Archaeologists are uncovering new traces of a Roman settlement near Lake Constance following excavations at the ancient town of Tasgetium in Eschenz, Switzerland.
Excavations, which began in March in the Swiss canton of Thurgau, have exposed parts of Tasgetium, a Roman settlement established more than 2,000 years ago. During the Roman period, the town was one of the region’s principal settlements alongside Brigantium (modern Bregenz) and Constantia (modern Konstanz).
Heart of a Roman town uncovered
According to project director Simone Benguerel of the Office for Archaeology of the Canton of Thurgau, archaeologists have uncovered what was once the central district of the settlement.
The excavation has revealed the town’s main street, lined on both sides with rows of timber-built terraced houses. Researchers have also identified forecourts and covered arcades that would have provided sheltered walkways for residents and visitors.
The discovery offers a rare glimpse into the layout of a Roman town in the Lake Constance region and sheds light on everyday urban life beyond the major centres of the Roman Empire.
Remarkably preserved timber buildings
One of the excavation’s most significant discoveries is the exceptional preservation of organic materials, including structural timbers from the Roman buildings.
Because the settlement was constructed on marshy ground, Roman engineers reinforced the area with wooden foundations. The permanently waterlogged conditions have preserved these timbers, along with other organic remains, for nearly two millennia.
Archaeologists have also recovered typical settlement debris, including fragments of pottery, food remains and small Roman coins lost by the town’s inhabitants. Further excavation is expected to reveal additional artefacts and structural remains.
Roman settlement discovered near Konstanz
Across the border in Germany, archaeologists working on infrastructure for the new Hafner district near Konstanz have uncovered another significant Roman site.
Excavations have identified a rare rural settlement dating from the late Roman period, alongside evidence of earlier Bronze Age and Iron Age occupation spanning the second and first millennia BC.
The Roman remains include at least one or two farmsteads, storage buildings and a sunken-featured building, or pit house. Excavators have also recovered fragments of fine Roman tableware and everyday domestic pottery dating between the third and fifth centuries AD.
Evidence from Rome’s frontier
District archaeologist Jürgen Hald said rural settlements from the late Roman period are comparatively rare in the region.
By the third century AD, Roman military forces had largely withdrawn from the Hegau region, concentrating instead on heavily fortified positions along the Rhine and Lake Constance, including the fort at Konstanz established around AD 300.
Researchers are continuing to investigate whether Germanic communities may have occupied the surrounding countryside under Roman influence during this period.
Key settlements in the Roman Lake Constance region
The discoveries reinforce the importance of Eschenz, Konstanz and Bregenz as major Roman settlements around Lake Constance.
Tasgetium and Constantia served as important transport and trading hubs where goods moved across the frontier and tolls were collected, while numerous rural estates supplied agricultural products to the region.
Archaeologists estimate that around 120 Roman rural estates, or villae rusticae, have been identified across the wider Lake Constance area. Ongoing excavations continue to improve understanding of how communities lived, traded and interacted along one of the Roman Empire’s northern frontiers.
Sources : Archaeological Museum Bergamo
