Luxembourg: fertile ground for archaeological discoveries

One of the most significant discoveries was the "Loschbour man", a prehistoric hunter-gatherer whose bones were discovered by teacher and amateur archaeologist Nicolas Thill in 1935 under a rock in the Mullerthal. Research has revealed that the man lived in the late Mesolithic period, around 8,000 years ago. The Loschbour man never touched a smartphone, but his DNA can tell us much more than a selfie. Thanks to the latest progress in genetics, we know that he was around 1.60m tall, he was stocky, weighed around 60kg and had dark skin, dark hair and... blue eyes. His skeleton is currently on display at the National Museum of Natural History.

But the science also revealed that he is not the oldest human to have been found in Luxembourg. The cremated remains of a woman discovered nearby were dated to even earlier, around a thousand years before the Loschbour man.

Luxembourg in the dinosaur age

Our journey back in time does not stop in the Mesolithic era. If we go back even further, we reach an ancient period that came to prominence with the film Jurassic Park. In the Jurassic era, much of what is present-day Luxembourg was covered by sea, including the south of the country, the Minett. It was here that in 2017, archaeologists unearthed a plesiosaur, a marine reptile that lived 185 million years ago. As such specimens are very rare, the fossil is considered to be one of the most spectacular palaeontological discoveries ever made in Luxembourg.

And it doesn't stop there. In March 2025, the remains of huge scaly amphibians known as labyrinthodonts, dating from the Triassic period, were uncovered around Larochette. Around a hundred bones were unearthed, dating from around 210 million years ago. These amphibians were among the largest predators of their time and they lived like today's crocodiles.

When it comes to dinosaurs themselves, the first officially recognised discovery in Luxembourg was made in Brouch in 2014. Palaeontologists found a tooth and a toe phalanx belonging to carnivorous Jurassic dinosaurs who lived here around 200 million years ago.

 Treasures from the Romans and the Celts

Several million years later, we come to the first human civilisations – and the finds in Luxembourg are no longer just individual prehistoric creatures but the remains of organised societies, especially those of the Celts, whose traces we can find on the Titelberg plateau. Here a huge oppidum (Iron Age settlement) stretching over more than 50 hectares, dating back to the 1st century BCE and protected by nearly 3km of ramparts, has been discovered. After Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul, Titelberg became part of the Roman Empire.

And the Roman presence can be found elsewhere in Luxembourg: in Dalheim, the remains of the Vicus Ricciacum also illustrate the lasting legacy of the Romans in the region. The 35-hectare site included housing, public spaces, temples and baths. Researchers have also discovered a nearby Gallo-Roman theatre that could house almost 3,500 spectators.

In December 2024, one of the most important Roman discoveries was made in Holzthum: 141 remarkable gold coins dating from the late 4th century and representing eight Roman emperors who reigned between 364 and 408 CE.

Another treasure, a historical one this time, is the Roman villa in Echternach, one of the most impressive archaeological sites in Luxembourg. Built around 70 CE, this was originally a palatial residence over two floors, with marble walls and mosaic floors, together with an under-floor heating system.

Middle Ages

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Franks came to what is now Luxembourg during the Early Middle Ages (5th to 8th centuries). Some of the most significant archaeological discoveries from this period testify to the lives of the Franks during the Merovingian dynasty, as reflected in the Telpeschholz graves in Dondelange and those in Clemency, Schengen and Dalheim. Archaeologists have unearthed skeletons as well as offerings such as weapons, jewellery and everyday items on these sites. Other Frankish graves have been excavated in Echternach, Mamer, Beringen, Schieren and Bech.

As the Franks settled in the region, Christianity spread and the first churches and abbeys appeared. Archaeological digs in 2014 revealed the growing religious influence, with the unearthing of remains of a Franciscan monastery and mediaeval cemetery under Rue du Fossé in Luxembourg City. A surrounding wall, around twenty tombs and an ossuary were revealed.

During the same excavations, a silver-alloy coin dating from the 10th century, struck during the reign of Henry the Fowler, King of East Francia and Lotharingia between 919 and 936, was discovered. The coin, which may have been in circulation until the 12th century, dates from the same period as the building of Lucilinburhuc castle by Count Siegfried (922-998) in around 963.

This emblematic castle, considered as the birthplace of today's Luxembourg, marked the country's entry into the feudal era and the construction of the first major fortifications. The many monuments dating from this period include the seven castles in the Eisch Valley, known as the Valley of the Seven Castles. In 2025, in Hollenfels – home to one of the seven castles –, a moat surrounding the fortress and the remains of a stone bridge were discovered, offering a glimpse into mediaeval life and the defensive architecture of the time.

Countless mediaeval discoveries in Luxembourg bear witness to daily life and fortified architecture in the Middle Ages. These traces of the past, often buried beneath our feet for centuries, are still being uncovered today.