Only on AP: Under Notre Dame cathedral, a 'dig of the century' unearths 1,700 years of history

(2 Jun 2026) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Paris - 28 May 2026 1. Tilt down from Notre Dame cathedral to archaeological dig site in forecourt 2. Various of workers digging at site 3. SOUNDBITE (French) Camille Colonna, archaeologist: ++STARTS ON SHOT 1, PARTIALLY SPLITSCREEN WITH SHOT 2 AND PARTIALLY OVERLAID BY SHOT 4++ “The first archaeological remains appear at 50 centimeters (20 inches) below the current forecourt up to now. We are at 4 meters (13 feet) deep and we still have remains. So what we know is that digging up the forecourt is exceptional by the density of the remains and by the fact that it is, I would say, that everything is newly discovered here since there has been no excavations for a long time and therefore, all the data of this excavation, will complement digs that took place a very long time ago.” 4. Various of crane moving bag of dirt from site 5. Various of workers digging and working at site 6. SOUNDBITE (French) Camille Colonna, archaeologist: ++STARTS ON SHOT 5 AND PARTIALLY OVERLIAD BY SHOT 7++ “At the time of the construction of Notre Dame all the forecourt was lined with medieval houses. There is a street in the middle of the forecourt and there are houses in the south and houses in north. So we have rediscovered these houses. The foundations of these houses, obviously they are no longer on high ground, the foundations of those houses, the cellars of these houses.” 7. Notre Dame cathedral and tourists waiting to get inside 8. Archaeologist Valentine Breloux walking into archaeological unit where found artefacts are cleaned, categorized and stored 9. Various of ceramic shards 10. SOUNDBITE (French) Valentine Breloux, archaeologist, Paris Archaeological Unit: ++STARTS ON SHOT 8 AND PARTIALLY SPLITSCREEN WITH SHOT 9 ++ “The most incredible things we’ve found during the dig at Notre Dame are these famous ceramic shards, in which there were traces of painted inscriptions on the inside, and for the moment we haven't deciphered them yet.” 11. Altenburg pulling out tray of artifacts dug up from site 12. Cellar area inside Paris Archaeological Unit building containing archaeological remains from Paris excavations STORYLINE: Wilting in the summer sun, a line of tourists waits to climb Notre Dame cathedral and meet its gargoyles. Four meters (13 feet) beneath them, a team of archaeologists is digging the other way - straight down and back in time, to Roman Paris 2,000 years ago. In 2019, fire brought Notre Dame’s spire crashing down as the world watched. The cathedral was rebuilt and reopened in late 2024, and now Paris wants to soften the hot, bare square in front of it with trees and shade. But in a city this old, the soil cannot be turned until what lies beneath it is excavated, in case it is damaged during works. So a slice of Notre Dame’s forecourt has become an excavation site - an open pit ringed by barriers and crossed by a wooden walkway, a few steps from the line-up. French media have dubbed it the “dig of the century.” Among the hundreds of objects already found: a 4th-century coin stamped with the face of the Emperor Constantine, and shards of medieval pottery painted on the inside with marks no expert has yet deciphered — like a modern Da Vinci Code. The first traces appear 50 centimeters (20 inches) down; 4 meters (13 feet) lower, the team is still pulling up the past. Some days they fill 15 crates - from ground that has lain untouched for decades. This is the bargain in every old city: the past is not in a museum down the street - it is under the street. Paris is no different. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...