Roman army camp found in Netherlands, beyond the empire’s frontier

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Roman army camp found in Netherlands, beyond the empire’s frontier

The remains of an old Roman army camp were discovered in the Netherlands, beyond the northern border of the Empire, after the researchers used a computer model to identify its location.

The “rare” discovery, on a site called Hoog Burlo, shows that Roman The forces ventured beyond the German lower limes, the border which launched the Rhine at around 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) south of the camp.

“For the Netherlands, this is only the fourth Roman temporary camp, therefore a fairly rare discovery,” said Saskia StevensAssociate professor of ancient history and classical civilization at the University of Utrecht and the main investigator of the “Building Limes” project which found the fort. “The fact that he was discovered in the north of the lower Germanic limes, beyond the border of the Empire, tells us that the Romans did not perceive the limes as the end of their empire,” said Stevens to Live Science in an email.

The fort was probably a temporary walking camp, which the troops used only for a few days or weeks, according to a statement of the University of Utrecht. It is also possible that the camp will be a stopover on the way to another camp at about a day of walking.

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Build limesA project led by the University of Utrecht, aims to understand how the Roman border worked and to find temporary Roman camps north of the border.

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As part of the investigation, Jens guereeAn archeology student from the Saxion University of Applied Sciences, has developed a computer program to help predict the location of temporary Roman camps in VeuweA region of natural reserves filled with wood, meadows and lakes. This program was based on the probability and data used of elevation cards and Lidar (light detection and going)A technique in which a machine draws lasers from an aircraft on a site and measures thoughtful waves to map the landscape below.

A photo of a trench excavated in a field

The excavations on the site revealed a temporary Roman military fort in the Netherlands. (Image Credit: Saxion University of Applied Sciences)

“He has rebuilt the possible roads of the Roman army in the Veluwe region, calculating the number of kilometers that an army could travel per day,” said Stevens. The program also took into account the roads and the availability of water and sought the “typical card -shaped camps“That Romans have built,” she said.

The computer program has not disappointed: he led them to the site in Hoog In the Veluwe in 2023.

In January 2025, the team visited the site to dig archaeological trenches and confirm that the site actually held an old fort, according to a press release.

The fort was large – 9 acres (3.6 hectares) – and in the shape of a rectangle with rounded corners. He had a V -shaped ditch which was 6.6 feet (2 meters) deep, a 10 -foot earth wall (3 m) and several entries, said Stevens. However, the team found only a few artifacts on the site, including a fragment of Roman military armor.

“The limited number of discoveries is not surprising because the camp was only used for a short period (days, weeks) and that the soldiers would have traveled,” said Stevens.

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An aerial view showing an overview of the place where the fort would have been — (Image Credit: Gracieuse of Saskia Stevens; Building Limes)

An overview of the new fort in the Netherlands. Note that like many other Roman military forts, he is in the form of a card to play.

The small number of discoveries made it difficult to date the camp. But by examining armor and comparing the new site to a camp found in 1922 on another site in the Netherlands, the team left the newly discovered temporary camp in the second century AD, Stevens said.

The discovery shows that the Romans “were clearly active beyond the border and considered this area as their sphere of influence,” said Stevens. The region north of the limes was probably an important place to take cattle, skins and even slaves.

The people who lived in the region, the Frisii and the Chamavi, already had links with the Romans. “Frisians were generally on good terms with the Romans,” while exchanging with them, said Stevens. Historical sources mention a treaty in which the Frisians have paid taxes in the form of cow skins, and they also provided soldiers for auxiliary troops and members of Nero‘s (governed ad 54 to 68) Imperial grutory.