Reverse Engineering of a Roman Wagon from Iron Findings in Valle Camonica (Italy)

A Roman village was recently found in Ono San Pietro, in the Mid Valle Camonica (Italy), including the rests of four rustic buildings with basement room. In one of these buildings two iron objects were found, attributable to the metallic parts of a wagon wheel. In particular, they were identified as a bushing mounted inside the wheel hub to prevent wear, and a rim mounted on the external diameter of the hub to prevent radial cracking. First, these finding were digitalized by laser-scanning, to study and measure them in detail without handling. The study of the virtual findings allowed hypothesizing their role, the concept behind their design, as well as the possible techniques used for their manufacturing. Based on the size of the findings, a reconstruction of the wooden wheel they could be mounted on was made. By means of structural analyses, the load capacity of the axle was determined, and from this a possible configuration of the wagon assembly was derived, also considering the orographic conformation of the site. By means of this reverse engineering procedure, a possible scenario of the freight transport in Mid Valle Camonica during the Roman Age was obtained.