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Rescue Excavation at Vindonissa Uncovers Switzerland's Earliest Roman Military Camp, With a Tiberius-Era Gold Coin

An 11-month dig at Vindonissa found the earliest camp's rampart, a legionary barracks, a field forge, and a Tiberius gold aureus.

Science & Research Archaeology
archaeology Roman Empire Switzerland Vindonissa
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Overview

An 11-month rescue excavation at Vindonissa, Switzerland’s most important Roman legionary camp, has uncovered new evidence of the site’s earliest military phase, including a section of its original defensive rampart, a timber barracks, and a gold coin from the reign of Emperor Tiberius, according to HeritageDaily. The dig, carried out by the Cantonal Archaeology Department of Aargau on Zürcherstrasse in Windisch ahead of construction of the “via romana” residential development, wrapped up in mid-July 2026, according to Arkeonews.

What We Know

  • Archaeologists confirmed the southern timber-and-earth rampart and its associated V-shaped defensive ditch belonging to the first Roman troop camp, extending roughly 70 metres south of the later legionary fortress wall before turning northwest, according to HeritageDaily and Arkeonews. A portion of the same ditch had been recorded more than 90 years earlier in nearby Königsfelden Park, but this excavation mapped its course for the first time, per both outlets.
  • Around 20 archaeologists documented more than 2,200 square metres of remains before the site was handed over for construction, according to HeritageDaily; Arkeonews put the documented area at 2,225 square metres.
  • Beneath a later Roman road, the team found a timber building roughly nine metres wide and at least 30 metres long, with regularly arranged rooms and entrance spaces, interpreted as a legionary barracks, according to HeritageDaily.
  • Just inside the early camp wall, excavators identified what may have been a military workshop, with field forge foundations and remains of an oven suggesting metalworking and food-production activity, according to HeritageDaily.
  • Notable artifacts include a gold aureus struck during the reign of Emperor Tiberius, a carnelian gemstone about one centimetre across engraved with Victoria, the Roman goddess of victory, and two objects interpreted as possible handles from Roman surgical scalpels, according to HeritageDaily. Arkeonews reports that one of the scalpel handles appears to end in a carefully shaped animal head, and describes the gemstone as depicting Victoria holding a staff and wreath.
  • The team also recovered blacksmith’s tools, leatherworking equipment, and the stone of a Roman hand mill, along with a carbonized loaf of bread measuring approximately ten centimetres across and three centimetres thick, according to HeritageDaily and Arkeonews. The bread has been moved to the cantonal conservation laboratory for analysis; if the identification is confirmed, Arkeonews reports it would be the first Roman bread discovered in Switzerland.
  • The rampart was probably built during the early reign of Tiberius, who ruled from AD 14 to 37, though the artifacts recovered so far do not allow a more precise date, according to Arkeonews. Traces of pioneer vegetation in the ditch suggest the defenses were neglected long enough for plants to take hold before being repaired and returned to use, per the same report.
  • Vindonissa sat near the confluence of the Aare, Reuss, and Limmat rivers; Roman forces first established a post there during Emperor Augustus’s Alpine campaigns around 15 BC, and it grew into a permanent legionary base under Tiberius that eventually covered about 20 hectares and held as many as 6,000 soldiers, according to Arkeonews. The 13th Legion first built in wood and earth before the 21st Legion rebuilt in stone, and the 11th Legion remained until Emperor Trajan transferred it toward the Danube in AD 101, per the same source. Vindonissa remains the only Roman legionary camp known within the territory of modern Switzerland, according to Arkeonews.

What We Don’t Know

  • Neither report gives a precise date narrower than Tiberius’s AD 14-37 reign for when the rampart was constructed.
  • Analysis of the carbonized bread loaf, including its ingredients, was still underway at the cantonal conservation laboratory at the time of reporting, and the “first Roman bread in Switzerland” designation remains provisional pending that work.
  • The exact function of the possible scalpel handles has not been confirmed; further conservation and examination are needed before archaeologists can verify whether they were used for medical purposes.

Analysis

The find fills in a gap in the story of Vindonissa’s earliest years. The site is well documented as it grew into the largest Roman military installation on Swiss soil, but the Zürcherstrasse excavation focuses specifically on the camp’s formative phase — the period between the initial Roman foothold and the construction of the stone fortress that later defined the base. Mapping the full course of the original rampart, rather than the partial section recorded 90 years ago, gives archaeologists a firmer basis for reconstructing the size and layout of that first camp. The mix of finds — a barracks, a forge, a possible bread oven, and objects tied to both craftwork and personal life such as the engraved gemstone and the aureus — points to a settlement that was already organized around permanent residential and production functions rather than functioning only as a temporary defensive post.