TIL about buried Roman roads under a parking lot in York

I was talking to my neighbor Dave last weekend, he's a surveyor for the city. He told me about this project they did in York, UK back in 2019 where they dug up a parking lot to fix some pipes. Underneath all that asphalt they found a perfectly preserved Roman road, complete with drainage ditches on both sides. He said the cobbles still had grooves from chariot wheels after 1,800 years. That got me thinking about how much history is just sitting under our feet, covered up by modern stuff. Makes you wonder what's under your own street, right? Anyone ever find something old during a construction project in your town?

2 comments

2 Comments

olivias8819h agoRising Star

That happened near my cousin's place in Bath actually. They were digging up her street to put in fiber optic cables and hit a old Roman bath complex nobody knew was there. The construction guys just stopped everything and called in archaeologists. She said they found bits of pottery and even a bronze hairpin still shiny after all that time. It's wild to think how much stuff is just under the pavement while we're all walking around on top of it. Did they let you see any of the road or was it covered up again?

brians2718h agoMost Upvoted

It is pretty crazy to think about what's underneath all our streets and sidewalks. I always wonder how many ancient sites get dug up and just paved back over with nobody ever knowing. That bronze hairpin staying shiny for that long is honestly the coolest part, stuff like that really makes history feel real. Did they end up putting the fiber in somewhere else or did they just do it right through the old bath complex?