Roman ruins in France discovered on top of Neolithic structures
- Roman ruins date back about 1,7000 years
- Underneath: Neolithic ruins as much as 6,000 years old
- Archaeologists say site was abandoned for centuries between settlements
maylen
(NewsNation) — Archaeologists have made a double discovery outside a village in France: not one, but two civilizations.
First, they found Roman-era ruins of a landscaped pool and wall around a freshwater spring. But underneath it is evidence of a civilization that lived on the site thousands of years earlier.
The Roman ruins date from around 300 A.D., about 1,700 years ago, according to a statement from the French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research. Searchers found coins and ceramic shards.
The other items include pieces of flint, a fragment of a dagger and other items that could date back as much as 6,000 years to the Neolithic period.
The evidence of the oldest structure on the site are traces of a rectangular stone building, and another that appears to have been made of wood, possibly a farmhouse.
Archaeologists say, then, the site appeared to have been abandoned for several centuries before the Romans arrived and built their structures on top of the ancient site.
Research will continue at the site, which may help shed more light on how it was used at different times in history.
News of the find was published on the website Live Science.
