From the depths of the Suhadole well

In 2000, a Roman well was discovered on the plot of the Petrič family in Suhadole, next to the construction pit for the new house. Miran Bremšak from Mlake pri Komenda was the finder. He reported the find to the Institute for Monument Protection from Kranj. Bremšak was a longtime collaborator of archaeologists and the finder of many new archaeological sites in the Komenda municipality, in Slovenia and especially in the highlands. Together with his colleagues, in June 2000, he then helped to empty almost 10 m of debris and sediments that had accumulated in the well. The excavation was professionally led by Dr. Jana Horvat, from the Institute of Archeology ZRC SAZU. For the first time, archaeological finds restored by conservators in the workshops of the National Museum of Slovenia were presented to the public in 2006, at an exhibition in the library of France Balantič Kamnik, Komenda unit. In 2008, they were exhibited at an occasional exhibition in the Kamnik Museum, and since 2011 they have been an integral part of the permanent exhibition Reflections of the Kamnik Millennia.

We decided to hold this year’s exhibition in order to draw attention to the value of the finds, their wider context and meaning, to the responsible owners who allowed and supported the excavations and thus preserved invaluable information about the settlement of this area during antiquity.

There were finds in the well that fell into it and some that are probably of a sacrificial nature. It was built at the beginning of the 1st century AD. from broken stones in the drywall technique. It measured 1.20 m and reached a depth of almost 10 m. Various finds lay in the well: pottery jugs, wooden and metal buckets, animal bones, fragments of vessels, tools, parts of clothing and parts of various equipment, which tell us stories about the way of life, work, fashion and more of the inhabitants of the Kamniška Bistrica plain at that time .

We assume that the well was part of a larger settlement complex, presumably villa rustica, which covered the area of today’s southern part of Suhadole. Its remains will probably never be excavated, as the settlement grew on its ruins. During the Roman occupation of our places, Roman villas – large estates were quite common, especially in the area of Gorenjska. In the vicinity of Suhadole, we assume that they were also erected in: Križ and Žeje pri Komendi, Vodice and in Loka pri Mengšu.

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Text: dr. Jana Horvat (ZRC SAZU, Institute of Archaeology), Janja Železnikar (Medobčinski muzej Kamnik); proofreading: Ana Gruden; illustrations: Tamara Korošec (ZRC SAZU, Institute of Archaeology), Andreja Peklar; maps: Mateja Belak (ZRC SAZU, Institute of Archaeology); plan: Drago Valoh, Dragica Knific Lunder (ZRC SAZU, Institute of Archaeology); drawings of archaeological objects: Dragica Knific Lunder; photos: Tomaž Lauko, Jana Horvat, Miran Bremšak; design: Vladimir Ristic

The project was made possible by the municipality of Komenda.