Between April 2023 and July 2025, a rescue excavation covering an area of around 1,000 m² was carried out in the upper town of Augusta Raurica, along Sichelenstrasse in the ‘Im Wildental’ field, as part of a new construction project. Due to the depth of the excavation pit, this provided a rare opportunity to trace the entire period of settlement in the area – from its beginnings in the early 1st century AD through numerous phases of construction and redesign to a squatter occupation (partial repair of ruined buildings, mostly for the purpose of setting up workshops) and its final abandonment in the late 3rd century AD.

Among the most notable discoveries are a previously unknown place of worship dating from the 1st century AD and the brick canal of the Rauschenbächlein stream, which has since disappeared from the Wildental valley and was diverted during the construction of the motorway in the 1960s. In addition, a section of the Roman road was documented and at least three buildings were partially excavated, including a terraced house on the northern edge of Wildental, which had representative rooms with outstanding wall paintings.

The investigations also show that the Romans made extensive changes to the natural topography of the Wildental valley to suit their needs, levelling the ground, creating terraces and building retaining walls – some of these measures are still visible above ground in places.

The finds – more than 40,000 objects – include numerous ceramic and animal bone fragments, a fragment of a consecration inscription, several graffiti carved into wall plaster, coins, brooches and finger rings. The backfill of the Rauschenbach canal and the stream bed, where a lot of material was apparently lost or deliberately disposed of, proved particularly fruitful. Of particular note are around 70 lead seals scattered over several dozen metres. These seals, stamped with names, probably served as product labels; the same name – presumably Publius Rausius (?) – appears several times. It remains unclear whether this was a production or delivery site and why such a large number of seals ended up in the canal.

A brief report on the excavation will be published in the next annual reports from Augst and Kaiseraugst.