On the first of the European Archaeology Days, RFI visits a Roman site in the French city of Reims, where archaeologists recently finished excavating remnants of daily life in the 2nd and 3rd century AD.
Archaeologists from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) finished the excavation this month following the discovery of the site seven months ago.
Located over an area of 7000 m² in the Boulingrin district of Reims, the site dates back to 2nd and 3rd century AD.
The team discovered several objects of interest.
"We found remains of the domestic life of Roman people in this neighbourhood," Astrid Marty of Inrap told RFI.
She added that what makes this site unique is the discovery of a number of heating systems: "We have about 12 of these heating systems, which is quite a concentration in such a small area."
The Inrap team also found two galleries, a Roman street, pottery, animal bones, metallic objects and wall paintings.
The discovery was made at a site that had been earmarked for a new building..
"As per French law, whenever there's a building project in an area where we think there might be archaeological remains, an analysis is carried out by digging a a few trenches. Following this, we send a report to the state services which then decide if an excavation is needed or not," Marty said.
"In this case, the analysis showed the presence of a street, wall paintings and what is in fact quite a dense Roman settlement. That's why the state services decided on carrying out an excavation, which started in November last year," she said.
Once the archaeological survey ends, the planned construction will begin on the site.
"Even though the site will be built upon from June, thanks to this excavation, the information will not be lost," said Marty.
"We will be able to exploit all the data we have recovered here during this rescue excavation and thanks to all this data, we will be able to have better view of how the Roman city of Reims worked."
The European Archaeology Days begin on Friday, 16 June and run until Sunday, with archaeological sites and exhibitions open to the public across France and the rest of Europe.
