The discovery of the Forum
One of the most important discoveries so far has been achieved within an area in which the aerial images show only a few structures. Fifteen years ago, a monumental building complex was discovered around an open square: the Carnuntum Forum.
For several years, Carnuntum has been one of the most important test areas for the development of high-resolution geophysical prospection methods by the Archeo Prospections® team, an interdisciplinary cooperation between ZAMG and VIAS - University of Vienna.
Large-area magnetic field measurements, to the extent of more than one square kilometer, have been possible with extremely sensitive magnetometers. The ground-penetrating radar proved to be an extremely powerful method, which allows for a three-dimensional insight into the subsurface and has been intensively used in Carnuntum since 1998 and is constantly being developed further.
An additional large-area magnetic prospection gives insight into the entire surrounding city area. From continually repeated ground-penetrating radar measurements, there emerged data of excellent quality and a wealth of new archaeological information. Parallel to the development of measuring instruments, specialized software tools for the efficient processing and presentation of the recorded geophysical data were developed and are continuously improved. The information contained in the complex prospection data was converted to archaeological maps and detailed plans of individual buildings, roads and the Roman infrastructure by means of a GIS-based integrated archaeological interpretation and also allows for a three-dimensional virtual reconstruction of the monumental buildings, the basic map and the former landscape.