8 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A burial complex and an Ancient Dog Statue have been unearthed during excavations in Appio Latino quarter the Rome

Workers laying pipes for utility company Acea at Via Luigi Tosti in Rome’s Appio Latino quarter have unearthed an ancient burial complex.

Archaeologists called in by Acea, the city’s gas and water company, have discovered a funerary complex with tombs dating from between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD.

An arm of the Italian Ministry of Culture devoted to archaeological endeavors announced the find on January 1, saying that the dog statue was found in the city’s Appio Latino district, which is also home to ancient Roman villas and an array of burial structures. Along with the statue, three tombs were also found.

According to the Ministry of Culture, one of the tombs seemed to contain evidence that a fire had taken place there, which may explain why it fell out of use. The tombs were once part of a larger funerary complex built sometime between the 1st century BCE and the 1st century CE.

Archaeologists were called in after workers laying pipes for utility firm Acea on the Via Luigi Tosti (pictured) in the city's Appio Latino quarter came across the buried tombs.
Archaeologists were called in after workers laying pipes for utility firm Acea on the Via Luigi Tosti (pictured) in the city’s Appio Latino quarter came across the buried tombs.

“Once again, Rome shows important traces of the past in all its urban fabric,” says Daniela Porro, head of the Special Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Rome, in a statement, per a translation by the Times.

The dog statue, as well as an urn, were found about half a meter below street level, which means that these archaeological objects were essentially right underneath current-day Romans’ feet. Fashioned out of terra cotta, the statue looks a lot like forms that once appeared as part of drainage systems on sloping rooftops. Because this one has no holes in that water could pass through, however, the statue was likely intended just as a cute canine decoration.

Though the tombs are an important discovery, the well-preserved dog’s head statue has dominated coverage of the finds. The palm-sized artwork shows a pointy-eared canine wearing what appears to be a collar with an emblem and clasping a small object between its paws.

Adjacent to the tombs, the team's excavations also uncovered the remains of a young man who appeared to have been buried in the bare earth. Pictured: an archaeologist carefully excavates the some 2,000-year-old tombs in the Appio Latino quarter of Rome
Adjacent to the tombs, the team’s excavations also uncovered the remains of a young man who appeared to have been buried in the bare earth. Pictured: an archaeologist carefully excavates some 2,000-year-old tombs in the Appio Latino quarter of Rome

Exactly what kind of dog the statue depicts is unclear.

“It could be representative of a large breed or a small, toy breed,” a spokesperson for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals tells the Daily Mail.

The Romans kept dogs as both pets and to guard property and livestock, with one popular breed being the Molossian hound, which came from ancient Greece.

Historians believe that they also kept dogs that would have been similar in appearance to modern Irish wolfhounds, greyhounds, lurchers, Maltese, and more.

Cover photo: Italian Ministry of Culture

Related Articles

The ruins of a thousand-year-old Buddhist Temple will be opened to the public in Kyrgyzstan

13 September 2022

13 September 2022

The unearthed remains of an ancient Buddhist temple in Kyrgyzstan will open to the public in mid-September as part of...

Archaeologists find 2,000-year-old eyeshadow and blush in ancient Roman city of Aizanoi

24 September 2023

24 September 2023

Archaeologists discovered rare makeup products of 10 different colors and different sorts of hair accessories and jewelry during excavations at...

Kurt Tepesi: The Silent Sentinel in the Shadows of Göbeklitepe and Karahan Tepe – Unearthing the Forgotten Sister

31 May 2025

31 May 2025

In the arid plains of southeastern Anatolia, a quiet giant slumbers. While Göbekli Tepe has dazzled archaeologists and the global...

Ancient skeletons buried with gold jewelry and expensive leather shoes found in newly discovered Roman necropolis in Italy

5 January 2024

5 January 2024

Archaeologists involved in a two-year-long excavation project at the site of a planned solar energy plant ancient city of Tarquinia,...

Farmer Found Sarcophagus of Hellenistic Period in his Field

9 April 2021

9 April 2021

The citizen named E. G. in Akçakoca, Taşkuyucak District of Gölmarmara district of Manisa (Turkey), while plowing his field, thought...

1700-year-old weaving workshop discovered in southeast Turkey

4 December 2021

4 December 2021

Excavations carried out in the ancient city of Perre in the southeastern province of Adıyaman have unearthed a 1,700-year-old weaving...

Artificial intelligence is Detecting New Archaeological Sites in the Arabian desert

5 October 2024

5 October 2024

A team of researchers at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi has developed a machine-learning algorithm to help them trawl vast...

Women buried with thick twisted bronze neck rings and buckets on their feet found in Ukraine

20 January 2024

20 January 2024

Archaeologists discovered the remains of men buried with weapons such as axes, spearheads, and swords, and women buried with thick...

A New Hypothesis Tries to Explain What Triggers People’s Big Brains

14 March 2021

14 March 2021

The big brain is the decisive feature of our species. Not only are they the most complex organs in the...

1800-year-old marble inscription found in Turkey’s Aigai excavations deciphered

2 October 2022

2 October 2022

The 1800-year-old inscription, consisting of 3 pieces of marble, found in the excavations in the ancient city of Aigai in...

Researchers discover America’s oldest mine

23 May 2022

23 May 2022

Archaeological digs headed by Wyoming’s state archaeologist and including University of Wyoming experts have revealed that people began producing red...

Hidden Roman Passage Unearthed Beneath Split: A Secret Gateway into Diocletian’s Palace Revealed

23 June 2025

23 June 2025

A groundbreaking discovery beneath Hrvojeva Street, near Diocletian’s Palace, is reshaping our understanding of Roman life and architecture in the...

Ancient Celtic Bone Pen Found in Southern Germany

14 December 2024

14 December 2024

From August to October this year, the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments (LAD) in the Stuttgart Regional Council...

Climate has influenced the growth of our bodies and our brain

8 July 2021

8 July 2021

Over 300 fossils from the genus Homo have been measured for body and brain size by an interdisciplinary team of...

3,500-year-old perfectly preserved ancient frozen bear found in Siberian

28 February 2023

28 February 2023

As the permafrost on Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island in eastern Siberia melted, a mummified brown bear that lived more than three...