Roman road Discovered in Greek Subway Dig

[don]

Greek subway dig uncovers ancient Roman site

Archaeologists in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, have unearthed a section of an 1,800-year-old road during a subway construction project.

Archaeologists have unearthed a section of an 1,800-year-old road during a subway construction project in Greece’s second-largest city.

The ancient marble-paved pathway, built by Romans, is believed have been the city of Thessaloniki’s main travel artery almost 2,000 years ago.

Several of the large marble stones discovered featured marks from wheels of horse-drawn carts. Others were inscribed with children’ s board games.

A worker shows a fragment of old pottery found during construction for Thesaloniki’s new subway system.

Archeologist Viki Tzanakouli said that excavators also found remains of an older road, built by ancients Greeks 500 years earlier, under the 70-meter section of the Roman road.

"We have found roads on top of each other, revealing the city's history over the centuries," Tzanakouli told the Associated Press.

"The ancient road, and side roads perpendicular to it appear to closely follow modern roads in the city today."

The roads were discovered 23 feet below ground in the center of the northern port city.

Bases of marble columns, tools and lamps were also uncovered at the site.

The excavated area was opened to the public Monday, as the city announced a plan to raise the ancient roads and place them on permanent display when the subway opens in 2016.

Subway construction is often a slow process in Greece because workers frequently stumble upon ancient artifacts during construction. In 2008, workers unearthed more than 1,000 graves filled with jewelry, coins, and other objects while building a section of the underground railway.


The new subway system is expected to begin operating in 2016 with 13 stations, with 10 more stations to be added after.


Several TBTF banks have already laid claim to the find. The subway is buried in its own way, in bond debt . . . .

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...#ixzz1z7IlyutD

[shiny!]

Re: Roman road Discovered in Greek Subway Dig

That's amazing. But here's something I've always wondered:

How did our current ground end up being 23 feet above that old road? Ditto for other ruins found underground. Do people haul in dirt and rocks to make new foundations over old cities? Or does dirt naturally come from somewhere and deposit itself that thickly over several thousand years? If so, where does it come from? There are trees thousands of years old and they're not 23 feet below ground. There's probably a simple answer for this.

[GRG55]

Re: Roman road Discovered in Greek Subway Dig

Greek subway dig uncovers ancient Roman site

Archaeologists in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, have unearthed a section of an 1,800-year-old road during a subway construction project.

Archaeologists have unearthed a section of an 1,800-year-old road during a subway construction project in Greece’s second-largest city.

The ancient marble-paved pathway, built by Romans, is believed have been the city of Thessaloniki’s main travel artery almost 2,000 years ago...

...Archeologist Viki Tzanakouli said that excavators also found remains of an older road, built by ancients Greeks 500 years earlier, under the 70-meter section of the Roman road.

"We have found roads on top of each other, revealing the city's history over the centuries," Tzanakouli told the Associated Press.

...

Which just goes to show there's nothing new in politics or economics.

Even the ancients were using deficit spending re-paving projects to "create jobs".

I wonder if Rome ever had to bail out any of the Big Three chariot makers?

[Andreuccio]

Re: Roman road Discovered in Greek Subway Dig

That's amazing. But here's something I've always wondered:

How did our current ground end up being 23 feet above that old road? Ditto for other ruins found underground. Do people haul in dirt and rocks to make new foundations over old cities? Or does dirt naturally come from somewhere and deposit itself that thickly over several thousand years? If so, where does it come from? There are trees thousands of years old and they're not 23 feet below ground. There's probably a simple answer for this.

I was curious about that, too. Here's a page on About.com with a brief introduction to the process and links which presumably provide more details:

http://archaeology.about.com/od/arch...uried_city.htm

Ancient cities, like modern ones, experience natural and cultural disasters, such as fires, earthquakes, and assaults from enemies. If a city's structures were demolished in prehistory, there was no way to remove all the demolition rubble; people built right on top of the ruins.

[shiny!]

Re: Roman road Discovered in Greek Subway Dig

I was curious about that, too. Here's a page on About.com with a brief introduction to the process and links which presumably provide more details:

http://archaeology.about.com/od/arch...uried_city.htm

Thanks, Andreuccio.