An ordinary parking lot in Italy hides a sensational secret: the remains of a Roman temple. The discovery calls our history into question.
Spello, Italy – A centuries-old letter provides a clue to a lost temple. The search leads researchers to an inconspicuous parking lot in Italy. Douglas Boin, a historian from Saint Louis University, and his team uncovered three walls there, providing significant clues to the history of the Spello region. Just a few hours away, in Rome, a 2,000-year-old mosaic was discovered that will be opened to visitors in the spring.
Parking lot becomes excavation site in Italy
Spello, an Italian community about 2.5 hours from Rome, became the site of a significant excavation. A letter from the 4th century provided evidence of the existence of a temple in this region. After several weeks of searching, the researchers came across traces of the temple under the parking lot almost by chance.
The research team presented their discovery at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America. The excavated walls are the remains of a Roman temple from the era of Emperor Constantine and bear witness to religious change. On phys.org Boin explains that the find proves that the imperial cult of Constantine existed parallel to early Christian religious practices and sites.
Roman temple challenges previous assumptions about cultural changes
“It will contribute greatly to the understanding of the city, the city plan and urban society in the later Roman Empire. “It shows the connections between the classical pagan world and the early Christian Roman world, which are often mixed up or removed from historical narratives,” says Bois, classifying the discovery.
“This changes all of our assumptions about the speed of social change and the impact of social and cultural change,” the researcher adds. The find demonstrates a gradual transition between cultures, “It shows us how Roman rulers represented their own values, hopes and dreams for the future of the empire, but without burying the past.”
Plans to uncover the entire temple beneath the parking lot
The research team plans to return to Spello next year to uncover the entire area and study the entire temple: “We are close to providing people with a visible piece of evidence that reflects the way people think about major moments of cultural change , will end”.
Digging is also going on in Germany. In Wittorf they are Graves of a previous settlement were explored. In Hagen there are reports of a sensational find. Here were human remains from the Paleolithic period discovered.
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