Nemescsó
Projects: Geographical Overview
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Research on the Road Station of Nemescsó on the Amber Road
In the context of a cooperative research project with the Savaria Múzeum Szombathely (P. Kiss) investigations of the settlement structures along the Hungarian section of the Amber Road between Kőszeg and Szombathely were carried out. These studies encompass the homogenization of the data from the sites in the Austrian and Hungarian sections of the Amber Road, the creation of a mutual geoinformation system (GIS) and joint field research between Szombathely and Sopron.
The focal point of the field research is the investigation of a Roman road station at Nemescsó, where geophysical surveys, excavations and surveys are undertaken. The road station of Nemescsó lies on the eastern spur of the Günser mountain range (Kőszegi-hegység), at the point where the eastern boundary of the Alpine region merges with the Pannonian lower plain. Towards the south, the plain opens up to Szombathely-Savaria, while to the north the Amber Road leads, with a ca. 30 m ascent over a lightly forested hilly course, towards Strebersdorf/Frankenau in Austria.
In its ground plan the road station is similar to that of Sorokpolány, which is exactly equidistant, namely 12.6 km or 8.5 Roman miles, from Szombathely-Savaria. Both stations are situated as the first road stations extra muros to the north and south of the colony, on the western side of the ca. 10 m wide Amber Road.
Both of these north-west Pannonian road stations possess a porticus-risalit façade: this architectonic combination can be construed as a symbol of status, but it nevertheless also has functional or fortification significance. In both of these cases on the Amber Road, the fortification aspect could have played a decisive role in the choice of ground plan. The risalits were probably two-storied and functioned as watchtowers in the line of sight of the next road station. The core structures behind the impressive façade consisted of rectangular, partially roofed inner courts.
Based on a significant find that was made during an archaeological survey in 2009, it can be provisionally assumed that the most intensive period of usage of Nemescsó occurred between 160/180 and 250/270 A.D. This conclusion is comparable to the results of the material analysis from Sorokpolány, which indicate that the station was first set up after the Marcomannic Wars. For the territory of Savaria-Szombathely therefore it can be assumed that, in the final third of the 2nd century A.D. – probably as a reaction to the events of the Marcomannic Wars – a systematic, architectural densification of the infrastructure along the Amber Road occurred, by means of the systematic application of a particular building type.
Bibliography
- S. Groh – P. Kiss - H. Sedlmayer, Die Straßenstation von Nemescsó an der Bernsteinstraße, ActaArchHung 61, 2010, 401–424.