THE FUNCTION OF A ROMAN KEY




This is a story or better a reproduction attempt of how a roman door locker (before 19th century) used to function. One of the things archeologist found in archeological important excavation places in Switzerland such as Augst (Augusta Raurica), is the roman key. It looks like a hook and is out of metal – that’s why it’s still there, but a little oxydized of course. So where is the rest of the lock system? It must have been out of wood, because there is no evidence of another part of the locker. How did the romans lock their doors? This is what I tried to find out and wanted to explain. I developed a theory of how it could have worked and visualized it in 3D to optimize the understanding of the open/lock-process.