Research activity of the OEAI at the site of Mautern on the Danube harks back to a long tradition. Since the 1950s, one of the primary areas of activity of the Institute has been the study of the Roman auxiliary camp Favianis and its surrounding civil settlement (vicus). The site was occupied as a fort from the end of the 1st century A.D. until late antiquity. During its early period, the cohors II Batavorum was probably stationed there which was replaced by the cohors I Aelia Brittonum milliaria after 140 A.D. In late antiquity, part of the legio I Noricorum are reported to have been based there. Favianis continued to hold great significance for the romanized populace, above all in late antiquity, due to the presence of St. Severin. To date, it has been possible to investigate important elements of the military camp (watch towers, parts of the fortress wall and the inner buildings), larger areas of the vicus surrounding the camp, as well as extensive areas of the late antique necropolis.

In 1996 the possibility was first presented to undertake excavations in the inner part of the camp (Frauenhofgasse, Melkerstraße). The aim of this investigation was to clarify the history of the camp, which has been the subject of controversy, in particular the classification of the individual phases of the camp. Due to the relatively well-preserved condition of the site, seven ancient and late ancient levels could be differentiated (Periods 1-7, 1st-5th centuries A.D.), and a settlement of the early Middle Ages (Period 8, 9th-10th centuries A.D.). Between 1997-1999, the excavations concentrated on the investigation of a 7000 m² area of land in the eastern region, and a smaller excavation in the southern part of the vicus. In the environs of the fort, a settlement of 20 ha. was erected, with the character of a civilian village, in which the craftsmen, merchants, tradespeople, businessmen and their families resided.
In the course of excavations in the vicus South in 1998, a planimetric development consisting of wooden houses (earthen cellars, trenches with beams, post holes) was identified, a development which is similar in structure to finds at the vicus East of Mautern. The stratigraphy and the finds from this excavation can be dated to the late 1st century A.D. up until the period of late antiquity.
During the extensive excavations in the Vicus East, it was possible to identify an extremely complex multi-phase development in ten parcels of land in the form of strips. At the beginning of the development, the area was divided into parcels of land in strips (measuring ca. 10 × 40 m.); in these divisions, timber structures as well as "pit houses" (Grubenhäuser) were erected, some of these pit houses consisting of a rectangular, shallow sunken hollow about 12 m², with double posts for the roof construction. Within a parcel of land, up to six individual pit houses were identified.
As part of the Austrian Science Fund Project (P 13689-SPR), the contextually based analysis of 20,000 finds from 600 archaeologically found objects from the vicus East was undertaken between 2000-2002. This analysis resulted in a periodization of the development of the settlement from the last third of the 1st century A.D. up to the late 3rd or early 4th century A.D., which largely corresponds to the decline in the Fort itself. Of particular interest for the characterization of this eastern section of the vicus are the numerous archaeological sources for the economic foundation of the settlement: while extensive iron-working establishments can be identified on the grounds of the finds (clinker from the smithys, bloomery tuyeres) in broad areas of the parceled strips for the early development of the settlement, the middle decades of the 2nd century A.D. saw a totally new orientation in the management of the two land-parcels through the discovery of four pottery kilns and the large number of discarded wasters. The most recent phase of the vicus led to an extensive restructuring of the settlement system, although the archaeological record and finds do not provide direct evidence for the economic background behind this development.
The extensive rescue excavations of the OEAI carried out in the vicus East of Mautern led in 1998 to the replacement of traditional archaeological methods of documentation by digital means. The goals of the new documentation method are primarily the carrying out of an efficient field survey, and the related savings in time during the excavation that such a method brings. The demands made of the new measuring system were: fully digital documentation in the field in real time, on-line-data visualization using standard software (compatible with AutoCAD), the possibility of combination with photogrammetric applications, and ease of learning. For the application, the programme LisCAD (version 4.1), from the firm Leica, together with a Total Station (TC605L) and a commercial notebook were used. The Total Station, which was linked via cable to the notebook, served as the input device for the CAD drawings. The archaeologist in charge of documentation could at all times control and edit the data on the screen. The structured data which were taken in the field made possible, in later analysis, the rapid generation of large-scale and detailed plans, as well as a three-dimensional visualization of the excavation finds. Data, which were structured in layers, were already combined in the field with a "Harris-Matrix" (ArchEd, Version 1.0), whereby a solid foundation was laid for a rapid contextual finds-analysis, on the basis of a geographic information system (GIS). The system has proved effective and reliable in two years of field work, under the difficult circumstances presented by a rescue excavation, and has also been widely adopted in the meantime by additional excavation projects both in Austria and abroad.


Picture Captions
Fig. 1: Overview map of Mautern/Favianis
Fig. 2: Excavation 1996 in the camp, troops' barracks, Building Period 3 (ca. 170/80 - 250/60 A.D.) (Mautern 4/96, 30)
Fig. 3: The excavations 1997-1999 in the vicus East of Mautern (Inv. Mautern 9/98, 29)
Fig. 4: Pottery kiln in the vicus East of Mautern-Favianis
Fig. 5: Pottery and misfired objects from the vicus East of Mautern-Favanis

Bibliography:
St. Groh - H. Sedlmayer, Forschungen im Kastell Mautern-Favianis. Die Grabungen der Jahre 1996 und 1997, RLÖ 42 (2002).
St. Groh (Hrsg.), Die Grabungen 1998 im Kastellvicus Süd von Mautern an der Donau/Favianis, 1. ErghÖJh (2001).
St. Groh - H. Sedlmayer, Forschungen im Vicus Ost von Mautern-Favianis. Die Grabungen der Jahre 1997-1999, RLÖ 44 (2006).