Dr Michał Pisz and Lucy Benoit spent two sweltering weeks in August surveying archaeological sites across northern Dobruja, Romania, as part of a University of Warsaw project led by Dr Martin Lemke. Martin’s project aims to investigate ancient communication and supply routes connecting the Roman military sites on the Danube frontier with the Black Sea: both overland through the Taiţa valley and by water through the Danube delta. Geophysical surveys were conducted under the guidance of local archaeologist George Nuțu, and focused on three important sites: the Greco-Roman and Late Roman city of Argamum, a previously unexplored hillfort at Dealul Consul, and the museum park at Aegyssus in Tulcea.
Armed with a Bartington magnetometer, an Earth resistance kit, a GPR Bradford Geophysics in Romania
Dr Michał Pisz and Lucy Benoit spent two sweltering weeks in August surveying archaeological sites across northern Dobruja, Romania, as part of a University of Warsaw project led by Dr Martin Lemke. The project aims to investigate ancient communication and supply routes connecting Roman Danube frontier sites with the Black Sea, both overland through the Taiţa valley and by water through the Delta. The geophysical surveys were conducted under the guidance of local archaeologist George Nuțu and focused on three significant sites: the Greek, Roman and Late Roman city of Argamum, a previously unexplored hillfort at Dealul Consul, and the museum park at Aegyssus in Tulcea.
Armed with a Bartington, an Earth resistance kit, a GPR and a drone, the team covered an impressive amount of ground – quite literally. At Argamum, they identified what appears to be a Roman aqueduct, found four kilns (two of them now excavated), and mapped buried structures inside the fortress walls. The drone survey captured the entire Dolosman peninsula, creating the most detailed terrain model of the site to date. At Dealul Consul, they identified and characterised a new archaeological site, a previously unknown Byzantine fortress, by confirming substantial fortification walls on an extremely steep hillside. Finally, Aegyssus revealed potential wall alignments beneath the modern museum park, thanks to the 3D GPR.
The surveys weren’t without drama. August in Dobruja brought extreme heat, relentless mosquitos, and fields full of aggressive thistle- Lucy reports she’s still finding some in her socks! Despite the challenging conditions, three major sites were successfully surveyed in two weeks… Not bad going for a reconnaissance campaign.
Analysis continues back in Bradford, and the team hopes to return for more (slightly cooler) fieldwork in the future.

and a drone, the team covered an impressive amount of ground – quite literally. At Argamum, they identified what appears to be a Roman aqueduct, found four kilns (two of them now excavated), and mapped buried structures inside the fortress walls. The drone survey captured the entire Dolosman peninsula, creating the most detailed terrain model of the site to date. At Dealul Consul, they identified a previously unknown Byzantine fortress, confirming the presence of substantial fortification walls on an extremely steep hillside. Finally, Aegyssus revealed potential wall alignments beneath the modern museum park, thanks to the 3D GPR.

The surveys weren’t without drama. August in Dobruja brought extreme heat, relentless mosquitos, and fields full of aggressive thistle- Lucy reports she’s still finding thorns in her socks! Despite these challenging conditions, all three major sites were successfully surveyed in two weeks… Not bad going for a reconnaissance campaign.
Analysis continues back in Bradford, and the team hopes to return for more (slightly cooler) fieldwork in the future.