A Roman Water Pipe Made From Hollow Tree Trunks Was Found In Belgium
In Belgium, a Roman water pipe made from hollow tree trunks was recently unearthed near what may be a water pumping system.
The pipe likely dates back between the 2nd and 3rd centuries C.E. It was found in the city of Leuven, which is about 15 miles east of Brussels.
The discovery was made in advance of construction for a university residence building. The pipe was about 13 feet underground and created from several sections of tree trunk that each measured approximately five feet long. Overall, the pipe was between 65 and 100 feet long.
Since the pipe was preserved in wet and muddy soil close to the Dijle River, it was in extremely good condition. Very little oxygen was able to reach the wood, so it remained intact.
“Wood rots away when the groundwater level alternates between wet and dry. Due to the proximity of the Dijle, the subsoil here was always marshy, and the ravages of time have been very gentle on this water pipe,” said Dirk Vansina, councillor for Public Works.
Julius Caesar conquered large areas of Europe during the 1st century B.C.E., including parts of modern-day Belgium. These lands became part of the Roman region of Gaul.
In recent years, many ancient Roman artifacts have been dug up in Belgium, such as a dodecahedron fragment and a cemetery containing cremated burials, including a skeleton assembled from the bones of eight individuals.
Leuven may have been a Roman settlement of houses and farms situated along a military road that connected what is now France and Germany. The pipe possibly supplied the settlement with water.
Its sophistication suggests that the settlement was more significant than previously thought. The settlement was not just a forgotten outpost because the Romans appeared to have invested in its development.
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The ancient Romans are known for their elaborate plumbing systems. They built large aqueducts and underground channels to transport water. For example, archaeologists just found a brick underground aqueduct in Slovakia earlier this year.
The newly discovered pipe is unique because most wooden artifacts rot away after so long, leaving only slight traces of wood behind. It is the first time that a complete Roman wooden water pipe has been uncovered in the region.
“The fact that we found a water pipe indicates that the settlement must have enjoyed a certain degree of prosperity,” said Ben Van Genechten, the project leader.
The wooden pipe is now at a conservation laboratory to be analyzed further. Researchers plan to figure out how old the wood was when it was cut.
Then, they may freeze-dry the pipe to preserve it. The artifact could be displayed in public sometime later in the future. In the meantime, who knows what other Roman relics are sitting beneath the surface?
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