24 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

A Decorated Block with Decapitated Gaul Found for the First Time in Toul, France

A Corinthian-style carved block that was once part of the entablature of a monumental Gallo-Roman public building has been discovered in Toul, northeastern France. This is the first time an architectural element of this size, Corinthian-style found in Toul.

In Toul, a city in northeastern France, a large-scale construction project is underway to install a heating network, a system of underground pipes that pump hot water, preventing the need for individual boilers or electric heaters in every building.

The operation involved following the opening of several sections of trenches for the installation of the future district heating network, over a total length of around 2 km, from March to November 2024. Researchers didn’t expect to make monumental discoveries along the way.

Toul is an ancient city existing in a modern time, built first at the crossroads of Roman roads and then developed well into the 19th century, according to a news release from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research.

The ancient, medieval, and modern town of Tullum-Toul developed at the confluence of the Moselle and the Ingressin stream, at the foot of the Moselle hills. It is located at the crossroads of Roman roads (including the Via Agrippa), ancient paths, and bridges spanning the Moselle. It has flourished since ancient times, becoming the chief town of the Belgic Leuci trib.

Roman walls were previously discovered, then one piece of the stonework was found to have carvings. Photo: French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP)
Roman walls were previously discovered, then one piece of the stonework was found to have carvings. Photo: French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP)

Originally a Leuci hillfort (oppidium), the town was surrounded by massive defensive walls constructed by the Romans in the late third or early fourth century. These walls largely relied on spoglia, which are repurposed building materials from older structures. The walls stood for centuries. The walls and 15 towers remained in active use until the fortifications were rebuilt in 1700.

Toul became the seat of a bishopric in the fourth century and of a vast diocese based on the ancient Pagus Tullensis. From the middle of the sixteenth century, Toul was associated with the three Lorraine bishoprics of Verdun and Metz, which became part of the kingdom of France.

Archaeologists from France’s National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) that a fragment of the ancient wall seven feet thick was discovered in April, followed by a low masonry and rubble wall nearby. The carved block of stone was discovered 20 feet away from this second wall.

Archaeologists believe the block once belonged to a monumental building, but then at some point later in history it was broken and used as part of the defensive wall.

The block of white limestone is a sizable portion of an elaborately carved entablature. Its dimensions are four feet wide by 3.3 feet deep by 1.7 feet high, and its weight exceeds 880 pounds.  It was likely larger before it was broken apart. It features two elaborate modillions, which are brackets that support tall, flat architectural elements like roofs and cornices. It is broken at both ends, likely damaged when it was torn off an old building for reuse in the wall.


A Gaul being beheaded by a Roman sword surrounded by vines was carved into the stone. Photo: French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP)
A Gaul being beheaded by a Roman sword surrounded by vines was carved into the stone. Photo: French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP)

The modillions feature acanthus-like vegetal decoration on one and the Gallo-Roman version of a Green Man figure on the other. Between the modillions are two rectangular metopes. One is carved with what appears to be a shield, the other with an iconographic type seen on local potin leuque coins from the 1st B.C.

In between the artistic carvings, a more violent image is cut into the stone. The severed head of a Gaul is carved with a hollow eye, and the head is resting on what is identified as a Roman sword. Archaeologists said the image is a clear depiction of the Romans’ victory over the Gallic people in northeastern France.

Although a large mausoleum located north of Trier has an entablature with similar features, this block’s elaborate decoration and size suggest it was part of a monumental public building. Comparable examples from the second century A.D. can be seen on the facades of temples, theaters, baths, triumphal arches, and gates.

The block has been placed in temporary storage at the INRAP headquarters in Metz. It will cleaned, conserved, and studied before eventually going on display in the Toul Museum.

INRAP

Cover Photo: INRAP

Related Articles

Archaeologists in Israel are restoring the largest Roman Basilica in the country

6 June 2021

6 June 2021

Archaeologists in Israel are trying to rebuild a 2,000-year-old Roman-era basilica that is thought to be the country’s biggest. A...

Early Female Emperors in Japan “Empress Kōken”

2 July 2021

2 July 2021

Born into the aristocratic Fujiwara clan, this extraordinary woman first ascended to the throne as Empress Kōken and became the...

Rare Arabic inscription discovered during Malta housing project works

3 May 2023

3 May 2023

A rare Arabic inscription, possibly dating back to medieval times, was discovered at the site of a social housing project...

The excavations in ancient city of Aizanoi discovered the statue heads of Dionysus and Aphrodite

11 December 2023

11 December 2023

The heads of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, and Dionysus, the god of wine, were found in Aizanoi,...

First Visual Evidence of the Milky Way Found in Ancient Egyptian Cosmological Vignettes

1 May 2025

1 May 2025

Did ancient Egyptians gaze upon the Milky Way and immortalize its form in their artwork? New research suggests this very...

Stone Penis Found in Medieval Spanish ruins Had Violent Purpose

11 June 2023

11 June 2023

Archaeologists found a six-inch stone penis while excavating the Tower of Meira (Torre de Meira) in the city of Ría...

Bronze Age family systems deciphered: Paleogeneticists analyze 3,800-year-old extended family

31 August 2023

31 August 2023

A Bronze Age family living 3,800 years ago in the Southern Urals may have taken a flexible approach to marriage,...

Denisovans or Homo Sapiens: Who Were the First to Settle Permanently on the Tibetan Plateau?

8 December 2021

8 December 2021

The Tibetan Plateau has long been considered one of the last places to be populated by people in their migration...

Archeologists unearth largest rare wooden “Haniwa” Statue in Japan

10 December 2022

10 December 2022

The remains of a 3.5-meter-tall wooden “haniwa” statue have been discovered at one of the “kofun” ancient burial mounds that...

More than 1,300 prehistoric burial mounds in western Azerbaijan systematically surveyed for the first time

2 January 2025

2 January 2025

Over 1,300 archaeological sites in Azerbaijan were systematically surveyed and documented in two field campaigns in 2021 and 2023 by...

International Sand Sculpture Festival Opens with the Theme “The Lost City of Atlantis”

6 May 2021

6 May 2021

The 16th edition of the International Sand Sculpture Festival (SANDLAND) has begun in Turkey’s Mediterranean resort city of Antalya. Every...

An artificial intelligence “Ithaca” that will improve our understanding of ancient history

11 March 2022

11 March 2022

A deep neural network trained to restore ancient Greek texts can do so with 72% accuracy when used by historians,...

Europe’s Oldest Plough Marks Discovered in Switzerland and Testifying the Use of Animals in Agriculture 7000 Years Ago

8 March 2024

8 March 2024

Excavations at the Anciens Arsenaux site in Sion, Switzerland, researchers revealed evidence that Neolithic farmers used animal traction to pull...

Botanical Findings Analysis from Biblical area of Goliath sheds Unprecedented Light on Philistine Ritual Practices

27 February 2024

27 February 2024

Bar-Ilan University researchers shed “unprecedented light” on Philistine ritual practices, such as the use of psychoactive and medicinal plants, by...

An Elite Nubian Woman’s Burial, Dating Back 4,000 Years, Reveals the Oldest Evidence of Tumpline Use

15 April 2025

15 April 2025

A recent study analyzing 30 ancient skeletons from the Abu Fatima cemetery in Nubia, Sudan, has revealed that women in...