Hundreds of roman forts discovered

[Imperial Dave]

https://www-heritagedaily-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.heritagedaily.com/2023/10/lost-roman-forts-discovered-using-cold-war-spy-satellites/149010?amp=1&amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQGsAEggAID#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16983376983187&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heritagedaily.com%2F2023%2F10%2Flost-roman-forts-discovered-using-cold-war-spy-satellites%2F149010

Well, blow me down

[Ian61]

Interesting change to the usual ideas about the region in those times but I notice that they state,
"We were only able to confidently identify extant archaeological remains at 38 of Poidebard's 116 forts.".

Letting aside questions of 'what still remains?' I am curious at the assertion that all these 'forts' are Roman - I know there will be some tell tail signs in the shape and layout but some of these photos are just of square embanked areas. It seems a large step to say all of these are likely Roman, I would expect more of a line than this rather scattered spread.

[stevenneate]

Without some provenance, it's a stretch to generalise and call them Roman forts, as if they were all connected in time and functionality.

[Imperial Dave]

All I said was that halibut was good enough for Jehovah 

[Mark G]

I thought the interesting idea was that they seem to form a chain of safe night stations to get caravans across the desert frontier.

Kind of like pony express stations, with a bit more substantial troopage to guard it, but not as a force exerting influence, but as a force protecting traders en route to the coast.

[DBS]

The archaeologists working the Gurgan region have made excellent use of Corona imagery for several years now, and going back to the noughties, a very good US professor made a big contribution to the assessment led by the British Museum of site looting in Iraq - she looked at Corona imagery for a base line, then modern commercial satellite imagery for up to date pics, and could identify a massive number of robber holes.  UK MOD then provided helo and infantry protection to allow the BM and Iraqi archaeologists to inspect the sites of most concern.

As you say, an assumption that the Syrian "forts" are Roman; and a caravanserai of the period, as I understand it, is probably fairly indistinguishable from a a fortlet, being a sturdy compound with a big gate, maybe a couple of large buildings inside, and plenty of space for tents/lean-tos.  The big difference is military presence or not; and caravans probably allowed to camp outside but not inside a fort.  Fergus Millar and Benjamin Isaac, for example, have always been quite questioning of the idea that the Roman army was that interested in policing per se anyway, or too worried about border control in a strict sense.  And do we count Palmyrene infrastructure as "Roman", given they are a client state or at least part of a province allowed some licence most of the time?

[Erpingham]

One issue I would see with this study is, without on-the-ground investigation, it's not possible to date the use of the sites. How many of these sites were in use at the same time?  You can't really analyse the distribution very far without that, IMO.

[DBS]

Exactly. Also there is a tendency to assume that any fort laid out with some organisation and common sense is Roman, because it is their fortifications that we know best. It is obvious that the Gurgan fortifications are NOT Roman because the Romans never got anywhere near the area, but they are rather similar, to the extent that the team working on them draws their estimates of garrison sizes from the guestimates/assumptions for Roman forts of similar size...

We know Hadrian's Wall is Roman, we know Gurgan is Sasanian. Stuff in more contested areas, over several centuries...?