EXCAVATION IN ANCIENT ROMAN VILLA

 In an ancient Roman villa, archaeologists discovered unusual evidence of migrant constructions.

Archaeologists excavating a Roman villa complex have unearthed indications of dwellings built by migrant settlers after the Roman empire fell apart.

The Institute of Archaeology at Cardinal Stefan Wyszyski University in Warsaw and the Institute of Archaeology in Zagreb excavated the site.

The researchers were investigating a rural villa complex on the Croatian island of Rab that dates from the first to third centuries AD when they discovered indications of structures built by migratory settlers from the old Roman province of Dalmatia.

The island was a prominent harbor during the Roman era, located on a key trading route for items like as exquisite glassware, high-quality terra sigillata vessels, wine, olive oil, and fish.

“It came out that the region of the settlement we researched was also occupied later after the fall of the Western Roman Empire,” stated Prof. Fabian Welc of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyski University in Warsaw. Makeshift wooden architecture was constructed in the ruins of the already wrecked villa."

Welc believes the constructions were created by Roman migrants seeking refuge from the Ostrogoth invasion of Dalmatia, who adapted the ruins of the villa by erecting wooden walls and roofing supported on wooden poles.

Despite their adversity, they managed to retain a relatively decent level of living. We discovered imported African vessels for oil and wine, as well as several bronze objects, including various currencies, among the ruins of improvised rooms,” Welc continued.

There is evidence that extensive modifications to the villa complex were carried out by another wave of settlers in the 7th century AD, this time migrants seeking refuge on the island from Slavs or Avars breaking into the Balkans.

Prof. Welc believes that the 7th century settlement period is unusual in archaeology. "This is the first discovery of its kind in the Adriatic region's northeast. It provides a unique insight into the migration patterns that occurred at the end of antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages in archaeological evidence."