1,700-year-old Roman ruins discovered atop much older Neolithic sacred spring

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.

The oldest evidence of structures at the site are traces of a dry-stone building with a rectangular plan and postholes and sandpits from at least one other building that was probably made of wood. Although the excavations haven't determined how old these structures are, artifacts found among them suggest the structures were part of an early home and farm, the statement said.

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Roman-era ruins

After that, the site seems to have been abandoned for many centuries. But it was revived in the third century A.D. during the Roman occupation of the region. The archaeologists have found many fragments of bricks and tiles from that time; some show obvious signs of heating, which suggests a fire was maintained in the area.

The source of the freshwater spring itself, which is still active, seems to have been enclosed at that time by a wooden box buried in a pit filled with flat stones. This, in turn, fed a landscaped pool or basin that was surrounded by an arc or wall of granite blocks, which contained ceramic fragments from the third and fourth centuries.