Margum workshop: military pottery revisited

Abstract

Margum, the Roman town near the confluence of the rivers Morava and Danube, at a strategically important spot on the fortified border at the Upper Moesian limes, is one of the key Roman sites in Serbia, unfortunately with still not clearly determined early occupational history. The status of a municipium Margum was gained probably in the time of Marcus Aurelius, while in late Roman times the town was known as civitas Margensis. The remains of the large fortress were identified in the 19th century. Archaeological investigations, conducted over a very limited area in the 1950s and 1980s, revealed at this multi-layered site the remains of 1st to 5th century structures: several buildings, among them large thermae, a Roman well, a waste pit, and a pottery kiln were discovered, as well as necropolises from the 2nd to the 6th century. Within the scope of the recent trans-border project The Town of Margum, in its first phase, in 2011, mostly medieval structures were explored.