Summer School

General Information

The Summer School Aguntum - Archaeological Field School offers students of ancient studies the opportunity to participate in the excavation of the Roman city of Aguntum, courses on the history of the Eastern Alps and excursions to the most exciting archaeological sites in the region.

The practical work on the excavation includes uncovering, describing and measuring the archaeological features, salvaging and initial treatment of the finds as well as the further processing and interpretation of the finds and features. Accompanying courses are offered on the current discourse of field archaeological methods and the wider historical context of the excavation site in Roman and Late Antique times (1st to 6th century AD).

The Roman city of Aguntum has been known since the early 20th century and excavations have been carried out here since 1912. Since 1991, these have been led by the Department of Archaeology at the University of Innsbruck and since 1994, teaching excavations have been carried out in Aguntum for students of the University of Innsbruck. From 2021, the Aguntum Summer School will also be offered.

The excavation site and the excavation project

The Municipium Claudium Aguntum was granted a town charter under Emperor Claudius. The first traces of settlement in the area of the city that has been researched so far date back to the beginning of the 1st century AD. In connection with the granting of the city charter, the urban centre (forum, thermal baths) was expanded and a city wall was built. However, this has so far only been documented on the eastern side of the city and appears to have been primarily representative in character. A strong connection between Roman Aguntum and the Mediterranean region can be seen in the buildings known to date. In addition to the thermal baths, the first phase of which can be traced back to Campanian models, an atrium house modelled on the Mediterranean was also built in the 1st century AD. As this form of construction was only partially suitable for the harsh climate of the Mountain Regions, the first adaptations were made just one generation after its construction and the building was increasingly equipped with heatable rooms. The geographical and economic proximity of Aguntum to the Mediterranean region is not only evident in the architecture, such as the round macellum, but also in the finds, which are rich in Mediterranean imports from the 1st century to Late Antiquity.

Aguntum is located at a crossroads of Alpine cross-connections from south to north and east to west. Alpine resources such as rock crystal form one of the economic foundations of the town. During excavations in recent years, hundreds of rock crystals were found on the site of the forum, providing evidence of the trade in this material. The raw material came from the wider area surrounding the city and was traded after sorting and rough processing.

By the 2nd century AD, the town had achieved a certain degree of prosperity, which was reflected in lively building activity on the settlement site. After a major fire in the 3rd century AD, which according to current knowledge cannot be linked to an act of war, a phase of change begins. The public buildings increasingly lost their function and were converted into living quarters and workshops. At the same time, particularly in the 4th century, numerous conversions of private buildings can be observed and, with the construction of a church extra muros in the same period, the strong influence of the Christian religion is now also tangible. Aguntum remained a town at least until the 5th century AD, but lost importance. Aguntum plays an important role in written records for the last time in 610 AD, as a decisive battle between the Bavarians and Slavs for supremacy in the region is said to have taken place near the town.

The focus of the current excavations is on the city's trading and administrative centre. With the work in the merchants' forum and the neighbouring administrative buildings, we hope to gain further information on the economic foundations of the imperial city as well as on the transformation process of the settlement that took place immediately after the fire.