Remains of Roman ‘column’ discovered in open-air museum

More than 100 fragments of the Roman Trevi Monument were found in the Roman Open Air Museum in Hechingen-Stein. Archaeologists from the Office for the Protection of National Monuments (LAD) in Stuttgart discovered the remains of a rare “divine column” while excavating a Roman manor house from the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD.

“The monument must have originally consisted of several stone blocks stacked on top of each other,” LAD archaeologist Dr. Klaus Kortüm said during a public lecture at the open-air museum. “The stones were decorated on all sides with reliefs showing ancient gods and figures from related legends. In post-Roman times, the monuments were broken into individual fragments of large and small sizes and scattered everywhere. Only some of the figures can be identified on them , and they can often only be identified using their better-preserved likenesses,” Cotum said. […]

According to archaeologists, similar divine columns are rarely found in the Roman border provinces of the Rhine and Danube. According to preliminary findings, the Hehingen specimen must have been quite large in comparison.

The fragments that have been discovered represent only a small part of the original monument. There was so much damage and missing parts that it was impossible to put the pieces together. The archaeological team is using a 3D printer to create a small replica. They will be reassembled and the gaps filled with hypothetical reconstructions. Once the model is complete, it will be displayed alongside the original stones in a new permanent exhibition at the open-air museum.