An ancient sarcophagus ended up as building stone

The sarcophagus of the Acceptii is a Roman funerary complex discovered by chance in Lyon in June 1870 during foundation work. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 interrupted the excavations and left the blocks in a storage room, which led to the sale of the altar as reclaimed stone and the reuse of a slab as a factory gate jamb in Saint-Fons. Despite these destructions, the discovery was so resounding that an emissary from the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences traveled there as early as 1871 to make a record of it.