. The location of the camp at Hoog Buurlo is particularly interesting as it sits c.25km north of the Limes, offering new insights into Roman military activities in territories that were beyond the formal boundaries of the Empire.
