Archaeologists have discovered the ancient Roman city of Ucetia in the south of France, which was believed to be lost for more than 2,000 years. The existence of the city has been only known in scripts and artifacts in Nimes, a French settlement of the Romans.
Scientists have, at the moment, exposed an area worth 4,000 meters squared of mosaics and edifices predating France's colonialism. "Prior to our work, we knew that there had been a Roman city called Ucetia only because its name was mentioned on stela in Nîmes, alongside 11 other names of Roman towns in the area," Philippe Cayn from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research told the International Business Times.
Archaeologists were only aware of the city's existence through the discovery of ancient slabs in Nimes where it refers to "VCETIAE" or Ucetia. The scientists have hypothesized that Ucetia might be the old name for Uzes, a town north of Nimes.
According to News.com.au, the team has found geometric designs with different bird species inscribed to it. Dolium vases were unearthed, which show that the Roman city has been lush in farming and trade of goods and wine. A possible hypocaust heating system was thought to be installed in the city as well. Before that, there might be a chance that a room was set up in historic times to be a kitchen area with bread ovens.
The archaeological team was sent to Uzes for excavation as a precautionary move, especially when the town will be constructing a school on the site. The local town authorities were concerned that the building might be on top of an ancient ruin, which has been proven correct by the archaeologists.
Science Alert reported that the site had been occupied since the first century up to the seventh century with a disruption during the third and fourth era which scientists couldn't conclude on what happened. The town Uzes was thought to be a connection of Nimes, a city fondly called as the "French Rome," because it was a prosperous metropolis during the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus in the first century.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
