| | | 1,700-year-old Roman ruins discovered atop much older Neolithic sacred spring
News
By Tom Metcalfe
published April 19, 2024
Archaeologists think veneration of the freshwater spring started in Neolithic times.
A team from the French national archaeological agency INRAP discovered the site near the village of Chamborêt, about 12 miles north of Limoges. (Image credit: © INRAP)
Archaeologists in France have unearthed the Roman-era remains of a landscaped pool and wall around a natural freshwater spring; and they think it was built on the ruins of a much older, probably sacred site that may date back 4,500 to 6,000 years, to the Neolithic period.
The Roman ruins are thought to date to the third century, during the Late Empire period, and the artifacts found there include the ceramic face of a deity or Medusa that was placed near the water source. The site also contains ceramic shards and coins from the late Roman Empire, as well as pieces of flint, including a fragment of a dagger, that are thought to have been offered there in Neolithic times.
According to a translated statement from the French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP), the ruins were found near the village of Chamborêt, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) north of the southwest-central city of Limoges. |
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