Naslovna fotografija: Dogajanje na terenu (del pri križišču Slovenske in Aškerčeve). Foto: M. Lukić

Vsi, ki se zadnje tedne gibate na območju med Kongresnim trgom in Aškerčevo cesto, ste verjetno opazili metre in metre sive ograje, ki se s kratkimi prekinitvami vleče ob prevoznem delu Slovenske ceste. Sama ograja gotovo ne daje vtisa, kako pomembne in zanimive stvari se dogajajo za njo, a videz vara; ograja namreč omejuje prostor arheoloških izkopavanj. In to ne kakršnihkoli izkopavanj. Omenjena izkopavanja so ena zadnjih, ki bodo posegla v še obstoječe antične plasti znotraj obzidanega rimskega mesta. Imamo privilegij in odgovornost, da odkrijemo in na pravo mesto postavimo nov kamenček v mozaiku Emone. Bodo naše raziskave potrdile ali zavrgle stare teze? Se nam obetajo nova spoznanja?

V želji, da bi dogajanje, ki se odvija za ograjo doseglo kar največ ljudi, smo se odločili za tedenska poročila, ki vas bodo seznanjala s potekom naših raziskav in novimi odkritji.

Ampak začnimo najprej na začetku:

Prostor arheoloških raziskav
Arheološke raziskave potekajo na južnem delu Slovenske ceste, na območju, kjer je v rimskem obdobju potekala glavna mestna ulica v osi sever-jug (cardo maximus). Povezovala je prostor med severnimi (Kongresni trg) in južnimi vrati (Mirje) in se dotikala vzhodnega roba emonskega foruma (Ferantov vrt), ob njej pa so se razprostirale meste četrti. V zadnjih letih sta bili bolj znani najdišči s tega prostora Šumi in NUK II, ki pravzaprav mejita na območje naših izkopavanj.

Razlog za izkopavanja
Na Slovenski cesti ne izkopavamo iz radovednosti, ampak ker je to neizogibno. Ne gre torej za raziskovalna izkopavanja, pri katerih bi si zastavili določena strokovna vprašanja ter nanje skušali odgovoriti (takšna izkopavanja so bila npr. tista na Ančnikovem gradišču), ampak za zaščitna izkopavanja, ki so potrebna zaradi načrtovane obnove mestne infrastrukture.
Ko bodo izkopavanja končana, na tem mestu ne bo več sledov preteklosti in tudi nedotaknjenih ostalin Emone skoraj ne bo več. Ostala pa bodo nova spoznanja, obsežna dokumentacija in številne najdbe. Če bi namesto arheologov v zemljo prvi zakopali bagri, bi bilo vse to za vedno izgubljeno.

foto: Janka Stehlikova

Predstavitev terena
Sama razdalja med Kongresnim trgom in Aškerčevo cesto se morda ne zdi velika, če pa pomislite, da na celotnem območju potekajo izkopavanja, lahko vidite, da je teren precej obsežen. Čeprav gre za eno samo najdišče, je to razdeljeno na štiri dele, ki so med seboj ločeni. Strokovno jih imenujemo sektorji in jih med seboj razlikujemo s številkami, a jim bomo v naših sporočilih nadeli nova, bolj prijazna imena. Vsak od štirih delov predstavlja okno, skozi katerega lahko kukamo v preteklost, vsak razkriva edinstvene značilnosti rimskega mesta. Zato bo vsak del nosil ime, ki namiguje na to, kaj se je na njegovem prostoru dogajalo v času Emone. Tako boste lahko, če boste krenili s Kongresnega trga in se sprehodili ob ograji, šli najprej mimo dela »CARDO MAXIMUS« , nadaljevali ob delu »DECUMANUS« , šli nato mimo dela »FORUM«, in do Aškerčeve ceste prispeli ob delu »INSULA«.

Če želite izvedeti, zakaj deli nosijo taka imena in kaj se na njih dogaja, nas spremljajte. Že v prihodnih dneh se javimo s prvega dela CARDO MAXIMUS.

foto: B. Gutman

Cover photo: On the excavation site (at the crossroad of Slovenska and Aškerčeva ulica). Foto: M. Lukić

Anyone moving around Congress Square and Aškerc Street in Ljubljana (Slovenia) in the past few weeks probably noticed meters and meters of grey fence running along the eastern part of Slovene Street. The fence itself does not hint at the important and interesting activities happening behind it, and there is more to it than meets the eye. The space behind the fence is where archaeological excavations take place. It is important to note that these are not just any kind of excavations, but our last chance to explore the intact ancient layers within the walls of Emona, a Roman city. It is both our privilege and responsibility to discover a new tile and place it on the right position in the Emona mosaic. Will our excavations confirm or discard some of the older theses? Are we heading towards some new and exciting discoveries?
To reach as many people as possible with the news from our excavation site, we decided to publish short “weekly reports”, which will inform about our new discoveries.

Let’s start at the beginning:

The location of archaeological excavations
Our excavations are located in the southern part of Slovene Street in Ljubljana, and in the area where cardo maximus, the main city street of the Roman city Emona, was running 2000 years ago in the direction north-south. This street represented a connection between the Northern (today Congress Square) and the Southern city gates (today the Mirje), and it ran past the eastern part of the forum (today Ferant’s garden), as well as many insulae. Our excavation site borders NUK II and Šumi, two of the most known sites excavated in the past years.

The reason for excavations
Slovene Street is not being excavated out of curiosity, but out of necessity. These are not research excavations where we would try to answer certain scientific questions, but development-led excavations needed due to the planned renovation of the city’s infrastructure.
Once the abovementioned excavations are completed, there won’t be any traces of the past left on the site, and only small bits of intact and unexcavated Emona will remain in the city’s centre. However, new knowledge, extensive documentation and numerous finds will remain. If the building machines were the first to interfere with the ground instead of archaeologists, all of this would be lost for good.

Introduction of the site
The distance between Congress Square and Aškerc Street might not seem that large. However, if you consider the whole area as an excavation site, it quickly becomes pretty large. Even though this is only one excavation site, it is divided into four different sectors, each representing a window through which we can peek into the past, and revealing some unique features of the Roman city. This is why each sector will carry a name hinting at its function during the time of the Romans. If you start your journey at Congress Square and follow the grey fence, you will first arrive at the »CARDO MAXIMUS« part. If you continue in that direction all the way to Aškerc Street, you will pass by the »DECUMANUS« part, then the »FORUM« part, and finally reaching the »INSULA« part.

If you are curious about the names of the sectors and want to read more about our excavation site, follow our posts. The first report will be from CARDO MAXIMUS.

Avtor: Jasna Furlan