OXFORD, ENGLAND—By using open-source satellite imagery including Google Earth, archaeologists have discovered three previously unknown Roman temporary military camps along the border between Jordan and Saudi Arabia. According to a BBC News report, the researchers were able to identify the forts by their distinctive rectangular shape with entrances on opposite ends. “We are almost certain they were built by the Roman army,” says project leader Michael Fradley of the University of Oxford, who adds the enticing possibility that they may be evidence of previously undocumented military campaign in the region related the absorption of the Nabataean Kingdom into the Roman Empire in A.D. 106. It is extremely rare to find temporary camps in the region and these may have belonged to one or more cohort of camel-mounted troops. To read about a find in Saudi Arabia that was selected as one of ARCHAEOLOGY’s Top 10 Discoveries of 2021, go to "Oldest Animal Art."
