Archaeologists made a once-in-a-lifetime discovery of ancient Roman ruins atop a Neolithic sacred spring, a statement updated Tuesday announced.
The Roman remains consist of a fairly elegant-sounding landscape pool and wall surrounding a natural freshwater spring, believed to have been built some 1,700 years ago, according to the French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP). Archaeologists believe the ruins were built atop a significantly older sacred site that may date back as much as 4,000 to 6,000 years, during the Neolithic period.
Discoveries at the site include a ceramic face of Medusa, the mythical Gorgon whose hair was made of snakes and whose gaze could turn you to stone. Other ceramics and late Roman Empire coins were also found, along with pieces of flint and fragments of a dagger, believed to be Neolithic.
Une occupation rurale et une installation monumentale antiques à Chamborêt (Haute-Vienne). #Archéologie
➡️https://t.co/ymmH0MsR1P pic.twitter.com/4WJFD0ryDc— Isabelle Marie (@isabellemgs75) April 16, 2024
The oldest evidence at the site still needs to be dated. These include a dry-stone building and another that appears to have been made of wood, possibly forming a home and farm, the statement said. (RELATED: Rare Roman Remains Uncover City Destroyed By Volcanic Eruption)
The site then appears to have been abandoned for centuries before the Romans showed up and made it their home (classic Roman behavior). The Romans built their home near the freshwater spring, which is still active today, the statement noted.
Further research will focus on uncovering any other artifacts at the site, as well as dating the older settlement. The site poses “unprecedented archaeological potential” for the region.