Researchers found out from where wood of Roman villa came from

Between 2014 and 2016, scientists were able to discover the remains of a Roman luxury villa. As it turned out, the building still had preserved wooden elements, which were subjected to detailed tests.

The villa was located in the area of the current Via Sannio garden in Rome. The house consisted of numerous mosaics, columns and a portico. The 24 oak planks were examined. As it turned out, they come from the Jura mountains in eastern France and are dated 40-60 CE. Thus, the Romans imported building material from a distance of about 1,700 km. It was a very complicated and expensive transport that required a lot of money.

Map showing the main transport routes in ancient France. Red dots indicate where and where the wood was transported from.

According to the researchers, in order to import wood, the tractive force of animals was used, then they flowed along the rivers Saona and Rhone to reach the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and sailed to the mouth of the Tiber.