Archaeologists working at Rome’s new subway line have discovered ruins of a burnt early 3rd-century building and the 1800-year-old skeleton of a dog within it.  

The discovery was made in the vicinity of the Aurelian Walls, a line of city walls built between 271-275 AD. The house, consisting of more than one floor, might have been an aristocrat’s house, as it is located near the Celian Hill or from a nearby military barracks, earlier unearthed during the construction of the new subway line C. According to the researchers the remains were preserved in their final hours due to the effect of high temperatures. The remains of the dog, found near the doors of the house, consist of a jaw with intact teeth, with the skeleton indicating a crouched position. It is possible that the dog became trapped in the building when it caught fire.

Beside the remains, archaeologists managed to discover a leg of a stool or table, a second and more massive leg possibly from a wooden trunk, a small table, a larger table, and a wooden railing or handrail. The researchers also uncovered walls covered with frescoes and a black-and-white mosaic floor tiles on the upper story of the collapsed building. On the ground floor, segments of brickwork of a wall, decorated with frescoes, date to the era of Emperor Septimius Severus, whose rule spanned the end of the 2nd and start of the 3rd centuries.

(after Daily Mail & AP)