Just meters from a busy train station in the heart of Paris, scientists have uncovered 50 tombs in an ancient necropolis that offer a rare glimpse into life in the French capital’s precursor Lutetia nearly 2,000 years ago.
Somehow the buried necropolis was never discovered during several road works over the years as well as the construction of the Port Royal station on the historic left bank in the 1970s.
However, plans for a new exit for the station came to mind archaeological excavation.
Camille Colonna, anthropologist at the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP), told a news conference that there was already “strong suspicion” that the site was near the southern necropolis of Lutetia.
The necropolis “Saint Jacques”, the largest tomb in the Gallo-Roman city of Lutetia, was partially excavated as early as the 18th century.
However, only items deemed valuable were removed from the tombs, leaving behind the many skeletons, grave goods and other artifacts.
The necropolis was then covered over and lost again over time.
The INRAP team discovered a section that had never been excavated before.
“No one has seen it since ancient times,” said INRAP President Dominique Garcia.
Colonna said the team was also “very fortunate” to have found a skeleton with a coin in its mouth, which allowed them to date the burial to the 2nd century AD.
The excavation, which began in March, has uncovered 50 graves, all of which were used for burial – not for cremation, as was also common at the time.
Ferryman of Hades
The remains of the men, women and children are believed to be Parisii, a Gaulish people who lived in Lutetia when the city on the banks of the Seine was under the control of the Roman Empire.
The skeletons were buried in wooden coffins that could only be identified by the nails.
More than half were buried alongside offerings such as ceramic jars and chalices.
Sometimes a coin would be placed in the coffin or even in the dead man’s mouth, a common practice of the time called Charon’s obol.
In Greek mythology Charon is the ferryman of Hades, and the coin was considered a bribe to carry the souls of the dead across the river Styx.
The archaeologists also found shoes in the tombs and identified them by the small nails that must have been in the soles.
Colonna said the shoes were placed “either at the feet of the dead or beside them like an offering”.
Jewelry, hairpins, belts were also discovered.
The entire skeleton of a pig and another small animal was discovered in a pit where animals were believed to have been sacrificed to the gods.
Unlike the 18th-century excavations, this time the team plans to remove everything from the necropolis for analysis.
“This will allow us to understand the life of the Parisii through their funeral rites, as well as their health through studying their DNA,” Colonna said.
Garcia said that the ancient history of Paris “is not generally well known.”
The excavated tombs open “a window into the world of ancient Paris,” he added.
