Around 2000 years ago, Roman legionaries barricaded themselves here from hostile “original Swiss”: archaeologists have discovered the remains of a Roman military camp from the time of the conquest of the Alpine region on a mountain top in Graubünden. The strategically located facility at 2200 meters above sea level offered ideal opportunities for monitoring the surrounding valleys and passes. It was apparently connected to a nearby site where traces of battle from the late 1st century BC had previously been discovered, the archaeologists report.
The ancient superpower also wanted to incorporate the high mountain region in northern Italy: in 16 and 15 BC, a military campaign marked the end of the incorporation of what is now Switzerland into the Roman Empire. The troops marched in a kind of pincer movement across valleys and passes of the Alpine arc in order to conquer the region as efficiently as possible. The Crap Ses site between Cunter and Tiefencastel in Graubünden bears witness to the resistance of the residents. Since 2021, an excavation project by the Archaeological Service of Graubünden and the University of Basel has uncovered traces of a battle there: shoe nails, weapon parts and belt buckles come from the side of the Roman invaders. Characteristic swords and lance tips, on the other hand, are attributed to the local troops.
LiDAR reveals secrets of the landscape
As the canton of Graubünden reports in a press release on the project, the activation of digital terrain models based on LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data has now led to the new discovery in the region where the finds were made: In autumn 2023, a volunteer identified striking terrain structures on the high-resolution images. They suggested that the hilltop of Colm la Runga was once fortified. It lies around 900 metres above the ancient battlefield and thus a total of 2200 metres above sea level.
Subsequent investigations on site confirmed that it was a Roman hilltop camp protected by three ditches and a rampart. The finds so far include weapons and equipment belonging to Roman soldiers, including shoe nails and slingshot leads. This ammunition bore the stamp of the 3rd Legion, which was also involved in the Battle of Crap Ses. It can therefore be assumed that there was a close connection between the nearby ancient battlefield and the newly discovered military camp, say the archaeologists.
Strategically chosen
According to them, it also seems clear why the Romans chose the high mountain top as a camp site: the location was strategically particularly good. From here you have a wide panoramic view of the most important surrounding valleys: the Landwasser Valley, the Albula Valley, the Domleschg and the Surses. According to the experts, it is also significant that the discovery on the Colm la Runga now provides a clearer picture of the advance of the Roman forces around 2000 years ago: it led the troops over the Bergell, the Septimer Pass to the Tiefencastel area – and from there on towards Chur and the Alpine Rhine Valley.
“The sensational discovery of a Roman military camp in Graubünden once again shows that the archaeological research of ‘Roman Switzerland’ continues to hold great surprises,” writes the canton of Graubünden.
Source: Canton of Graubünden