2,000 Year Old Subway Construction Workers Find in Rome
2,000 Year Old Subway Construction Workers Find in Rome
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ROME - Construction to a Roman subway line has unearthed an ancient military neighbourhood buried beneath the city.
As builders continue construction nearby, archaeologists on site are working to recover the artefacts contained within the barrack's expanse of 39 rooms. The dig also revealed a collective grave, containing numerous skeletons and a bronze bracelet.
Culture ministry officials on Monday showed reporters where work on the city's third subway line unearthed barracks for Roman Praetorian guards dating back to the period of Emperor Hadrian, in the second century A.D.
While construction workers poured concrete at the planned Amba Aradam metro stop, an archaeologist just a few meters away brushed dirt from a small bronze bracelet.
The barracks, discovered nine meters (about 30 feet) below street level, cover 900 square meters (9600 square feet) and include a long hallway and 39 rooms decorated with black-and-white mosaics on the floors and frescoed walls.
"It's exceptional, not only for its good state of conservation but because it is part of a neighbourhood which already included four barracks. And therefore, we can characterize this area as a military neighbourhood," said Rossella Rea, Culture Ministry.
Archaeologists have also found a collective grave at the barracks, where they have so far discovered 13 adult skeletons along with a bronze coin and a bronze bracelet. Officials hope to incorporate the discovery into the new metro station, which is scheduled to open in 2020.
The Praetorian Guard, who are thought to have once lived among these barracks, were prestigious military troops established by the 2nd century BC.
They were household troops of the Roman emperors and acted as bodyguards to generals. Praetorian Guards served notable figures including Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
Over the years, the legion evolved greatly to one day become a powerful political force. In the year 312, the Praetorian Guard was disbanded by Constantine I.
Work on Rome's Metro Line C, where the remarkable find occurred, has been beset by delays due to corruption probes and funding shortages since launching in 2007.
And, the recent discovery isn't the only instance in which construction on the city's public transit ran into this kind of obstacle.
In 2014, archaeologists found the remainders of an ancient commercial farm near St. John in Lateran Basilica during work on the subway.
The dig revealed a three-pronged pitchfork, storage baskets, leather fragments that may have been from a farmhand's glove or shoe, and tracks carved into stone from the repeated turning of a waterwheel.
This agricultural business dated back to the first-century, the researchers estimated. They also found peach pits, along with well-preserved vestiges of willow and other tree roots and stumps.
As is hoped with the artefacts recently discovered at the Amba Aradam stop, officials at the time planned to incorporate the find into the metro station.
As builders continue construction nearby, archaeologists on site are working to recover the artefacts contained within the barrack's expanse of 39 rooms. The dig also revealed a collective grave, containing numerous skeletons and a bronze bracelet.
Culture ministry officials on Monday showed reporters where work on the city's third subway line unearthed barracks for Roman Praetorian guards dating back to the period of Emperor Hadrian, in the second century A.D.
While construction workers poured concrete at the planned Amba Aradam metro stop, an archaeologist just a few meters away brushed dirt from a small bronze bracelet.
The barracks, discovered nine meters (about 30 feet) below street level, cover 900 square meters (9600 square feet) and include a long hallway and 39 rooms decorated with black-and-white mosaics on the floors and frescoed walls.
"It's exceptional, not only for its good state of conservation but because it is part of a neighbourhood which already included four barracks. And therefore, we can characterize this area as a military neighbourhood," said Rossella Rea, Culture Ministry.
Archaeologists have also found a collective grave at the barracks, where they have so far discovered 13 adult skeletons along with a bronze coin and a bronze bracelet. Officials hope to incorporate the discovery into the new metro station, which is scheduled to open in 2020.
The Praetorian Guard, who are thought to have once lived among these barracks, were prestigious military troops established by the 2nd century BC.
They were household troops of the Roman emperors and acted as bodyguards to generals. Praetorian Guards served notable figures including Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
Over the years, the legion evolved greatly to one day become a powerful political force. In the year 312, the Praetorian Guard was disbanded by Constantine I.
Work on Rome's Metro Line C, where the remarkable find occurred, has been beset by delays due to corruption probes and funding shortages since launching in 2007.
And, the recent discovery isn't the only instance in which construction on the city's public transit ran into this kind of obstacle.
In 2014, archaeologists found the remainders of an ancient commercial farm near St. John in Lateran Basilica during work on the subway.
The dig revealed a three-pronged pitchfork, storage baskets, leather fragments that may have been from a farmhand's glove or shoe, and tracks carved into stone from the repeated turning of a waterwheel.
This agricultural business dated back to the first-century, the researchers estimated. They also found peach pits, along with well-preserved vestiges of willow and other tree roots and stumps.
As is hoped with the artefacts recently discovered at the Amba Aradam stop, officials at the time planned to incorporate the find into the metro station.
(rnz)
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