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A roughly 20-meter (65-foot) wall unearthed beneath a hotel on the Ile de la Cite, near Notre Dame Cathedral, was hailed by France's Culture Ministry on Wednesday as a "major breakthrough" that could resolve long-standing questions about the city's original settlement.
The stone-and-wood find, discovered this summer in the heart of Paris, is believed to be a fragment of the ramparts of Lutetia, the ancient name for Paris, built by the Gallic Parisii tribe that lived along the Seine River during the Iron Age.
The Ile de la Cite has traditionally been regarded as the center of Lutetia, but a rival theory, backed by archaeological research, contends that it was located in Nanterre, a suburb to the west.
"We may be looking at one of the most important remains ever discovered for understanding Gallic Lutetia," Culture Minister Catherine Pegard said in a statement from her ministry.
"Scientific caution still requires that we verify its function and its chronology, but the convergence of evidence is particularly remarkable at this stage."
Lutetia was first mentioned in book seven of Roman leader Julius Caesar's "Gallic Wars" series, where it was described as being on an island in the Seine River, a vague description that has given rise to many theories about its location.
The wall, uncovered during excavations beneath the Hotel-Dieu, also bears traces of fire, which may correspond to Caesar's account that the Gauls set fire to their town before the Battle of Lutetia against the Romans.
Through carbon dating technology, the charred evidence is estimated to date from 10-200 BC, the ministry said in its statement, a timeframe that includes the Battle of Lutetia in 52 BC.
The Ile de la Cite, home to Notre Dame Cathedral, is the largest island in the Seine River in the Paris region and became the center of the Roman settlement of Lutetia.
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