‘Extraordinary’ Wooden Structure Found From Roman House Destroyed by Fire

Archaeologists have discovered an “exceptionally well-preserved” wooden cellar from the Roman period.

The ancient wooden structure was unearthed during excavations in Heddernheim—a district of the city of Frankfurt in western Germany—in 2023.

The structure has now been completely recovered and preserved by restoration experts at the Frankfurt Archaeological Museum, the official city portal announced in a press release.

The wooden cellar was part of a Roman residential building that was probably built in the late 1st century on the most southern of the two main streets (known as the platea praetoria) in the ancient town of Nida.

No remains of the associated building, a half-timbered house, have survived. But the discovery and preservation of the wooden cellar is of “great scientific interest”—providing an “almost unique” opportunity to gain an insight into life in Nida, according to the Frankfurt press release.

“Such an extraordinary find requires special consideration. Due to the weather conditions there was imminent danger here and we decided to save the cellar and with it an important artifact of ancient Frankfurt at short notice,” Ina Hartwig, head of cultural affairs for the city, said in the release.

“We are very pleased that this was achieved with great technical effort and using newly tested methods. In the next few weeks, the cellar will be further explored and a suitable presentation will be determined.”

The preserved wooden cellar bears traces of a fire that appears to have completely destroyed the house in ancient times. The steps that lead down to the basement display evidence of burning. Archaeologists have also documented charcoal, fire debris and charred beams at the site.

In addition, the effects of the fire can be seen on some of the artifacts found—for example, a glass vessel that was melted by the extreme heat. Archaeologists also documented iron objects still lying on the basement stairs—indicating that the inhabitants of the house did not have time to save all of their possessions being kept in the cellar.

After the fire, another building was constructed on top of the destroyed home some time later, but it appears that the cellar was no longer in use by then.

Further research is required in order to accurately date the construction period of the home and when it was destroyed by the fire.

The latest find is not the first wooden cellar with fire debris uncovered from Nida—a regional capital in Roman times.

Archaeologists have made comparable findings during excavations in the ancient city over the past century, but they were usually less well-preserved and were not examined as carefully using modern excavation methods.

“The cellar uncovered in 2023 is therefore special in many ways,” the city press release said.

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