Fort Vechten

The hundred most special objects have been selected for this exhibition, including a number of special helmets, a face mask, luxury pottery and shoe soles in all shapes and sizes. 

Finds and people: At Fort Vechten, people have been excavating objects from Roman times for almost two hundred years. A large part of these are in the collection of the National Museum of Antiquities. This exhibition focuses not only on these objects and their location, but also on the people who found them.
Roadworks: In the 1970s, the A12 was widened near Vechten. Private searchers then brought together a large number of Roman objects. A number of these collections have been included in the museum collection in recent years. In total, this concerns tens of thousands of objects, ranging from pottery shards to special metal finds.

Top finds: helmets and a face mask: Absolute masterpieces include three beautifully decorated Roman helmets and a face mask. Wooden objects are also very special, such as frames for glass windows, combs, a label for labeling goods and a writing board with a scratched-in address. Wood usually decays in the soil, so these items are rare. Large numbers of decorated writing markers, shards of luxurious terra sigillata pottery and all kinds of shoe soles show that Vechten must have been one of the most important places along the Roman border in the Netherlands. Soldiers and archaeologists: In the nineteenth century, many objects were collected by the Dutch army during the construction of the Waterline Fort near Vechten. In between are two special miniature altars made of limestone, a complete sword, a dagger, a fitting of an officer of the Roman army and two beautiful fittings of carriages. In the early twentieth century, the National Museum of Antiquities conducted excavations at Fort Vechten. This resulted in, among other things, a silver-plated horse bridle and a wooden bucket with a chain to collect water from a well. These archaeologists also found a nearly complete bowl of terra sigillata pottery.