Worker spots muddy lump — and solves 116-year-old puzzle. See the ancient Roman find

Aspen Pflughoeft

They called it the Four Gods Stone. A dark brown rock shaped by a carver and weathered by the centuries, it depicted four ancient Roman deities: Hercules, Juno, Mercury and Minerva.

In Roman times, the stone once sat atop a prominently placed pillar, known as a Jupiter column, but archaeologists found it buried in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1908.

Ever since, the Four Gods Stone sat in a museum. The rest of the ancient Roman column it belonged to was gone — at least, that’s what archaeologists thought until recently.

Excavations began at a site in Stuttgart ahead of the construction of a school, the Stuttgart Regional Council said in an April 19 news release. The site had been an ancient Roman fort, then expanded into a settlement about 1,800 years ago.

An archaeologist working at the site noticed a muddy lump near the edge of the excavation area, officials said. The lump turned out to be an ancient Roman carving.

The ancient Roman carving of a “giant” recently found in Stuttgart.
The ancient Roman carving of a “giant” recently found in Stuttgart.

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A photo shows the worn, roughly foot-tall carving. The part-human, part-snake figure is depicted kneeling with its hands at its sides, archaeologists said. Its head is human-like, but its lower body morphs into a snake-like animal.

Archaeologists identified the 1,800-year-old carving as a “giant,” a hybrid creature from Roman and Germanic mythology, and part of the same Jupiter column as the Four Gods Stone. A photo shows the two stones sitting side-by-side.

The Four Gods Stone (left) and the “giant” carving (right) sit together.
The Four Gods Stone (left) and the “giant” carving (right) sit together.

The “giant” carving might have been buried near to the Four Gods Stone and simply gone overlooked during previous excavations, archaeologist Andreas Thiel said in the release.

The artifact helps solve a 116-year-old puzzle to reconstruct the ancient Roman pillar that once stood in modern-day Stuttgart, officials said.

An archaeologist holds the “giant” carving that was part of a Jupiter column in Stuttgart.
An archaeologist holds the “giant” carving that was part of a Jupiter column in Stuttgart.

Excavations at the site are ongoing. Stuttgart is a roughly 400-mile drive southwest from Berlin.

Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the Stuttgart Regional Council.

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