JERUSALEM, ISRAEL—The Jerusalem Post reports that traces of a fourth-century A.D. rock quarry were uncovered at the site of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian site built on top of the Roman emperor Hadrian’s temple of Capitoline Jupiter. Francesca Romana Stasolla, Beatrice Brancazi, and Stefano De Togni of the Sapienza University of Rome and their colleagues found the remains of the quarry while they were systematically restoring pavement stones in the ancient structure. Stasolla said that the quarry is marked by deep, uneven cuts, so that the builders in A.D. 326, during the reign of the emperor Constantine (r. A.D. 306–337), had to level the surface with soil mixed with ceramic materials to allow for water drainage. The quarried stones were then used to construct the early church. To read more about Roman-period architecture in Jerusalem, go to "Front Row Seats."
