The city of Rome is now believed to be two centuries older than previously thought, according to new finds at its Forum.
Excavations inside the Forum have revealed a wall which dates back to 900BC.
The wall, made from a type of limestone, as well as ceramic fragments were uncovered during an excavation of the Lapis Niger, a black stone shrine. The shrine is several centuries older than the Roman Empire.
It is next to the Arch of Severo Septimius, a marble monument built in the heart of the Forum centuries later in 203AD.
"Examination of the recovered ceramic material has enabled us to chronologically date the wall structure to between the 9th century BC and the beginning of the 8th century BC," said Dr Patrizia Fortuni, an archeologist who leads the research team.
"So it precedes what is traditionally considered the foundation of Rome."
Archaeologists and other experts have been working on the excavation since 2009, but they are not the first.
Previous excavation there found a block of stone called the "lex sacra" which has Rome’s oldest known ancient Latin inscription, dating back to 565 BC.
Rome’s legend says that it was founded in 753BC by twin brothers Romulus and Remus.
