Posted on 09/13/2015 1:25:46 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists have discovered a 6th-century B.C. residence under a palazzo in central Rome, saying that it proves the ancient city was much bigger than previously thought.
Officials said Wednesday that the area on the Quirinale Hill had long been thought to have only been used as a necropolis, with ancient Rome's residential zone further south and centered around the Roman Forum.
But archaeologists excavating a palazzo on the hill said they discovered a well-preserved rectangular home, complete with wooden supports and a roof, proving that the area was also used for residential purposes.
The ANSA news agency quoted excavation chief Mirella Serlorenzi as saying the discovery "means that Rome at the start of the 6th century was much bigger than what we thought and wasn't just centered around the Forum."
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Pictures shown at the article *may* be AP, so I won't post them here.
A necropolis? That’s where the dead people live, right?
I’ve always been curious how ancient areas end up underground.
Seems even after the empire fell, it would be a lot easier to live in a house that existed than build a new one. Plus what causes them to be covered over so extensively that they’re buried?
What happens over a relatively short time for whole cultures to disappear, almost intact, and end up a few hundred feet underground
Rome is a busy, crowded, dirty city. That said, I was there in 2005 and The Forum, Vatican, Colusseum, and other historical sites are something everyone should see before they die. Absolutely incredible.
If something bad happened like an earthquake, pandemic, or war people probably wouldn't be too eager to rebuild on the site right away. A modern house will crumble in short order if there is no one to take care of it.
Only the wealthy could afford to live in a home that would survive the test of time.
http://www.crystalinks.com/romebuildings.html
A friend of mine recently went to Rome. A guide told her that it was kind of inconvenient trying to build anything there because if there was any digging to be done...it turned up artifacts and was declared a historical site.
What an interesting place to live!
That happened when the Liz Taylor “Cleopatra” was to be filmed at Cinecitta studios — some of the sets needed healthy foundations, and things had to be moved around a bit when the ancient stuff was found during excavation.
Yeah OK but ... where does all the dirt come from ?
That’s interesting.
The best thing I can come up with...once in a blue moon...is an arrowhead when I dig.
You’re about to witness it in real-time.
Thanks smokingfrog.
Buildings got quarried for stone, leaving only the really large stuff that was difficult to haul away, or foundations, pedastals for the columns, etc. Even during imperial times the emperors had to keep making proclamations against that practice. Statuary was hauled off during the Middle Ages and Renaissance to be rendered into lime for mortar, a staggering loss of information there.
The city was burned by invaders during the 5th century. There was plenty of brick, concrete, and marble used in construction (which is one reason some very grand bulldiings have survived to this day), but an awful lot was not. Between ash-piles and using an abandoned structure as a dump site, the city of the seven hills wound up with hundreds or maybe thousands of mounds.
One of the artists of the Renaissance (can’t recall the name, the book is buried around here) ran into what seemed like a stone floor while digging a basement for his home. He dug out to the edge of the stone in order to pull it up, and in the process discovered it was the *top* of a column from some great ancient building, and that there were more.
Trash Talk [ Monte Testaccio, imperial Roman landfill ]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/2880425/posts
Roman rubbish dump reveals secrets of ancient trading networks
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3297812/posts
The Alps would be my guess..
I wonder if he didn’t find this stuff nailed up on the wall of an old general store someplace.
Whoops, my previous reply was in the context of a different topic. Mea culpa.
Well, the Apennines... and of course Rome is nearly at sealevel, on the banks of a river; there is airborne dust; there is a small accumulation of grains of meteoritic debris.
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