Ancient defensive walls and roads around the Danube crossing near Lake Kartal: Experience of cartographic stratigraphy

Abstract

The article is devoted to the results of the application of cartographic stratigraphy to a single micro-region – the Danube crossing area near Lake Kartal. The author, using old topographic maps, has identified several previously unknown structures (walls, dams, and roads) and a defensive area consisted of four lines of field fortifications (dated 331 BC). It is concluded that the core of the Roman defense of the Danube crossing was a ramparts along the banks of the river. In addition, the author linked an unfinished late Roman road near the Novoselsky II hillfort with the penetration of the Visigoths into Thrace in 376.

Keywords

• the Danube crossing
• Lake Kartal
• Orlovka and Novoselsky II hillforts
• defense of the river crossing
• ancient walls and roads
• defensive fortified area
• Scythians
• Romans
• Goths