Archaeologists Found an Ancient Roman Military Camp Hiding 7,000 Feet High in the Sky

Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: - Archaeologists researching a battlefield in Switzerland discovered a Roman military camp 7,000 feet above sea level. - The camp is roughly 2,000 years old and ties to the Roman battlefield in the Colm la Runga corridor. - Early investigations of the site revealed artifacts from the camp, including sling bullets stamped by the Roman’s 3rd Legion. The ancient Roman army didn’t seem to be afraid of anything, but they definitely weren’t afraid of heights, as evidenced by the discovery of a 2,000-year-old Roman military camp located 7,000 feet above sea level in the Swiss Alps. As archaeologists continue to explore the history of the Roman army in what is now Switzerland, a volunteer unearthed a previously unknown military camp in the mountains, strategically positioned to have tactical views of the surrounding valleys and mountain passes, according to a translated statement from the Canton of Graubünden. Not only did archaeologists discover the ditches and a wall of the camp, but they also found lead sling bullets bearing the stamp of the Roman 3rd Legion. That’s a helpful giveaway. Since 2021, a team from the University of Basel has researched the landscape in the Crap Ses area between Cunter and Tiefencastel in collaboration with the Graubünden Archaeological Service. The focus has been on a Roman battlefield in the Oberhalbstein Alps, located in eastern Switzerland. The research took quite the turn, though, in fall 2023 when a volunteer working on the project discovered what the statement calls “a striking terrain structure in the Colm la Runga corridor,” about 3,000 feet above the battlefield. Using a high-resolution digital terrain model and LiDAR data, the team investigated the hilltop site. LiDAR features laser scanning of the ground to show even slight height differences in the terrain as a grayscale image, and in the Colm la Runga corridor, it revealed the profile of the artificial fortification of the hilltop. Resting undisturbed for two millennia 7,000 feet high in the Swiss Alps, the previously unknown Roman military camp was fortified by three ditches and a wall with ramparts. The site of the camp offers a view of four key valleys—Landwassertal, Albulatal, Domleschg, and Surses—and Lenzerheide, a heavily traveled mountain passageway. The perch gave Roman soldiers stationed at the camp a perfect vantage point to spot any incoming enemies. A team of students from the University of Basel joined volunteers in August to research the structures inside the wall-ditch system. So far, the find has yielded weapons and equipment belonging to Roman soldiers, including lead sling bullets and boot nails. The slingshot lead bears the stamp of the 3rd Legion, which was involved in the battle at Crap Ses, giving experts an obvious tie between the ancient battlefield and the newly discovered military camp. The dating of the artifacts also links the camp to the same period as the battlefield, roughly 2,000 years ago. The discovery helps experts track the advancement of Roman forces 2,000 years ago with precision, showing their movement from Bergell over the Septimer Pass to the Tiefencastel area and from there toward Chur and the Alpine Rhine Valley. The statement said that the “sensational discovery of a Roman military camp in Graubünden shows once again that archaeological research into ‘Roman Switzerland’ continues to hold great surprises.” Tim Newcomb is a journalist based in the Pacific Northwest. He covers stadiums, sneakers, gear, infrastructure, and more for a variety of publications, including Popular Mechanics. His favorite interviews have included sit-downs with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield in Portland.