20 Centuries of History Found Beneath Notre Dame

An archaeological excavation beneath Notre Dame's forecourt in Paris, dubbed by French media as the "dig of the century," has uncovered artifacts spanning 20 centuries in just four meters of earth, including a fourth-century coin stamped with the face of Emperor Constantine and medieval pottery painted with mysterious markings that experts have yet to decipher. The excavation was launched because Paris plans to soften the hot, bare square in front of the cathedral with trees and shade by 2028, but in a city more than 2,000 years old, the soil cannot be turned until what lies beneath it is properly excavated to prevent damage to historical layers. The team, led by archaeologist Camille Colonna, has reached cellars from when medieval houses packed the entire square at the cathedral's birth in 1163, and continues digging toward deeper layers including Merovingian and Carolingian grain pits from the sixth to tenth centuries and a dense Roman quarter from the fourth and fifth centuries. Among the richest finds emerging from the dig are complete ceramics lifted from old latrines that served as rubbish dumps beneath medieval houses, where soft waste cushioned the objects for centuries. Valentine Breloux, an archaeologist with the unit, described finding whole jugs and cups as "rare" and remarkable. The Roman finds are the most valued by the team, representing the deepest and least understood layers, with evidence that when the Roman Empire collapsed, inhabitants pulled back to the Île de la Cité and fortified the island using stone from earlier buildings. The team even discovered a Roman doorstep that was repurposed as road paving after being taken from a larger building, flipped upside down, and reused. The excavation represents a rare opportunity for archaeologists in France, who typically work only where building projects are about to begin. Every artifact is transported to the city's archaeology center, described by Colonna as "a huge archaeological store" and treasure house of Paris. Beyond the current dig, previous archaeological work at Notre Dame uncovered a lead sarcophagus and tombs dating from the 14th century beneath the cathedral floor. The team now hopes to dig deeper still, past the Romans, toward the Gauls who gave the city its first name. The new square is planned to feature 160 trees and a thin film of water over stone to cool the area during increasingly hot summers caused by global warming, transforming the bare forecourt where tourists now wait in the sun into a shaded gathering space by 2028.