Digging into the Past: Roman Archaeology in Luxembourg

With the conquest of Gaul by Caesar in the 50s BC, the area which later became Luxembourg came under Roman rule. The land was inhabited by the Celtic tribe of the Treveri, who repeatedly resisted Rome and were only gradually Romanized in the first decade BC, when they were integrated into the province of Gallia Belgica as their own township, the Civitas Treverorum. This period also saw the major Roman foundations, such as the capital of the Civitas, Augusta Treverorum/Trier (Germany) and the vicus Ricciacus/Dalheim (Luxembourg), as well as the construction of the infrastructure with the major long-distance roads, such as the via Agrippa.

From resistance and humble beginnings to the major towns and luxurious country estates to Barbarian raids and the downfall of the Roman empire, in this talk we will explore the Roman, or better the Gallo-roman, history of Luxembourg through the lens of some of its major excavations in the last 150 years.

About the Speaker:

Nena Sand studied Provincial Roman Archaeology and Art History at the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany) beginning in 2006. She obtained her master’s degree in 2013 with her thesis on a Gallo-roman tomb from the late first century containing Celtic grave goods found in the necropolis of Mamer-“Juckelsbësch” (Luxembourg).

Between 2007 and 2013, she repeatedly worked as a student at the Centre national de recherche archéologique (which became the Insitut national de recherches archéologiques in 2022) and took part in excavations in Luxembourg and Germany. At the same time, she gained experience as a science communicator in museums and was active as a volunteer in one of the biggest archaeological associations in Luxembourg, the d’Georges Kayser Altertumsfuerscher.

Since the beginning of 2016, Nena Sand has abandoned her PHD thesis and joined the team of the Gallo-Roman department of the Insitut national de recherches archéologiques as an archaeologist and is responsible for the important Gallo-roman settlement of Dalheim.