The project involves digitizing an analogue archive of zooarchaeological data from the Roman harbor port of Velsen 1 (Castellum Flevum) (15-30 AD). Velsen 1 is the northernmost Roman fortress on the European mainland located at the Oer-IJ, near Velsen, and it was excavated in the 1970s and 1980s. The archaeological site was discovered during the war years by members of the Association of Volunteers in Archeology. After the war, when the scientific importance of the site became clear, the IPP /AAC (now ACASA) of the University of Amsterdam took on the task of digging up the castellum and port as completely as possible. Although an extraordinary amount of ecological material has been found and studied, the results have not been fully published and digitally disclosed. The analysis was carried out in the 1980s at the then Institute for Pre-and Proto-history (IPP) of the University of Amsterdam. This project involves the analysis of nearly 10,000 animal bones from the 1982 campaign of excavation.Zoöarchaeological research plays an important role in understanding the economic and social relationship between the Romans and the local population. In the fort there are both finds of exceptional animal species (exotica), which were probably directly included and which can be a reflection of high status, but also of common domestic animals that played a role in the daily diet, in the reflection of the contacts with the local population. A re-digitalisation of the data available has been carried out in order to make the data available to the academic world for knowledge and further research.
Date: 1982 (excavation campaign)