ArchaeoBlog

Rare Roman lantern found in UK farmer’s field

An intact Roman lantern made of bronze, believed by experts to be the only one of its kind in Britain, has been unearthed in a field by a metal-detecting enthusiast.

The unique artifact which dates from between the 1st and 3rd century AD was discovered by 21-year-old Danny Mills at a detecting rally near Sudbury, Suffolk.

Mills reported the find to local archaeologists and the landowner later donated it to the regional museum.

No photo, unfortunately.

Dry early summer turns 2010 into a vintage year for archaeology

Dry weeks in early summer have already made 2010 a vintage year for archaeology, English Heritage said yesterday. The conditions allowed hundreds of cropmark sites – created when crops grow at a different rate over buried features – to be seen from the air. A Roman camp near Bradford Abbas, Dorset, was found after three sides appeared in parched barley fields. The lightly built defensive enclosure would have provided basic protection for Roman soldiers while on manoeuvres in the first century AD and is one of only four discovered in the south west of England, English Heritage said.

The dry conditions also allowed well known sites to be photographed in greater detail. Newton Kyme, near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, was shown to be home not only to a 2,000-year-old Roman fort but also to a larger defence built in AD290. Stone walls up to three metres thick and a ditch 15 metres wide were revealed by an image taken from a Cessna light aircraft.

I’ve mentioned this before in connection with English Camp and the location of the shell midden being visible in the dry season:

‘Biggest canal ever built by Romans’ discovered

Scholars discovered the 100-yard-wide (90-metre-wide) canal at Portus, the ancient maritime port through which goods from all over the Empire were shipped to Rome for more than 400 years.

The archaeologists, from the universities of Cambridge and Southampton and the British School at Rome, believe the canal connected Portus, on the coast at the mouth of the Tiber, with the nearby river port of Ostia, two miles away.

It would have enabled cargo to be transferred from big ocean-going ships to smaller river vessels and taken up the River Tiber to the docks and warehouses of the imperial capital.

Roman villa found in Welsh ‘military zone’

Archaeologists have discovered a 4th Century villa near Aberystwyth, the first time they have found evidence of Roman occupation of North and mid Wales.

Findings indicate Abermagwr had all the trappings of villas found further south, including a slate roof and glazed windows.

The villa is likely to have belonged to a wealthy landowner, with pottery and coin finds on the site indicating occupation in the late 3rd and early 4th Centuries AD.

I was a bit confused at first, but apparently villas are rare this far north in wales, not actual Roman sites (such as military sites). So yes, important.

Reading archaeologists reveal the Egyptian God of Secrecy

Archaeologists from the University of Reading have made the exciting discovery of the earliest representation of any Egyptian deity in Roman Britain.

The find was made during last year’s excavation of Silchester Roman Town, which the University has been excavating and researching since 1997.

All the finds from 2009 have now been cleaned up and returned from the conservation team. Many fascinating artefacts were discovered but undoubtedly the find of last year was the bronze figurine of an Egyptian deity, Harpocrates.

Yes, the name threw me off, too.

‘Biggest canal ever built by Romans’ discovered

One of the biggest canals ever built by the Romans in an ancient port as important as Carthage or Alexandria has been discovered by British archaeologists.

Scholars discovered the 100-yard-wide (90-metre-wide) canal at Portus, the ancient maritime port through which goods from all over the Empire were shipped to Rome for more than 400 years.

The archaeologists, from the universities of Cambridge and Southampton and the British School at Rome, believe the canal connected Portus, on the coast at the mouth of the Tiber, with the nearby river port of Ostia, two miles away.

Roman cemetery found on Co-op development in Caistor

Archaeologists have found what is thought to be a 4th Century Roman cemetery on the site of a supermarket development in Caistor.

The discovery was made at the site of the derelict Talbot Inn, as builders moved in to build a new Co-op store.

Archaeologists found 46 sets of human remains, including whole skeletons.

Huge hoard of Roman coins found on Somerset farm

The largest single hoard of Roman coins ever found in Britain has been unearthed on a farm near Frome in Somerset.

A total of 52,500 bronze and silver coins dating from the 3rd century AD – including the largest ever found set of coins minted by the self proclaimed emperor Carausius, who lasted seven years before he was murdered by his finance minister – were found by Dave Crisp, a hobby metal detectorist from Devizes, Wiltshire.

Good for him, he realized what a huge find it was and called in the British Museum to excavate and conserve them. Amateur archaeology at its best. I wonder about the reason. It doesn’t say what the orientation of the pot was, whether on its side, right side up, whatever. Actually, my first thought that it might be an offering for travelers on the nearby road (they don’t say how far away the road is though). I dunno, I find it difficult to believe that much coinage wold simply be left as an offering.

Well, body: 2000-year-old human skeleton found at Gloucestershire Roman villa dig

A 2,000-YEAR-OLD human skeleton has been unearthed alongside Iron Age artefacts near Tewkesbury.

Archaeologists uncovered signs of the ancient Roman villa in a field on the edge of Bredon’s Norton. It is thought the finds could be of national importance.

Metal detector hunts in recent years had led historians to suspect an ancient community might be found there.

They don’t know whether it’s male or female. Saaaaay. . . . .

Archaeologists uncover ‘gladiator woman’ in Herefordshire dig

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a “massive muscular woman” who may have been a female gladiator during the Roman occupation of Britain.

The remains were buried in an elaborate wooden coffin with iron straps and copper strips.

Artist’s conception of what the female gladiator may have looked like:

UPDATE: Photo here.

UPDATE II: Link fixed.