Silver and brass weapons have helped make many archaeological discoveries
A 2,000-year-old dagger reveals the site of a long-forgotten battle between the Roman Empire and tribal warriors in what is now Switzerland.
In Switzerland, volunteer archaeologist and dental student Lukas Schmid discovered a 2,000-year-old silver and brass dagger in 2019. It was a vital clue to the story of a long-forgotten battle between the Roman Empire and tribal warriors, notes arkeonews.net.
Lucas Schmid unearthed the dagger in the mountainous region of Graubünden in Switzerland, an area believed to be site of a lost battlefield where soldiers of the Roman Empire fought Rhaetian warriors around 15 BC.
Its discovery prompted excavations in the area that revealed a treasure trove of ancient military artifacts.
Now a team of scientists and students has mapped a 2,000-year-old Roman battlefield that represents the last battle of the Souanet tribe and the region's collapse within the Roman Empire.
Students and researchers from the universities of Basel and Zurich, along with volunteer searchers explore the site of a Roman battle near the Schrep Ses gorge in the canton of Graubünden. Over the past two years, experts have unearthed thousands of Roman military artifacts scattered across a hillside in southeastern Switzerland.
Elegant columns, villas, amphitheaters and other remains of ancient settlements can be found throughout Switzerland, testifying to life under the Romans. But so far not a single battle site has been identified or explored in Switzerland.
Swiss researchers believe that a group of 2,000 Romans from the third, tenth and twelfth Roman legions faced 500-1,000 local fighters on the top of a hill, which is located near the Dermes gorge between the cities of Tiefencastel and Kunter.
Nakhodka Schmida led to the discovery of hundreds of other ancient artifacts. A new study of the site by a team from the Grisons archaeological service at the University of Basel (Switzerland) revealed spearheads, lead slingshots, brooches, shield parts, coins and shoe nails from Roman soldiers, Live Science reports.
Only this fall in During the three-week excavations, about 250-300 objects were recovered per day, reports arkeonews.net.
Speaking to Live Science, Peter-Andrew Schwartz, an archaeologist at the University of Basel, said excavations at the site also recently uncovered a Roman coin minted between 29 and 26 BC during the reign of Emperor Augustus.
The Romans conquered what is now southern Ticino in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland in the early 3rd century BC. After about seventy-five years, they captured the Rhone Valley, which included Geneva, southern France, and the route connecting Italy and Spain.
Through the establishment of colonies, mainly in Western Switzerland, Roman rule gradually strengthened. Their dominance in the Alps was long-lasting. Throughout the first century BC, Roman troops repeatedly advanced into the mountains. Roman historians offer several justifications for these campaigns, including the need to create a transit route to Germany, increase additional tax revenue, and stop unrest, attacks on travelers, and raids.