巴黎一家医院地下挖出两千年前的古墙：巴黎可能就是从这里开始的

Where exactly did Paris begin?

French scholars have argued over this question for many years.

Recently, an ancient wall found under a hospital may have given an answer.

In the center of Paris, there's a small island in the Seine called the Île de la Cité.

On the island is a very old hospital, the Hôtel-Dieu.

This summer, work was under way beneath the hospital to shore up the building.

Workers on the site dug out a wall twenty-two meters long, built of stone and wood.

Next to it was a Gallic spearhead.

Archaeologists say this kind of wall is a typical late Iron Age Gallic fortification.

In a statement on Wednesday, France's culture minister said it's one of the most important archaeological finds for understanding Gallic-era Paris.

To understand why, we have to go back more than two thousand years.

Back then, Paris wasn't yet called Paris; its Latin name was Lutetia.

Lutetia was built by a Gallic tribe living along the Seine, who may have been there as early as the fourth century BC.

From 58 to 50 BC, the Romans and the Gauls fought for years.

The Roman general Julius Caesar wrote a book about the war.

In it, he described Lutetia as a town on an island in the Seine.

He also wrote that when the Gauls heard the Roman army was coming, they ordered Lutetia burned and cut down the town's bridges.

In 52 BC, Rome took the town.

The problem is that Caesar's description was very vague, and there had never been any archaeological proof.

So scholars argued for a long time: was Lutetia on the Île de la Cité or not?

Some believed it was actually in Nanterre, a suburb west of Paris, because important finds were made there in the 1990s.

Matthieu Poux, an archaeology professor at the University of Lyon II, once thought so too.

He says that in the 1990s the evidence was really very thin, so he wrote that Lutetia probably wasn't on the Île de la Cité.

But this discovery has changed his mind.

He says he now has no doubt at all that the ancient town was on the Île de la Cité.

Why so sure?

First, scientists carbon-dated wood from the wall, and the results show it was built between 200 BC and 10 BC.

That's exactly the period Caesar wrote about.

Second, the wall bears traces of fire.

The site also yielded charred seeds and the remains of a burned wooden building.

That may match what Caesar wrote: the Gauls set fire to their own town before fleeing.

Still, the culture minister also said the wall's purpose and date need more research to confirm.

In fact, a lot is already known about Roman-era Paris.

Many Roman artifacts have been found in today's Latin Quarter.

And a Roman residential area was found under the Luxembourg Gardens.

But Gallic-era Paris has always been a mystery.

Professor Poux says this one dig alone has multiplied the data on Gallic Paris tenfold.

France's culture ministry says digging will continue nearby, and the whole wall will eventually be moved for study and display.

The mayor of Paris also said the city will share this heritage with everyone who loves Paris.

If you went to Paris one day, would you rather see this wall, or the Eiffel Tower?