Construction workers on Rome’s new “C” metro line uncovered what is believed to have been part of the Aqua Appia, Rome’s oldest-known aqueduct, which dates back to 312 B.C. The remains were found near the Colosseum, at around 55 to 60 feet below Piazza Celimontana, a depth usually unreachable by archaeological excavation, says Simona Morretta of the Archaeological Superintendency of Rome. The section of aqueduct measures 6.5 feet tall and is made up of large gray, granular tufa blocks arranged in five rows. “The total absence of any traces of limestone inside the duct suggests that its use over time has been limited,” says Morretta, “or that the structure was abandoned just after a maintenance intervention.” It stretches for more than 100 feet and continues beyond the investigation area bounded by concrete bulkheads.
SHARE:
Recommended Articles
Digs & Discoveries July/August 2024
Black Magic Seeds
Off the Grid May/June 2024
Lixus, Morocco
(Franck METOIS/Alamy)
Letter from Rome January/February 2024
Secrets of the Catacombs
A subterranean necropolis offers archaeologists a rare glimpse of the city’s early Jewish community
Digs & Discoveries March/April 2022
Poetic License
(Courtesy José Miguel Noguera Celdrán)
-
Artifacts January/February 2018
Roman Dog Statue
(Eve Andreski/Courtesy Gloucester County Council) -
Around the World January/February 2018
ISRAEL
(Professor Danny Rosenberg) -
Digs & Discoveries January/February 2018
The Secrets of Sabotage
(Bjørn Harry Schønhaug) -
Features January/February 2018
Where the Ice Age Caribou Ranged
Searching for prehistoric hunting grounds in an unlikely place
(Paul Nicklen/National Geographic Creative)