Roman

a Roman sanctuary for women unique in the entire Empire

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At first glance it looks like a huge grotto located in Millares, in Valencian lands, but over the last few years Cova Dones has shown historians that it is a true archaeological treasure. In fact, every time the speleologists enter the cave and examine its walls, they take away a new surpriseeach one more impressive. In 2023 they confirmed the presence of one of the largest collections of Paleolithic rock art on the peninsula, in 2024 they also located a hidden Roman sanctuary more than 200 meters deep and in 2025 they identified more prehistoric vestiges. Now the 2026 campaign, completed in June, has revealed something else: 120 inscriptions that make Cova Dones a unique site in the world. What has happened? The Cova Dones site has been home to relevant archaeological finds for years, but until now none had been as impressive as the one just disclosed by the universities of Alicante and Saragossa (Unizar), two of the institutions involved in their study. The research carried out between May and June in this Millares cave, in Valencia, has made it possible to identify at least 120 Latin inscriptions, most dated to the first two centuries of our era. Archaeologists had already found similar remains when examining the grotto, but to a much lesser extent. Until now, only a dozen and a half engravings were known. Why is it important? There are two reasons. The new campaign allows us to better understand the function that the Valencian cave had in Roman times and those who visited it, but above all they turn it into a unique site in the world. Other similar cave-sanctuaries are spread throughout the territory that covered the Roman Empire, but none preserve as many Latin inscriptions. With its 120 engravings, Cova Dones is no longer the grotto of its type with the most vestiges in Hispania, it is in the entire territory that Trajan or Augustus came to dominate. “What was known as a Roman sanctuary with about 15 inscriptions has increased to 120, positioning itself as the largest set of Latin inscriptions known in a cave-sanctuary of the Empire,” they comment from the University of Zaragoza. “The joint study of the inscriptions and the preserved archaeological materials will allow us to reconstruct with greater precision the ritual practices developed in this space for centuries.” Is it so relevant? Yes. And not just because the list of cave inscriptions has multiplied eight-fold almost overnight. Researchers have already examined part of those 120 engravings and have reached several conclusions: most date from the 1st-2nd AD and there are several that include female names. It might seem like a minor detail, but it reveals something fascinating about the Valencian grotto. “Preliminary results indicate that Cova Dones was a cave-sanctuary frequented by women,” the team advances led by Virginia Barciela and Aitor Ruiz-Redondo, experts from the UA and Unizar, respectively. What was done in the cave? That is another mystery that we have partly clarified by analyzing the letters carved into the rock. “Thanks to a quintet of votive inscriptions we know with certainty that in Roman times a goddess who was reverentially called Domina, ‘the Lady’, was worshiped in the cave and that women had an active participation in her cult,” explains Silvia Alfayéfrom Unizar. “In three of them you can read ‘MALACI’, an unpublished invocation to refer to a hitherto unknown goddess. This goddess had a specific invocation, perhaps related to water, whose definitive reading we are working on,” abounds the Ancient History teacher. The team has several hypotheses about how to interpret the invocation ‘Domina’, but in any case they already have something clear. “The existence of at least five inscriptions dedicated to this same deity shows that we are not dealing with sporadic visits with a generic religious purpose, but rather with a specific cult of a specific deity,” confirm Sergio García-Dils, professor at UNED-Seville. In his opinion, the fact that the engravings are concentrated in a very specific area, far from the entrance, reveals an “organized cult.” Have they found anything else? Yes. In the Valencian sanctuary they have also found two rings, a bracelet, chalice-shaped glasses, ancient ceramic fragments, remains of fauna and “numerous fusayolas”, pieces that were placed as a counterweight on the spindles that were used to work with thread. It is another relevant clue because it allows archaeologists to think that spindles were offered in the cave as an offering, “a textile work instrument that, in ancient times, was associated with the female sphere.” This detail, added to the engraved letters or the name of the site itself (Cova de les Dones) are indications that point in the same direction: the presence of women in the cave-sanctuary. What do we know about the site? Basically, it is a box of archaeological surprises. The project that is allowing us to know it in depth is called DONARQ and it started in 2023 thanks to the support of the Generalitat Valenciana and the British Academy. Since then, several campaigns have been carried out. In 2023 it was confirmed that the cave houses the largest collection of Paleolithic rock art in the eastern peninsula, with a hundred long paintings and engravings more than 24,000 years old; In 2024, a Roman sanctuary located more than 200 m deep was identified, and in 2025, more than one hundred speleofacts, stalagmite formations purposely modified in prehistory, were analyzed. Now researchers have gone one step (or several) further, confirming the enormous symbolic value that the grotto had during Roman times. Images | University of Zaragoza In Xataka | In Italy they were promised happiness with a new Roman amphitheater from the 4th century. Until it was discovered that it was a “fake” concrete

In Italy someone built a “fake” Roman amphitheater. It ended up with visitors paying €40 convinced that it was original

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for a while Arcugnanoa small town in the province of Vicenza, could boast an exotic attraction within the reach of very few municipalities, not even in Italy: a spectacular Roman amphitheater with its stone steps, columns, statues and even a pond. The complex had supposedly been built before 393 AD and its surroundings hid Greek and Neolithic pieces. Behind such a discovery was an equally fascinating figure: a scholar known as Franz Von Rosenfranz in the artistic circuits. The problem is that this Rosenfranz was actually called Franco Malosso and the supposed amphitheater was a decoration built with plaster, concrete and blocks. Dating back to 2005. To understand what is perhaps the craziest story so far in 2026 in Italy, you have to go back two decades, to 2005when Malosso found a surprise in the garden of a villa in Arcugnano. Or so he supposedly claimed. That year a landslide exposed the remains of what looked like an ancient archaeological site. Suspecting that the underground was hiding something, good old Malosso began to excavate and recovered a Roman amphitheater. Or at least, we insist, that’s what counts a crazy story that has ended up falling under its own weight. The man who built this fake Roman theater and charged visitors up to €40 is now in prison. Franco Malosso constructed the 5,000-square-meter site near Vicenza, Italy, using modern stones artificially aged to appear ancient, concrete columns, plaster statues and an artificial… pic.twitter.com/YqWXr6vzRr — Architecture Hub (@archpng) July 25, 2026 A Roman amphitheater? Exact. To be more precise the “Anfiteatro marittimo berico Porto degli Angeli”, which is how was promoted years later the site for the pride of the neighbors and the enjoyment of those visited fascinated by the history of ancient Rome. His magnetism was more than understandable. The supposed amphitheater had wide stone steps, columns, statues and a pond. The story circulated that the complex had been built before 393 AD and that vestiges of Greek origin or that dated back to the Neolithic had been found in the surrounding area. In a double historical twist, it was even said that Julius Caesar had passed through that same area when he returned to Egypt. with Cleopatra or that Juliet Capulet lived there when she was a teenager. Great, right? Yes. Too much. In fact, it sounded so spectacular that it didn’t take long for suspicions to fly over the Arcugnano amphitheater. In 2016 The Carabineri investigated the site, archaeologists analyzed the supposed Roman structures and satellite images were also used to study how the area had changed from a bird’s eye view in recent years. The conclusion was clear: there was no Roman amphitheater, just a recent construction built with more will than skill. a decoration. The Roman steps had actually been built from modern stone blocks that someone had treated to give them an aged look. The statues were made of plaster and the columns were basically made of fiberglass and concrete. The pond was also somewhat old, having been excavated in recent years. In summary, the Berico Maritime Amphitheater was basically a decoration built without much historical criteria. A hoax that worked. That someone would build a (more or less exact) replica of a Roman amphitheater in the 21st century is curious, but if the history of the Berico site has aroused the interest of the world press, it is because Malosso managed to convince others that that construction was Roman. What’s more, it is said that he received up to 40 euros for visiting it and managed, it is not clear how, that the local authorities included the supposed amphitheater in a guide and a promotional app, according to reveals the newspaper Corriere della Sera. “Italy’s laughingstock.” The result is that what seemed like a tourist attraction has ended up becoming a source of ridicule for the municipality. Paolo Pellizzari, who was then mayor, recognize in Il Giornale di Vicenza that when the deception was uncovered “we became the laughingstock of Italy.” However, he also defends that Malosso acted with skill: “He had hidden the operation very well and the land was his property.” Much of the work was also done without permits or going through the municipal technical office. “It was presented in a captivating way and promised gold and gold,” he says. Why is it news? Because history has written a new chapter. And not exactly good for Malosso, who now He is 69 years old. The case has been in court for some time and in 2021 the Supreme Court of Cassation confirmed a sentence of two years and four months in prison for the alleged archaeologist for illegal construction, falsification of works of art and building in an environment with landscape protection. Now, once Malosso’s request for parole has been rejected, the sentence is now effective. In fact, has entered in Ventimiglia prison. What does he say? In 2016, shortly after the controversy broke out, La Stampa interviewed Malosso, who assured that in reality there was no deception or that that was never their intention. “That is not the amphitheater, it is a garden with elliptical shapes, a model of what was once there, probably below, described by several poets and writers as ‘the great amphitheater,’” he justified. The great mystery. The big question is how on earth his deception could escalate to the point of sneaking into an official travel guide or even attracting visitors willing to pay 40 euros. Beyond the concrete columns and plaster statues, experts remind that the context also lacks meaning. “An amphitheater in the countryside, far from an old urban center, is false,” explains to The Country Jacopo Bonetto, archaeologist. In fact, to be strict, we should not even talk about an amphitheater: the Acugnano structure, shaped like a crescent, fits much better with the characteristics of the Roman theater. Not to mention the nonsense of some of the temporal references supposedly shared by Malosso. For example, the press claims that he even told tourists … Read more

Hadrian’s toilet reveals a new secret about the durability of Roman concrete

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One of the best kept secrets of the Roman Empire is What was special about your concrete? so that Agrippa’s Pantheon has been there for 2,000 years (and what remains). From time to time science and archeology believe you have discovered the secret and for example, a button: this half-finished work in Pompeii left clues. We have found the umpteenth attempt to explain why concrete is no longer made like it used to be in an emperor’s toilet. The discovery. To date the explanation for the resistance of Roman concrete is in the reaction between lime and volcanic ash (a pozzolanic reaction), but a new study adds one more ingredient to the recipe: natural carbonation and the progressive formation of calcite were also important for this construction material to withstand the passage of time so well. In addition to the ingredient, the curious thing is where they took the sample from: from the concrete collector located under one of the seats of one of the common latrines in the western complex of the Canopus, in Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli. From a toilet. Why is it important. Because beyond the pozzolanic reaction, what really holds concrete together over the centuries is calcite. So the formation of calcite over centuries also helps the structures of these latrines to remain standing two millennia later. Knowing this mechanism opens the doors to the design of modern cements that are more durable. Context. Before we thought that all the merit fell on the reaction between the lime and the ash and be careful, that explanation is still valid, but it is not the only one. Furthermore, previous research such as this MIT study from 2023 pointed out that the white fragments of lime present in the concrete were proof that the Romans used a “hot mix” technique, which gave this construction material the ability to self-heal when cracks appeared. In detail. From 3D images, the team rebuilt in detail the internal composition of the material and what chemical processes it underwent over the centuries. Thus, they verified that calcite was formed through a slow reaction between lime, humidity and carbon dioxide in the air (carbonation) and that mineral progressively filled cracks and pores, making the concrete denser and blocking the passage of potentially harmful substances or even water. The volcanic rock fragments also reacted with the lime in the edge area, which strengthened the bond. Yes, but. The main limitation of this study is that it is based in a single sample from an indoor environment, so the conclusions obtained cannot be directly extrapolated to other Roman concretes studied outdoors or in marine environments, where Different self-repair mechanisms have been described with salt water. We will have to wait for the results to be replicated in other samples and sites before reaching a general conclusion. In Xataka | Almost 2,000 years ago a Celtiberian soldier visited the most remote frontier of the Roman Empire. Then he returned to Soria with a souvenir In Xataka | The latest victim of mass tourism (and perhaps Game of Thrones): Hadrian’s Wall Cover | Jl FilpoC and Mineralized carbonates contribute to the millennial durability of Roman concrete. Advanced Science

2,000 years ago someone screwed up in a foundry. Thanks to her we have discovered a Roman workshop hidden in Germany

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When a piece of metal goes wrong, the normal thing in an artisan workshop is that it ends up being discarded. Well, something like this must have happened 2,000 years ago and that chance discovery of a lead ingot at an excavation in Rothaargebirgein the German region of Sauerland, has helped discover, understand and reconstruct how this metal was produced in the Roman Empire. The discovery. It all started with a large cast lead ingot, with a characteristic workmanship from the Roman imperial period, which found Brilon resident and metal prospector Peter Hoffman. Then he notified the authorities: the ingot was not a unit lost in transit, but a casting failure that was probably left there with the idea of ​​remelting it to use it, something that fortunately (for archaeology) never happened. With that clue, the archeology team of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL) The excavation campaign began in June on an elevation of the Rothaargebirge massif, near Brilon. What they found there confirmed his suspicions: There was a lead processing area from Roman times, something unique until now in southwest Westphalia. Why is it important. It may not be as spectacular as tombs or treasures, but this defective lead ingot serves to fill a gap in history: it is the first solid archaeological evidence that a metallurgical production chain existed in Sauerland, something that until now was not known. This is how he fills in a piece to better explain how the Roman economy worked. Furthermore, since ingots are direct products of mining and are marked with seals or engravings, they allow their distribution chain to be traced: the place of origin (the manufacturing workshop is close to the mine), their trade and distribution networks. In fact, there is a corpus which brings together some 2,250 Roman ingots documented from Scotland to Morocco and from Portugal to Israel. Context. As explains the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochumlead was a metal widely used in Roman times for all kinds of things: pipes, weights, sling projectiles or sarcophagus linings… and sometimes it was linked to the extraction of silver, so it is common to find the production of both together. Precisely this relationship between lead and silver is essential to explain Brilon. According to the doctor in archeology of the LWL Manuel Zeilerrelatively small amounts of lead were found at the site, which suggests that the objective was to produce lead efficiently and not generate waste derived from silver exploitation, an important detail because in many ancient sites both activities go hand in hand. Previous works by LWL already indicated that in the area around Brilon there were deposits rich in mineral and that Roman metallurgists had visited the area with the interest of obtaining lead, but it was not clear how. In detail. The team, led by Sebastian Magnus Sonntag, documented that there were ceramic fragments of pre-Roman tradition and numerous small fragments of lead related to the process of obtaining the metal, in addition to a base built with carefully arranged stone slabs. Both these slabs and the clay soil beneath showed signs of fire and heat and in the gaps between stones there were remains of charcoal, still to be analyzed, but the team’s hypothesis points because that place was a roasting point: there the galena (the most common lead sulfide in the region) was heated along with charcoal to reduce its sulfur content and then melt the resulting metal and pour it into molds and obtain ingots like the one found. Yes, but. The excavation only lasted a couple of weeks and the conclusions are still preliminary, but there are some things that still do not add up: the ceramic fragments probably point to the beginning of the Roman imperial era, but it is a relative and not an absolute dating. The key will be in the dating of the vegetal carbon remains. But the big underlying question was who worked the metal there: whether they were Romans, Germans or local artisans in contact with Roman technology. In Xataka | “For 2,000 years they have been inaccessible. Finally we can read them”: archaeologists now know how to decipher the Herculaneum papyri In Xataka | The “Mud Rome” of Hispania loved board games and wine. We know it thanks to a mysterious site in Aragon Cover | LWL and Jebulon

In Alicante they are experts making works with ancient art. Until they found a Roman sphinx embedded in a staircase

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Recycling in the architecture of Antiquity (or the Middle Ages) was neither an ecological sensitivity nor an aesthetic trend. Rather, it was pure and simple economic survival. If you had good quality square stone, go ahead and build. It mattered little whether that stone had been part of a temple dedicated to Jupiter, whether it was the statue of a disgraced emperor or, as in this case, a mythological creature. It has a name: architectural cannibalism is known in the art world as spolia. And thanks (or because) of it, Spanish archeology has just solved a mystery that had been gathering dust in a warehouse for decades. In the archaeological site of El Monastil, located in the town of Elda (Alicante), researchers have “decrypted” a piece who had been camouflaged under a false identity for too long. The rain acting as an archaeologist. It all started in the year 2000, during the arduous excavation work of a late Roman wall located in El Monastil. Workers unearthed a three-step ladder that looked like a typical routine structural find. The following year, the Levantine climate worked its magic: torrential rains swept the area and caused the ashlars to collapse, exposing new features. Upon inspecting the damage, the team led by archaeologist Antonio M. Poveda discovered that one of the blocks was not conventionally quarried stone. The deliberate marks betrayed a previous history. Which? That someone, during the Visigoth or Byzantine occupation in the 5th or 6th centuries, mutilated a monumental sculpture, cutting it down with a sledgehammer to turn it into a simple step. Twenty years of confusion. Carved from local beige limestone, it was barely 31 centimeters high and 55 centimeters wide; what remains is a tiny fraction of its original volume. This sphinx was missing its head, wings and legs, with a surface so eroded by blows that its identification became a headache: an Iberian female figure or a random goddess? It wasn’t until last year, when the Archaeological Museum of Elda A thorough cleaning was undertaken when, in collaboration with Professor Ferrán Arasa i Gil, one of the greatest experts in Roman sculpture in Spain, remains were compared. And the shape matched too well with other sphinxes found in limes Germanic, from Romania and northern Italy. The verdict was unanimous: a Roman funerary sphinx from the 1st century AD The sophisticated security system for the afterlife. This creature of Egyptian origin and Greek traces is no ornament. And here is the key: it is a psychopomp, the guide in charge of collecting the soul of the deceased and transporting it. Its presence in the tomb fulfills an apotropaic function: the fierce gaze and hybrid posture, with the body of a lion and the torso of a woman, exist to scare away looters and protect the eternal sleep of those who rested beneath it. Have you seen ‘The Neverending Story’? His famous fulminating sphinxes are inspired by the same. Apparently, the owner of this piece was part of the rural elite of Ilici Augusta (current Elche). They were landowners who, in a time of great prosperity under Augustus and the Julio-Claudians, competed to display social status through monumental mausoleums. Built next to the Via Augusta. So the figure was another banner of power and prestige in full Romanization. He plunders well without looking at who. For the Visigoths, the sphinx was no longer a sacred symbol. The case of Elda, with this disdain for the artistic past in favor of pragmatism, rhymes quite well with other recycling imposed in Baetulo (Badalona), Segóbriga (Cuenca), Obulco (Jaén) or Carissa Aurelia (Cádiz). The most canonical example is found in the mosque of Córdoba: Abd al-Rahman I reused Roman and Visigoth columns and capitals, from the temple of Janus, from previous Christian villas and basilicas, to raise the forest of columns in the prayer room. In Toledo, the Christ of Light is the ancient Bab al-Mardum mosque. San Pedro de la Nave, in Zamora, was a 7th century Visigoth church dismantled and reassembled like a collage. And the same with the Basilica of Santa Eulalia, in Mérida, built on a Roman temple dedicated to Mars. Even the Almohad minaret of the Giralda in Seville was converted into a Christian bell tower by the braves. What makes special Monastil is that it is an inexhaustible “matryoshka” of civilizations. This Alicante site is a time capsule where the Bronze Age, the Punic presence, the Roman military base from the time of Pompey, the Byzantine monastery and the later Visigoth church overlap. In this immense network of strata it is easy to find history cut up and relocated, outside the contexts for which it was created. Many now lie in the warehouse of the Elda museum, treasures waiting to be reclassified and archaeological history rewritten. Images | FoxR for Wikipedia, Flickr (Santiago López-Pastor) In Xataka | If the question is how the Egyptian pyramids were made, science has an idea: hydraulic systems In Xataka | In a display of technical superiority, France has just invented traditional white towns. We, however, have forgotten about them

a vase filled with tens of thousands of Roman coins from 1,800 years ago

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In real life, the work of archaeologists bears little or no resemblance (rather nothing) to what they show us. the Indiana Jones movies. There are no lavish buried treasures, no chests full of coins, no secret chambers capable of spending centuries hidden. That’s the general rule, of course. Then we find cases like Senon’sin Lorraine, France, which remind us that sometimes reality surpasses science fiction. Even the one filmed by Steven Spielberg. There archaeologists have found three amphorae with 40,000 coins Romans. North of France. Senon is a small town in the Meuse department, in France, close to the borders with Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. Today it may be a discreet town, but centuries ago it was one of the main settlements of the Mediomatrician ancient Celtic population in Gaul that had its capital in neighboring Metz, then known as Divodorus. Recently, when digging in Senonarchaeologists reached the vestiges of a little-known area with several layers that span from the Gallic period (before Julius Caesar’s conquest) to the mid-4th century AD. An underground chronicle. As explains the Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives (INRAP), the new discoveries in the area occurred (almost) by pure chance. During house expansion work, researchers excavated a 1,500 square meter (m2) plot that showed them a known but little-explored part of Senon. In general, the site preserves ancient structures excavated in the earth, such as pits, ditches or post holes that date from the 2nd century BC to the beginning of our era; and other structures that extend into the late 4th century AD As they delved into the archaeological layers, the researchers found ancient limestone quarries, buildings, remains of homes and roads, walls, ovens, patios… “The architectural characteristics, together with the material culture revealed by the small objects found at the site, indicate a relatively well-off population, possibly composed of artisans or merchants,” they confirm from INRAP. And the big surprise came. During their excavations, archaeologists located more than just ancient walls and causeways. When studying remains from the residential area dating back to Late Antiquity, they discovered three large ceramic vessels with thousands of coins dating between the last four of the 3rd century AD and the beginning of the 4th century. Two of these amphorae were located in the INRP excavation. The other appeared during the work of the Regional Archeology Service. In December, Live Science needed that in total the ‘treasure’ includes more than 40,000 coins. To be more precise, the first amphora contains 38 kg of metal, which is equivalent to about 23,000-24,000 pieces, according to calculations by Vicent Geneviève, INRAP numismatist. The second jar has a broken neck and a total of around 50 kg, so experts estimate that it contains between 18,000 and 19,000. Curiously, the third container preserves only three pieces. By analyzing all this material in detail, the Gallic archaeologists came to the conclusion that the amphorae were buried between 280 and 310 AD. In fact, some coins include the faces of the emperors. Victorino, Gloomy I and his son Gloomy IIemperors of the fleeting Gallic Empire who ruled the region with their backs to the centralized power of Rome between 260 and 274 AD Why is it important? It is not every day that amphorae from 1,800 years ago are discovered with 40,000 coins Romans. However, to be honest, in the Meuse area there have already been found about thirty of coin deposits. If the INRAP discovery is so important, it is, more than because of the number of pieces in the vessels, because of their context. Archaeologists believe that we are not looking at treasures hidden for security, but rather a kind of homemade bank. What’s more, the amphorae were not hidden with coins inside. Everything indicates that they were buried in an accessible place and then filled up. “Carefully placed”. “These deposits should be considered as a snapshot of complex monetary management, planned in the medium and long term, within a household or administration, capable of making deposits and withdrawals at regular intervals,” they explain the INRAP experts, who after analyzing the vessels and their surroundings do not see signs of a “hasty concealment.” “The containers were carefully placed in well-prepared pits, vertical thanks to leveling stones. Their location, in apparently common rooms and at a height close to the ground, indicates that they remained easily accessible to their owner,” the archaeologists insist. The great mystery. In reality, the great mystery is not why someone (one or more people) stored tens of thousands of coins in amphorae buried at ground level or what they intended to do with all that money. The real enigma is why he left them there, apparently forgotten for centuries. INRAP experts several ideas slidesuch as the fact that Senon hosted a military fortification at that time located just 150 meters from the excavated area. Was there a link between the amphorae with coins and that military base? Was the money reserved for payments? Researchers know that at the beginning of the 4th century there was a fire in the area that could have affected the coin deposits. Later the houses were rebuilt taking advantage of the charred foundations and walls, but that second occupation barely lasted 50 years. The place seemed to be definitively depopulated in the middle of the IV, after another fire. Images | Simon Ritz-Anthony Robin–INRAP Via | 3DGames In Xataka | The archaeologists who have found a Roman temple in Cuenca: “You can see an owl, which is the bird that represents Minerva”

We know that the inhabitants of a Roman site in Aragon loved wine and games. A mystery remains: why they vanished

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When we think of ancient Rome, the first image that comes to mind is that of patricians in togas, the Colosseum, legionnaires and heroes gathered in the Senate. That however is only one part of the Empire. The “Rome of marble”, as the archaeologist Ángel A. Jordán recently summarized it in an interview with The Newspaper. Another, equally important and much less known, is the “Rome of clay”, that formed by people who lived far from the metropolis and dedicated their days to working, drinking and playing, went hungry, loved and mourned their dead. That last Rome is the one that Jordan and his companions are discovering little by little in Barker Heada deposit of Five Villasprovince of Zaragoza. In a place in Aragon… It may not be the best-known site in Spain, but Barker Head has proven to be a box of surprises for archaeologists interested in the history of Aragon. Located in the pre-Pyrenean foothills, near Sofuentes, its land was occupied for centuries and played a key role in the road which Augustus ordered to be built and toured the area. Hence since 2016 Researchers have carried out several campaigns to peer into the secrets of a population that, it is estimated, covered 19 hectares and extended from the late bronze age until late antiquity, between the centuries VI and IX AD., a period that has left a good handful of vestiges. Last year, for example, was announced the discovery of a Roman road. Why is it news? Because after eight campaigns, a new excavation has just been launched at the site. He revealed it a few days ago The Aragon Newspaperwho in the process chatted with the project director, Angel A. Jordanabout the objective that the team has set for this year: to clarify why the population declined, something difficult to understand with the data they have collected so far. “It is a city that a priori has water because it is located in a place where there are many springs, it is a privileged area with very good agricultural land… It is a great mystery why the city stopped being inhabited. In the 7th century it no longer exists,” details the expert The chronicle of Cabeza Ladrero can therefore extend from the IX or VIII BC until late in our era, although it is believed that it reached its period of splendor during the Roman era. One unknown, two theories. Although the excavations will (hopefully) clarify the mystery, Jordán and his team already start with some theories on the table. One is that the settlement succumbed to external attacks. “Last year the excavation began to give us curious elements. Small remains are appearing that indicate the presence of fire, ashes are appearing in different parts of the street and that makes us think that it could have been abandoned due to some violent event,” admits in The Newspaper. “Taking into account that the city does not reach the 7th century and that there are signs of destruction, we could still be facing some type of attack, especially from the Bagaudas, rebel groups that acted in the Ebro valley during the 5th and 6th centuries and that looted several cities in the region,” apostille the expert The other suspect. The second hypothesis is that it was the disease that killed the locals. As remember Jordanit is known that in the 6th century there was “a brutal epidemic of the Black Death” that had devastating consequences. “It is estimated that in many parts of the empire up to 25% died,” says the director of the archaeological project before remembering that there is evidence of another phenomenon: a transfer of population to The Bañalesa Roman settlement located not far from Cabeza Ladrero and which became a prosperous town. The “Rome of clay”. Beyond its geopolitical relevance, its role in the road system or the details of its chronicle, there is another reason why Cabeza Ladrero is so special: it offers us a window into the “Rome of clay”which completes the image of “marble Rome” that cinema usually conveys and has formed the cliché of the empire. After all, at the Aragonese site archaeologists have found much more than vials and ancient milestones. Pitchers and board games. During their excavations, researchers have found jugs that tell us about his love of drinking and several tokens that, experts believe, could have been part of an ancient board game. “They were people who lived, got drunk and robbed each other; but they also loved and we have been able to see that very well in the necropolis,” Jordan says in The Newspaper. “Indeed, they played because they had to have fun and, if not, they were bored out of their minds. They organized tournaments and the kids had their toys.” Images | Wikipedia 1 and 2 Via | The Aragon Newspaper In Xataka | Under an institute, Rome has found something impressive: a perfectly preserved “domus” from the 2nd century

We thought it was a bend in the Rhine. In reality it was a huge Roman water channel that survived the fall of the Empire for 300 years.

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If there is something for which Rome has remained in memory, it is for its impressive road layout throughout their empire, but be careful because in hydraulic engineering they were not far behind either, the aqueducts of Segovia and Tarragona serve as close examples. It is true that aqueducts are striking constructions due to their dimensions, but there is another that rivals them in size and capacity to move water: canals. In fact, a research team just “discovered” that what looked like an old abandoned Rhine channel was actually an ancient Roman canal. They had an unappealable clue on the terrain: it is rare to see such a long and straight line in nature. The discovery. In southwestern Germany, on an agricultural plain next to the Rhine River, an interdisciplinary research team from the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel and the Hessen Monument Office have found something that has been buried for more than a thousand years: an artificial Roman canal 15 meters wide and 2.5 meters deep that connected the Rhine to a small military fort called the burgus of Trebur-Astheim. Why is it important. Because the Trebur-Astheim Canal is one of the few known navigable canals north of the Alps during the Roman period and the Early Middle Ages, demonstrating that the Roman Empire in Germania modified the landscape more intensely and lastingly than previously believed. The presence of Rome was more than a mere occupation. As explains the research teamthe burgus of Trebur-Astheim probably functioned as a central logistical node for the Landgraben region, where cargo ships of the time could dock and goods were redistributed around the area on other vessels. This demonstrates a global vision of the empire for supplying its troops through infrastructure that goes beyond the roads. Context. The consolidated Roman presence in the Hessische Ried began in the 1st century AD, under the Flavian emperors. The fort of Trebur-Astheim was built between 364 and 375 AD under the command of Emperor Valentinian I as part of his plan for military deployment along the Rhine. with a goal: contain the Alamanni, a group of tribes settled on the right bank of the river. In fact, the Rhineland border is clearly demarcated by watchtowers and forts, as can be seen on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In detail. In short, the town of Trebur-Astheim was practically a protected inland port: its dimensions were similar to those of the Roman navigable canal Fossa Corbulonis (present-day Netherlands) and made it suitable for different types of Roman river vessels, such as military type Mainz-A or the cargo boats found near Xanten, both with drafts of between 0.35 and 0.65 meters, well below the depth of the channel. Carbon 14 has revealed that, from the sediments of the canal, it was in operation from Roman times until the 7th-8th centuries AD, when it became clogged with mud and was abandoned. In fact, the large amount of sediment in the area forced the channel to be dredged frequently for centuries: after the Romans, the team points out that the Merovingian and Carolingian communities exploited it and maintained the infrastructure. Yes, but. The excavation carried out in 2024 did not reach sufficient depth to physically see the walls of the canal due to the high water table and the amount of sediment. That is to say, the dimensions that we know have been estimated indirectly, something that is common in underwater archaeology. In this sense, a complete excavation is pending to obtain direct data on the construction of the canal. In Xataka | Some go to the gym to do legs and others to discover an impressive mansion from the Roman Empire In Xataka | The Romans found a macabre and sophisticated way to use perfume: breaking pigeons’ necks (made of glass) Cover | Wolfgang Pehlemann and An Artificial Canal Connecting the Roman Burgus at Trebur-Astheim (Upper Rhine Graben, Germany) with the River Rhine

Between burpees and burpees, some kids have just found a luxurious mansion from the Roman Empire under their gym

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In all the institutes in the world there is gossip, but while in most of them they talk about flirting, at the Liceo Scientifico Cavour in Rome the real talk was archaeology. More specifically, the rumor that had been heard for years The thing is that under the gymnasium there were Roman ruins. When the teachers notified the authorities and they began preparing for the excavations, they found a vein that is just 100 meters from the mythical Roman Colosseum. The discovery. Just by starting to remove rubble, the archeology team of the Special Superintendence of Rome has discovered the remains of a spectacular Roman domus in an exceptional state of conservation. This large luxury house dates back to the 2nd century AD and is still mostly underground, but intact wall paintings and decorative stuccoes have already been seen that have stood on its vaults practically at their original height, which the archaeologists themselves describe as spectacular. Finding walls and floors is relatively common, but finding legible decoration not so much. The size of the domus and the quantity and quality of decorations discovered indicate that we are facing a residence of high-ranking people of the time. Why is it important. The Liceo Scientifico Cavour is located in the Rione Monti, in the area between the Carinae and the Esquilino, one of the most relevant neighborhoods of ancient Rome. Figures such as Cicero, Pompey and Octavian lived there. Despite this, modern constructions have seriously damaged its archaeological record, according to the Special Superintendence of Rome. As part of this domus already appeared in the 19th century along with a lead pipe with the names of the owners, it is potentially possible to link the material remains with their possible owners. Context. More specifically, it was in 1895, with the opening of Via degli Annibaldi, when a aquarian fistula revealed the name of the owners: the Umbria family. That was the usual Roman method to identify ownership of the water supply. The building where the institute is today was built at the end of the 19th century as the headquarters of a Catholic missionary congregation. Paradoxically, it was this modern construction that served to seal and preserve the Roman remains. Yes, but. At the moment, the discovery already has a provisional name: “Domus del Liceo Cavour” and although there are several hypotheses about the size of the house and its owners, nothing is confirmed until the excavations are completed and the remains found are analyzed in their entirety. And it won’t be easy: digging under a functioning institute makes work slow, so the results can take years. In Xataka | The Romans found a macabre and sophisticated way to use perfume: breaking pigeons’ necks (made of glass) In Xataka | Almost 2,000 years ago a Celtiberian soldier visited the most remote frontier of the Roman Empire. Then he returned to Soria with a souvenir Cover | Jorgen Hendriksen and Cantieri Narranti

Long before Real Madrid, the Roman Empire had already invented VIP boxes. And they ended in disaster

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In the first century, the emperor Nero ordered that some shows will include giant awnings to protect the most privileged attendees from the sun, while the rest of the public endured the heat in the upper stands. That seemingly trivial difference reflected the extent to which the experience of attending an event was already marked for money and status long before modern stadiums existed. Show business in Ancient Rome. Long before modern stadiums like the Bernabéu turned sport into a crazy revenue machine, the Roman Empire had already understood the economic potential of gathering crowds and charging for access. At that time, amphitheaters were not only leisure spaces, but political and commercial tools where prestige and money mixed openly. In fact, businessmen like Atilio They saw the games as a direct opportunity for profit, betting on filling venues at all costs and maximizing every available seat. In that context, the logic of squeezing capacity (with privileged areas for the elites and crowded stands for the rest) not only existed, but was central part of the model. Raised to make quick money. In this context, it is born the Fidenae project with a clear idea: build a lot, quickly and cheaply to start earning money as soon as possible. Attilius, a freedman with entrepreneurial ambition, decided to build a huge wooden amphitheater on the outskirts of Rome, reducing costs in the most critical elements. The structure was supported on unstable ground and was assembled with poor joints, while more seats than planned were added to increase revenue. The result was a building that appeared grand from the outside, but was actually designed more to maximize profits. that to ensure safety of those who were going to occupy it. Spectacle turned into tragedy. What happened? That the inauguration attracted tens of thousands of people who came with the expectation of witnessing gladiatorial combats after a period in which these spectacles had been rather rare. That amphitheater was filled to the limitthere was no room for a pin, with the public distributed by social classes and areas, replicating a hierarchy that also had its economic reflection. Thus, in a matter of seconds, what seemed like a festive day he happened to enter sadly in the Guinness Book of a total sporting catastrophe when the structure began to give way and collapsed simultaneously inwards and outwards. It was not just an accident, since the magnitude of the collapse trapped both those who were inside and those who were trapped. were in the surroundingsleaving a balance of victims that, according to sources, ranged between tens of thousands of dead and injured. The worst sports disaster in history. From then until now, because of its scalethe collapse or collapse of Fidenae was not only a local tragedy, but the biggest sports disaster that has ever been documented, surpassing even many modern episodes in number of victims. The figures, although imprecise at the time, point to a catastrophe comparable to major battles in terms of human losses (they were counted about 50,000 deadsome lost their lives instantly, while others were buried under the rubble), something totally exceptional for an entertainment event. The speed of the collapse, the absence of evacuation measures and the fragility of the construction made any reaction impossible, turning the amphitheater into a mousetrap, a death trap in a matter of seconds. What should have been a profitable business ended up being the most extreme example of how the search for profit can multiply risk to catastrophic limits. From greed to the first rules. There is no doubt, the impact of that disaster shook the Roman Empire and forced an institutional reaction that marked a before and after in the construction regulation. The Senate persecuted the person responsible, Attilius, and sent him into exile, but, more importantly, established rules that They demanded economic solvency to those who wanted to organize shows and forced them to build on safe land. Those measures can be considered one of the first attempts to regulate structural safety in public spaces, born directly from a tragedy caused by negligence. Ultimately, the episode left a lesson that is still very valid: when business prevails over security, the show not only cannot be guaranteed, it can end up becoming in his own catastrophe. Image | Wikimedia C. In Xataka | In 1995, South Korea suffered one of the great architectural disasters of the century. The culprit: the air conditioning In Xataka | If you’re hot at home, remember that Disney made an auditorium with a huge mistake: turning a neighborhood into an unbearable oven

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