See a Vibrant, Colorful Mosaic Discovered at an Ancient Roman Settlement in France
Perched on a hill overlooking the town of Alès, the site, which was salvaged before construction on modern houses began, also boasts advanced architecture
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Salvage archaeologists in southern France have unearthed an ancient Gallo-Roman site packed with stunningly well-preserved plumbing infrastructure, clay insulation, graves and a colorful mosaic on a hill overlooking the town of Alès.
The excavation began in February 2025, in anticipation of future housing development near a modern-day hermitage, according to a statement from the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP). By June, archaeologists had unearthed more than 40,000 square feet, including at least four ancient structures built into the rocky face of the hill.
These “domestic units,” which date to between the second and first centuries B.C.E., showed sophisticated architectural design, Olivier Mignot, the INRAP archaeologist who led the dig, tells Agence France-Presse (AFP). Their interior walls were lined with clay to insulate them and prevent water from seeping inside during bad weather. Researchers also found traces of wall painting and designs, although they have become nearly illegible with time.
Need to know: The Roman history of Arles, France
Arles started out as a Greek settlement. Julius Caesar turned it into a Roman colony called Arelate in 46 B.C.E. The ancient colony housed veterans of a Roman legion.The residences’ floors show advanced design techniques, with a layer of limestone slabs or lime mortar resting on top of a foundation of fine rock fragments.
At a massive nearby building with a footprint of more than 8,000 square feet, an elaborate drainage system made of specially refitted amphorae probably carried rainwater down from the roof.
Here, the floors show two distinct phases of progress, from packed earth to concrete paving. A richly colored and intricately designed floor mosaic spread over nearly 200 square feet and dating to approximately the first century B.C.E. is the “rare gem” of the entire site, as Mignot puts it to AFP.
The central section of the mosaic is composed of white, black and red tesserae arranged in interlocking geometric patterns. The artwork is surrounded by a plain white section on three sides and a black rectangle spangled with white crosses, which might have indicated the threshold of a doorway.
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“It’s extremely well preserved, with traces of paint, which is relatively rare,” Mignot tells France Info’s Esmeralda Terpereau. He points out the red tesserae in particular. Chemical analysis will determine if they were enhanced with cinnabar red, a precious pigment derived from mercury sulfide.
While the elaborate central mosaic was the centerpiece of the room, it is unknown what the plain, all-white sections represented in the building. The archaeologists speculate that they may have been alcoves or areas where furniture was placed.
For now, the salvage archaeologists’ priority remains understanding more about the mural’s context. The size, advanced infrastructure and elaborate aesthetics of the building suggest that it may have been a domus, a private, almost palatial residence occupied by a wealthy Roman family.
“In the coming days, our work will be to remove the decorative part of the mosaic while preserving it as best as possible,” Philippe Mercoiret, a mosaic specialist at the Gallo-Roman Museum outside of Lyon, explains to Radio France. After it is removed and preserved by INRAP, it will be given back to the town of Alès for exhibition.
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The final major discovery at the site is a burial area consisting of ten graves from sometime between the mid-fifth and late sixth centuries C.E. The heads of the corpses buried there all face west. The graves themselves are sparse. Their wooden coffins have decayed in the intervening centuries, leaving only some stones marking the site. Two other graves, isolated from the rest, show the same characteristics.
After the hill overlooking Alès hosted a thriving Gallo-Roman community, and later at least 12 burials, it became a place where Augustinian monks built their hermitage during the 11th and 12th centuries. The landscape was again transformed into agricultural terraces between the 16th and 18th centuries.
Now, as three new houses are slated for construction in the area, another layer of human history will be added to the multilayered archaeology of the site.
“A surprise, of course,” Mignot tells Radio France of his team’s stunning discoveries. “Seeing the quality of the site, I hope that there will be other preventative digs.”
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