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Graafstal 2024 Romeins kanaal ontdekt in Utrecht

2024, Archeologie in Nederland

Abstract

This short article highlights the discovery of a Roman canal in the polder Rijnenburg in Utrecht (NL) in 2024. With an estimated length not much over 1 km, the canal cleverly connected the Rhine with the first active river branch to the south, a forerunner of the Hollandse IJssel. For some time, starting in the mid-first century, Roman army personnel appears to have been active at sites guarding the end-points of the canal, the northern one possibly taking the form of a fortlet. The fieldwork was part of a multidisciplinary survey and assessment of the archaeological potential of a fossile channel-belt immediately south of the Roman frontier along the Old Rhine. This survey produced evidence of dense population in first and second centuries.