Remains dating back to the Roman era have been unearthed on Brussels’ Tour & Taxis site during the construction of new premises for Flemish civil servants. The building work has come to a temporary standstill, announced the archaeologist in charge of the excavation, Sylvianne Modrie, talking to Belga.

One of Bruxelles Environnement’s workmen found a large piece of bone at the bottom of a trench and reported it to his hierarchy, explains Mrs. Modrie.

Preparations for the new building required digging down to a depth of 6 metres and revealed a previously unknown tributary of the Senne river. The archaeologist explains that “tiles, stones, pottery and a small wooden fence” dating back to either the late 2nd century or the early 3rd century were also found about 5 metres down and thought to have been “watering points for domesticated animals located on the bank of the tributary during the Roman era in Belgium. It is likely there was a homestead in the vicinity.”

The objects found will undergo restoration and analysis by the Brussels Region and the site location will be recorded in the region’s Archaeological Atlas to prevent any further construction sites being authorised there.

There have only been a small number of isolated discoveries of this kind in the Brussels Region – coins, building materials, pottery and various homesteads. The archeological dig will come to an end on Friday August 14th and will have lasted 12 working days.

Oscar Schneider (Source: Belga)