From Romans to the Anthropocene: Geoarchaeological Investigations in the Central Vienna Basin (Austria)

The project »From Romans to the Anthropocene, from Carnuntum to Vienna: An Urban Anthropocene Field Lab« (WWTF ESR20-027) focuses on the urban transformation from the Roman legionary camps of Carnuntum and Vindobona to Vienna's periurban areas. Combining historical and geoarchaeological methods, we investigate the diverging development of the two sites and their manifold relations over time.

The Danube river crosses the mountain ranges of the Wienerwald and Malé Karpaty, forming the eastern and western limits of the central Vienna Basin. For many centuries, the river was both a barrier and a transportation route. The floodplains and river terraces along the Danube served as concentration areas and battlegrounds during countless conflicts between central Europe and its enemies.

The legionary camps of Carnuntum and Vindobona were built during the first century AD at the rim of glacial river terraces, next to the shortest passages across the Danube. During late antiquity, the former provincial capital Carnuntum lost importance. However, Vindobona became first a local center and later the capital of the Austrian rulers. After a sudden Turkish siege in 1529, the fortifications of Vienna were strengthened and maintained until the middle of the 19^th century.

Urban development of the region over the centuries was limited not only by permanent military threats. North of the Danube, agriculture was always restricted climatically by aridity and sand drift. Most settlements on the riverbanks of the Danube and its tributaries were affected frequently by floods and erosion. Many villages vanished completely as a consequence of such natural hazards. Since some decades, natural river dynamics have been restricted technically, and many areas under cultivation are now irrigated artificially. The analysis of the sedimentary record downstream of Vienna clearly shows the anthropogenic impact on sedimentation processes.

Contrary to Carnuntum, Vienna could evolve from a legionary camp step by step into a capital and a strong fortress. The demolition of the city walls after the middle of the 19^th century, the following long period of peace, and, in particular, the consequent river engineering, were preconditions for the development into a modern metropolis.