Eastern Vicus of Mautern/ Favianis

From 1997 to 1998 large excavations, conducted by the Austrian Archaeological Institut, were carried out in the eastern vicus of the roman fort Favianis (Mautern a. d. Donau, Lower Austria).The excavations revealed nine house plans of so-called "Streifenhäuser" i.e. stripe-shaped houses along graveled roads. In roman times, the entire area along the roads was divided into lots by ditches and built of woodden houses. The settlement in the eastern vicus, of Favianis lastet from the end of the first to the third century A.D. There can be clearly distinguished at least three periods. The houses were divided into areas with workshops and areas for living purposes. There were excavated three ovens for pottery production. The results of the researches in the eastern vicus of Favianis are very important. There exist, up till now, no other vicus - excavations or publications from Danube frontier sites which could be compared to the researches in Favianis. The presentation of the excavation and the finds from the sites in Favianis will introduce a new research approch to archaeological and historical questions connecting the Danube frontier. The publication of new context- orientated archaeological complexes from the Danube frontier will contribute to the advancement of archaeology in the roman province of Noricum. In the project, the small finds and the pottery from three of nine excavated house plans should be presented, including the ceramics from the two pottery workshops. Basing of the study of the work on the building structures, carried out by the author on the Austrian Archaeological Institut, the aim of the project is the presentation of the remains of three houses with the finds in context. In cooperation with Archaeozoologists and Archaeobotanists it is one of the objectives of the project to gain as much informations from the archaeological substance as possible. The high quantity of finds guarantees a solid base for further interpretations. For the first time, it will be possible to discuss building structures, house plans and finds from a vicus on the Danube frontier and to compare the results of this study to vici in Noricum and the neighbour provinces of Germania, Raetia or Pannonia.

The research project "Eastern military vicus of Mautern/Favianis" (P13689-G03) concerned the interdisciplinary work on a large scale archaeological excavation in a rural settlement on the borderline (Limes) of the roman empire (Noricum). For the first time in Austria, the changing of the economic and ecologic basis of the inhabitants of this settlement (Vicus) surrounding a roman military base (fort) during four centuries (1 st-5th cent. AD) was analyzed. Beyound that the changing in population, caused by the movement of troops, and changes of the environmental conditions were pictured by the work on the archaeological findings. The results of the research project give new evidences on the structure and buildings of such a settlement and allow it, to put the changes in a chronological frame.