Ancient Stone-Lined Basin Discovered At Roman Town Reveals Engineering Brilliance Predating Concrete

Ancient Stone-Lined Basin Discovered At Roman Town Reveals Engineering Brilliance Predating Concrete

Ancient Stone-Lined Basin Discovered At Roman Town Reveals Engineering Brilliance Predating Concrete The stone-lined basin in Gabii – credit, University of Missouri, released A massive, early republican-era water basin was recently uncovered in the ancient Roman town of Gabii, central Italy, that was constructed without concrete. While architectural students from around the world come to marvel at the Romans’ structures of marble, brick, and self-healing concrete, this basin was made of meticulously stacked stones in harmony with the local topography. Gabii was inhabited by a pre-Roman Italian tribe that eventually abandoned the site, some 11 miles away from the Eternal City, by 50 BCE, and it’s been under excavation since 2009. Unlike Rome, where the ancient foundations have been overbuilt throughout the last 2,000 years, Gabii remains largely as it was. Like Pompeii, Gabii yields new discoveries frequently, and most recently it was this stone basin that captured headlines. Partly carved …