Nijmegen Kops Plateau: a Roman camp

Between 1986 and 1995 I was in charge of extensive annual excavations on the ‘Kops Plateau’ in Nijmegen. We excavated three successive Roman military camps, dating between 12 BC and the Batavian Revolt in 69-70 AD. The large praetorium building has led me to believe that the first camp was probably a headquarters for the general Drusus. Although I have published aspects of this project and my colleague from Nijmegen, Harry van Enckevort has done the same, the analysis of the large-scale excavation has never been brought to completion.

We have obtained a grant under the ‘NWO/Odyssey-programme to get this work done. The project Nijmegen Kops plateau: A Roman fort, will result in a publication as a thesis by mrs. Eef Stoffels MA, who does her PhD with me in Leiden. The original field data (drawings and find databases) are being digitally reworked in a collaborative setting between the municipality of Nijmegen, Auxilia and mrs. Stoffels.

The PhD research itself focuses on the analysis of these digitally recreated datasets and the interpretation of the site as a whole. Research questions deal with the chronology of the fort on the Kops Plateau, the function of separate buildings, the nature of the site and of its inhabitants, its embedding in and its significance for the local area and population as well as the grander Roman military strategies.

For further information see:

http://www.erfgoednederland.nl/odyssee/projecten/10.-militaire-site-in-romeins-nijmegen/item10658

http://www.livius.org/no-nz/nijmegen/nijmegen-kops_plateau.html

http://archaeology.leiden.edu/graduate-school/phd-programme/candidates/stoffelse.html