A nearly 2,000-year-old Ancient Roman wooden water pipe has been discovered in a most unexpected place: the Belgian marshlands. The rare find came in Leuven, a city east of Brussels in Flanders—a tiny spot in the Roman Empire—during an excavation on Brusselsestraat, a street that runs through the city’s central part, to make room for student housing.
Wood Central understands that the pipe dates back to the second or third century A.D., when ancient woodworkers cut a cylindrical hole through the wood to make it a structure that functioned as a hydraulic pipe.
“In our region, Leuven likely served as a ‘diverticulum,’ a settlement of several houses and farms at a crossroads, near a Roman road connecting the major axis between Cologne and Boulogne,” the press release also said, which was translated by Fox News from Dutch to English. “The exceptional preservation of the wood makes it a unique find that contributes to the understanding of Roman presence in Leuven.”
Dirk Vansina, a city alderman for real estate heritage, said the discovery is highly unusual in Flanders: “At numerous locations, including in Tienen, indications of what was once a Roman wooden water pipe have been excavated before,” he said. “But never the water pipe itself, as the wooden logs used by the Romans had rotted away over time.”
According to Vasina, wood rot occurs when a place’s groundwater level varies between wet and dry. Luckily for the pipe, the groundwater levels have been stable: “It is the Dijle [River] that ensured the wooden water pipe remained exceptionally well-preserved over the centuries.”
“Due to the proximity of the Dijle, the ground here was always marshy, and the passage of time has been very gentle on this water pipe.”
The pipe will be transferred to a conservation studio where it will continue to be studied. Once a sample is taken to determine its age, it will be freeze-dried for preservation purposes and possibly displayed.
Archaeologists also came across other discoveries during the excavation, such as ancient pottery shards, but the city emphasised that the water pipe “is of a different calibre.”
“The size of Leuven in Roman times was limited, but finds like this prove that the Roman presence was certainly not incidental and that it is worthwhile to continue digging and gradually uncover this past,” Vasina said.
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