In silva occultus: Die (un)erwartete Entdeckung von zwei römischen Straßenwachtürmen im Wienerwald – mit einem Exkurs zum rätischen Limes und dem dortigen Signalsystem der Straßenburgi

Abstract

The article is about the discovery of two Roman road watchtowers in the Wienerwald, a forested area near Vienna, and their context within the topographic and historical environment. The author also discusses the possibility of other Roman road watchtowers in the province of Noricum, based on GIS methods and the analysis of the neighbouring areas. In addition, the author compares the situation in Noricum with that in Raetia, where six road watchtowers have been identified along an important Roman road between Augsburg and Kempten. The author uses GIS-based visibility analysis to examine the placement of the road watchtowers and their relation to the neighbouring military installations and the road network. The main research question that the author tries to answer is whether the road watchtowers in Noricum and Raetia were also positioned so that the visual connection to the adjacent towers was decisive. The author concludes that the positioning of the road watchtowers was carefully planned, with the primary focus on the visibility of the towers among each other, and that some of the towers were located at the edge of the visibility field of the neighbouring towers.