Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story:

• Road crews looking to extend connection through the Padua province in Italy uncovered a lost archaeological site.
• Dated to the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E., the site was buried under nearly 10 feet of sediment from the flooding Adige River.
• Excavations revealed votive stone pieces with inscriptions in Latin and Venetic script.

It took a modern road project digging through nearly 10 feet of muddy river sediment to reveal an ancient temple site in the Italian province of Padua. As crews worked to construct the new “Padana Inferiore” State Highway 10 through Ponso, they started uncovering stone pieces with Latin and Venetic inscriptions.

Digging deeper, archaeologists revealed a bounty of cippi stones, ceremonial pieces full of inscriptions, many dated to between the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E. But there was plenty more to be uncovered within this pre-Roman sanctuary, including a temple once surrounded by pillars.

In a translated statement released by the Superintendency for Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape for the Provinces of Padua, Treviso, and Belluno, early efforts by excavation crews revealed an ancient religious site that was reused by Romans until a massive flood of the Adige River buried it all—and preserved it—in layers of silt, gravel, and mud.

“Taken together, the data acquired to date suggest a continuity of occupation at the site—albeit with transformations over time—rather than a simple abandonment,” the ministry wrote. “Indeed, the site appears to have retained a significant function during the Roman era as well, albeit through modes and expressions distinct from those of the preceding phase.”

The flood appeared to obliterate the site, likely destroying the temple and surrounding buildings. But the foundations remain. One temple features a rectangular foundation completely encircled by columns, which typically were used only in important structures. Remnants of additional buildings were also found.

Numerous stone artifacts covered in inscriptions were found at the site. Many are cippi—small, upright stone pillars that, in the ancient world, served as votive markers, boundary posts, or milestones. Preliminarily dated to the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E., the cippi appear to be votive in character based on initial epigraphic assessments, with some bearing inscriptions engraved on three faces. Other inscribed stones were reused during the first century C.E. in the construction of a paved surface whose function remains uncertain. The inscriptions are written predominantly in Venetic—the language of the Veneti people of northern Italy, used from roughly the sixth to the first century B.C.E.—though some also appear in Latin, reflecting the site's continuity from its pre-Roman cultic origins through the period of Romanization.

That change in use led experts with the Italian ministry to suggest the location had a cultic value for the pre-Roman inhabitants of the region, although the site was still prominent during Roman rule. At some point, though, the Adige River had its way, destroying buildings and burying the location in a flood, leaving it smothered in layers of grime that helped preserve the stone artifacts for centuries.

With plans to further excavate at the site to see how far it reached, experts are still working to decipher the Latin and Venetic scripts, and there’s early evidence the inscriptions point to the site’s religious prominence for future centuries. While the Romans may not have shared the same religious views as the Veneti people, the location still had significance for them, the experts said. The team unveiled a room with Roman-style flooring developed in the first century C.E., highlighting that even as the site changed from worship to functional, it still held sway as an important stop in ancient Italy.