Colosseum brickworks discovered near Rome

Archaeologists have discovered the site of the brickworks that built the Colosseum and the Pantheon in Rome more than 2000 years ago.

The brickworks was found 50 miles north of Rome, near the village of Bomarzo and close to the Tiber. The river would have enabled the red bricks to be loaded onto boats and transported downriver.

The bricks used for the Colosseum and Pantheon were stamped made by brothers Tullus and Lucanus Domitius -- brick makers had to stamp their product so that they could be held liable for the quality of buildings, reported the Sunday Telegraph.

The brickworks contain two furnaces and thousands of bricks, floor and roof tiles.

"The find is particularly important as it is the first brickworks uncovered known to have provided material for ancient Rome's most famous buildings," said Tizano Gasperoni, an archaeologist based at the nearby Tuscia University.

"We have only just scratched the surface of the site and work is still continuing. We stumbled across it completely by accident while researching another project and it is a very exciting find."

Copyright 2005 by United Press International