Ancient Roman tunnel system unearthed during road construction in France. See inside
During construction work in a city of central France, archaeologists uncovered a tunnel opening and found a system of ancient Roman passageways. Photos show what remains of the underground structures.
Archaeologists surveyed a mainstreet in downtown Limoges in 2023 ahead of a road construction project. Using georadar, they identified some possible ancient Roman ruins and decided to excavate, the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research said in a Nov. 15 news release.
As they dug, archaeologists found a circular opening leading to some underground tunnels and identified the structure as an ancient Roman aqueduct. Photos show the eerie ruins.
The ancient Romans built an extensive network of aqueducts to supply water across their empire, according to Britannica. The most iconic of these structures “crossed over valleys on stone arches,” but large sections also passed through “underground conduits made mostly of stone and terra-cotta pipe.”
In Limoges, known as Augustoritum during the Roman era, “a number of underground aqueducts brought the city its water” and were still in use in the 1970s, according to The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites.
Archaeologists described the newly found aqueduct tunnel as a rare glimpse into the ancient city’s urban development.
Officials did not provide an age for or dimensions of the ancient aqueduct.
Excavations also uncovered some ruins of an ancient Roman building, road and other artifacts, archaeologists said. Work at the site is ongoing.
Limoges is a city in south-central France and a roughly 240-mile drive southwest from Paris.
Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap).
This story was originally published November 18, 2024 at 11:37 AM with the headline "Ancient Roman tunnel system unearthed during road construction in France. See inside."
