During the preliminary archaeological investigations to the construction of the new one Albaufstiegthe section of the A8 intended to cross Swabia, in Southern Germanyarchaeologists have brought to light a portion of aancient Roman road. The discovery occurred along the route of an important modern infrastructure, but in approximately the same place 2,000 years agoone of the main communication routes in southwestern Germany passed through.
The stretch highlighted by German archaeologists measures 90 meters longand is made in white limestone locally sourced. The street belonged to the so-called Alblimes-Straßea road network that served the part of limes danubian in present-day southern Germany. The discovery is particularly significant because it allows us to directly study a portion of the ancient road in the area affected by future road works. The archaeological investigation was part of the activities of preventive archaeology conducted in view of the construction of the new motorway connection. Before modern infrastructure permanently change the territory, the archaeologists are therefore checking the presence of any evidence of the past.
The discovery also demonstrates how great contemporary works can deliver precious opportunities for archaeological research. Preventive excavations make it possible to document structures that could otherwise remain buried or be destroyed by the works. The preventive archeology intervention has in fact made it possible to know new sites near the new highway, also much older than the Roman road, and dating back to the Bronze Age.
In this case, as often happens, the coincidence between the route of the modern motorway and that of the ancient Roman road creates a curious comparison between two transport systems separated by approximately two millennia: the road built by the Roman Empire and the infrastructure intended to support the traffic of contemporary Germany.
