27 April 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

An ancient structure of unknown purpose discovered in northeastern Italy

A mysterious structure of unknown purpose has been unearthed in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in northeastern Italy.

The discovery was made during excavations for the fiber optic installation in the town of Torreano, near Udine.

The ancient structure is made of heavy stone slabs that form a rectangle — two long walls and a short back topped by a “roof.” Archaeologists initially thought it was a burial cist, but an excavation of the structure revealed no evidence of human remains. It only has silty, muddy soil typical of waterways.

The discovery was publicly reported by Ivano Dorbolo’, a scholar of history and archeology, and administrator of the group “Valli del Natisone – Ricerche ed indagini archeologiche“.

Photo: Ivano Dorbolo'
Photo: Ivano Dorbolo’

Dorbolo said in a statement that the most plausible hypothesis at the moment is that it was a causeway, built to allow carts to pass through an ancient water course that flowed through the structure.

Another option is a culvert or drainpipe, but rough-hewn, heavy stone slabs are not the best choice for that purpose. Given the weight and size of the stones, it is likely that this was not a quick structure built by a local farmer but rather a significant infrastructure project requiring financial and human investment.

Valli del Natisone – Ricerche ed indagini Archeologiche, Faceboook

This discovery contains no stratigraphic data, and it would be nearly impossible to date a collection of heavy stone slabs in the absence of associated artifacts or remains suitable for radiocarbon or dendrochronological analysis. In conclusion, we have no idea what it is or how old it is.

After the necessary controls in the field, the work continues. The structure has now been reburied for its own protection.

Related Articles

483 Celtic gold coins worth several million euros stolen from German museum

23 November 2022

23 November 2022

A huge horde of ancient gold coins dating back to 100 BC was stolen from the Celtic and Roman Museum...

The Ramesseum’s ‘House of Life’ Reveals Ancient Egypt’s Educational Secrets!

6 April 2025

6 April 2025

A recent archaeological mission has unveiled groundbreaking findings at the Ramesseum, the grand mortuary temple of Pharaoh Ramesses II, located...

Researchers use AI to read words on ancient Herculaneum scroll burned by Vesuvius

13 October 2023

13 October 2023

Researchers used artificial intelligence to extract the first word from one of the first texts in a charred scroll from...

Syria uncovered a large intact mosaic that dates back to the Roman era

12 October 2022

12 October 2022

Syria uncovered a large intact mosaic that dates back to the Roman era, in the central town of Rastan, describing...

A Colonnaded Hall with Extraordinary Frescoes of Still Life Found in Pompeii

27 December 2024

27 December 2024

Archaeologists in the famous ancient Roman city of Pompeii, one of the world’s most iconic archaeological sites, have revealed extraordinary...

2800-year-old settlement discovered in Vadnagar, India

17 January 2024

17 January 2024

An excavation in Gujarat’s Vadnagar, about 900 km southwest of New Delhi, India, has found the remains of a settlement...

A 7,500-year-old settlement has been discovered in Turkey’s Domuztepe Mound

11 September 2021

11 September 2021

During the most recent excavations at Domuztepe Mound in the Türkoğlu district of southern Turkey’s Kahramanmaraş province, a settlement and...

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...

7500-year-old cursed city of Iran

17 March 2023

17 March 2023

Sialk Hills, located in the southwestern part of Kashan city in Iran, was known among the locals as a ‘cursed...

Beyond Roman Exaggerations: Ancient Genomes Reveal an Iron Age Society Centered on Women in Britain

5 February 2025

5 February 2025

A team of researchers led by Dr. Lara Cassidy and Professor Daniel Bradley from Trinity College Dublin has uncovered evidence...

In Turkey’s western Uşak province, 2,000-year-old statues have been unearthed

19 December 2021

19 December 2021

During the excavations in the ancient city of Blaundos in the Ulubey district of Uşak, two statues of 2000 years...

In Parion, one of the most important cities of the Troas region, 2,000-year-old mother-child graves were unearthed

1 November 2022

1 November 2022

Archaeological excavations in the ancient city of Parion, the most important harbor city in the Hellenistic era, have uncovered  2,000-year-old...

Archaeologists have unearthed an incredible hoard of over 300 Iron Age ‘potins’ in West London

17 July 2021

17 July 2021

Archaeologists at an HS2 construction site in Hillingdon, West London discovered an astonishing treasure of over 300 Iron Age ‘potins”....

Philippines Cagayan Cave Art 3500 Years Old

29 June 2021

29 June 2021

A depiction depicting a human-like figure on a cave wall in Penablanca town, Cagayan province, is Southeast Asia’s first directly...

Serbian Archaeologists Unearth Roman Triumphal Arch Dedicated to Emperor Caracalla

24 January 2024

24 January 2024

Archaeologists in Serbia have unearthed an ancient Roman triumphal arch dating back to the third century at Viminacium, a Roman...