Théodore Vacquer: Archeology in Paris, Old and New

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Théodore Vacquer: Archeology in Paris, Old and New
Parisians live their everyday lives surrounded by history, but they live on top of it too. Remnants of long-gone civilizations lay just beneath their feet. City planners have long been content to keep these artifacts buried beneath the pavements of Paris. From 1853 to 1870 Paris was refashioned into a modern city, and that, said Baron Haussmann, was that. It’s only been in the last-half century that these treasures have been seen as important. Today there are ongoing archaeological excavations of note.  In 2023, archaeologists uncovered 50 graves in an ancient necropolis – a “city of the dead” – just meters from the Port Royal RER on the Avenue de l’Observatoire. Dating from 2,000 years ago, this cemetery was unearthed during the construction of a new exit to the Port Royal station. This surprising discovery – just three meters beneath the well-walked pavement – offers a rare look into the Roman outpost which existed here before Paris: Lutetia.  Referred to as the Saint-Jacques necropolis, Lutetia’s largest burial site was partially excavated in the 1800s. Only artifacts considered valuable were removed; skeletons and funereal offerings were reburied with the rest of the site. Today’s archaeologists have uncovered a new section of the same graveyard. Safe to say these 21st-century scientists have a full appreciation of what they have.  The Saint-Jacques necropolis archeological site. © Camille Colonna / INRAP Although the dead were interred in wooden coffins, the only remaining evidence of the caskets are their metal nails. Some of the bodies were buried with offerings, such as jugs and goblets, and archaeologists have also found personal effects like jewellery, hairpins, belts and shoes alongside their bones. Archeologists from the Institute Nationale de Recherches Archeologiques Preventatives, (INRAP) were able to date the burial site to the 2nd-century CE, due to a coin found in one of the skeleton’s mouths. The coin was a bribe to the ferryman of the underworld.   INRAP says the necropolis may spread further across the south of Paris. However, its secrets will remain buried – archeologists are consulted only when new construction threatens to damage historic sites.    A bronze key from Gallo-Roman Lutetia, displayed at the Carnavalet museum. Photo: Pierre-Yves Beaudouin / Wikimedia commons Five kilometers to the south of Port Royal, in Ivry-sur-Seine, a group of INRAP archeologists have been analyzing the beginnings of Paris urbanization. Found in the form of a village dating back to 4,200 BCE, these remains dating from the middle Stone-age to the early Bronze-age, were uncovered during the building of a monumental urban project, the Ivry Confluences. The rich and densely packed dig-site, found off one of the spokes of the Place Gambetta, contains the remains of four houses from the Early Bronze age and over 1,200 artifacts. The INRAP team had just six months to examine the site before handing it back to developers.  Excavation of the Bronze Age houses in Ivry-sur-Seine. Photo: © Denis Gliksman, Inrap
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Lead photo credit : The Arènes de Lutèce, Photo Credit: Mbzt/Wikimedia Commons

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A freelance writer and amateur historian, Hazel knew she wanted to focus on the lives of French artists and femme fatales after an epiphany at the Musée d'Orsay. A life-long learner, she is a recent graduate of Art History from the University of Toronto. Now she is searching for a real-life art history mystery to solve.