Military communities in the Roman borderlands are increasingly understood as socially mixed and dynamic rather than homogeneous military enclaves. This study adds a biomolecular perspective through combined strontium, oxygen and carbon isotope analysis, and ancient DNA of 33 inhumed and 44 cremated individuals buried at Praetorium Agrippinae in modern-day Valkenburg (South Holland, the Netherlands).

What do you picture when you think of the Romans? Perhaps white men from Rome who are always fighting. Or an impenetrable frontier of walls, watchtowers and soldiers. After all, that is what the pictures in school textbooks looked like. But is this image actually accurate? That is what the team behind Constructing the Limes…

Geochemical analysis of five brooch types from the Lower Rhine area dated to the last century bc and first century ad is used to constrain resource use, exchange and mobility.

This dataset includes stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope measurements from bone and dentine collagen of 38 human and 10 faunal samples dated to the 1st to 4th centuries CE.

This study investigates dietary practices and local interaction in Roman and pre-Roman Nijmegen, the Netherlands, through strontium isotope ratios (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and concentration measurements on cremated human remains from rural, urban, and military contexts, which primarily reflect the geological provenance of dietary strontium.

In this article we examine the dominant, militaristic interpretation of the Roman Limes, particularly within UNESCO World Heritage sites and national heritage narratives. Focusing on the Dutch context of the Lower Germanic Limes and comparing it with Germany and Britain, we trace how national research traditions, political agendas, and site materiality have shaped a narrow, one-dimensional view of the Limes as a military borderline.

This study suggests two customised workflows of commonly used sedaDNA sampling techniques, redesigned for archaeologists without sedaDNA expertise. We test their effectiveness in the field. To benchmark these protocols, we applied artificial DNA contaminants onto sediment surfaces before sampling.

Written by: Mirjam Rijpma In order to finish my master’s degree, I wrote a master thesis in cooperation with the Radboud university and Constructing the Limes (C-LIMES). During my thesis I researched the implementation of sedimentary DNA analysis in Roman archaeology in the Netherlands. During my thesis I was supervised by Astrid van Oyen (Radboud…

Saskia Stevens was invited to join the Time Team Podcast hosted by Dr Helen Geake and Martyn Williams, a podcast about archaeology featuring interviews with experts on a wide range of topics in the field. In this episode, Saskia talks about the discovery of the Roman temporary camp at Hoog Buurlo.

Did you see the news about the discovery of the Roman military camp near Hoog Buurlo? The media has widely covered it, both nationally and internationally. Here you will find a selection of articles from international media.