Monday, July 26, 2010

Remains of Roman villa near Aberystwyth discovered

Archaeologists have discovered a 4th Century Roman villa near Aberystwyth.

It is the most north-westerly villa found in Wales and has forced experts to reconsider the whole nature of Roman settlement across mid and north Wales.

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

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Roman villa found in Welsh 'military zone'

The Roman control over Britain stretched even further than first thought, the discovery of a new villa suggests.

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.

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Saturday, July 24, 2010

Roman neighborhood ruins uncovered in Lyon, France

A photo-illustrated look at the origins of Lyon, which was founded in 43 BC during the Roman Empire. Recent excavation work has uncovered a residential area in what was the center of the city.

Situated in what was Gaul – France - and conquered by Julius Caesar between 58 and 53 BC, Lyon was born with the name Lugdunum, after the Gaulish word ‘dunum’ which meant ‘hill fort’, in 43 BC on the summit of the Fourvière heights. The Romans were not the first people to live here, though, as there is evidence of pre-Gallic community activity which goes back as far as the Neolithic era. Lugdunum’s first inhabitants were members of a group of Roman refugees who had been forced to leave Vienne, a town 30km south.

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Römischen Hafen entdeckt?

Bei Grabungen im Vorfeld der Überbauung Wydenpark in Studen im Kanton Bern stiess der Archäologische Dienst des Kantons Bern auf Reste massiver Holzkonstruktionen. Diese bekräftigen die Vermutung, dass am alten Aarelauf ein römischer Hafen gewesen sein könnte.

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Detectorist Dave praised for Roman hoard find

Devizes metal detectorist Dave Crisp, secretary of the Trowbridge Metal Detecting Club, has been publicly commended for his actions after he found one of the biggest ever hoards of Roman coins.

Mr Crisp, 63, from Waylands, Devizes, uncovered the huge hoard of coins in a field near Frome, Somerset, in April this year.

He told east Somerset coroner Tony Williams at an inquest in Frome today that he often searched the fields round there with the permission of the farmers.

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Haul of Roman coins dug up in field to earn finder a fortune

A metal detector enthusiast could share a £1m payout after finding one of Britain's largest ever collections of Roman coins in a farmer's field, it emerged today.

Dave Crisp, an NHS chef, was celebrating after a coroner ruled the find of 52,000 coins was treasure. It becomes the property of the crown and is bound to end up in a museum, but Crisp and the landowner will be rewarded once the hoard has been valued by an independent panel.

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Brian still in town looking for more Roman treasures

ARCHAEOLOGISTS are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the discovery of Roman remains in the centre of Dover.

In the summer of 1970, work was under way on the York Street bypass and a team of experts was drafted in from the Roman fort at Reculver for an eight-week rapid excavation of the site before the road was built.

As they dug they discovered a Roman fort and one of the best-preserved examples of ancient interior design, the famous Roman Painted House, which has been open to tourists for more than 30 years. The archaeologists assumed theirs would be only a brief visit to the town, but incredibly one of their number is still working at the site four decades later.

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Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Metal-detector enthusiast finds Roman coins

A metal-detector enthusiast who made one of the most important archaeological finds in Nottinghamshire has struck again.

Five years ago Maurice Richardson found the Iron Age Newark Torc. Now he's discovered a hoard of Roman coins.

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Sunday, July 18, 2010

Roman bones reveal brutal gladiator deaths

Gladiators in the arena based on the painting, Pollice Verso, by Jean-leon Gerome
One in three of the skeletons found had one arm at least 5cm longer than the other. This is consistent with the effect of one-sided work from an early age such as regular sword practice. The cleaned up bones on the left are from the skeleton on the right.

Six years ago archaeologists in York unearthed 80 skeletons. Of the 60 or so complete skeletons, many showed signs of a violent death. After years of research the York Archaeological Trust believes that they may have been gladiators.

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Discovery of Roman fort 'could rewrite history of Exeter'

A REMARKABLE Roman fort has been discovered by archaeologists in Exeter.

And the city's early history could soon be rewritten as a result of the extraordinary find on a development site off Topsham Road.

Although excavation of the site at the former St Loye's campus is in its early stages, the finds have already been described as extremely significant by leading city archaeologists.

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Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Archaeologists discover late-Roman cemetery at site of derelict pub

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have found what is thought to be a late-Roman cemetery in a county village.

So far, a total of 46 human remains have been excavated and archaeologists say they expect to have found more than 50 by the time they finish next week.

The discovery was made during a five-week dig taking place as part of the development of a derelict pub in Caistor, near Market Rasen.

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Monday, July 12, 2010

'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

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Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Study: Archimedes Set Roman Ships Afire with Cannons

Greek inventor Archimedes is said to have used mirrors to burn ships of an attacking Roman fleet. But new research suggests he may have used steam cannons and fiery cannonballs instead.

A legend begun in the Medieval Ages tells of how Archimedes used mirrors to concentrate sunlight as a defensive weapon during the siege of Syracuse, then a Greek colony on the island of Sicily, from 214 to 212 B.C. No contemporary Roman or Greek accounts tell of such a mirror device, however.

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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.

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Sunday, July 4, 2010

Roman Mystery Woman Discovered Near Hereford: Not a Female Gladiator

An unusual Roman burial has been uncovered at a site near Hereford. The female, buried in the first or second century AD, was unusually strong and is buried in a well made coffin.

Robin Jackson, senior project manager from Worcestershire council's Historic Environment and Archaeology Service, was excavating at the site. He said: “We've been working on the site for three months now and four burials have been found under a building. One of these is slightly unusual, in that it contains the remains of a woman who was very strongly built. She had obviously done hard physical work during her life, suggesting possibly a peasant labourer, but the anomaly is that she is buried in a slightly higher status coffin.”

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Roman Ships and Amphorae Found off Sardinia and Panarea

Roman ship-discovery season is in full flow, with several finds and explorations announced in the past week.

Yesterday Ansa ran a story about the discovery of a 25-metre merchant ship from the first century AD with its cargo of 500 amphorae containing fruit and vegetables still on board. The ship is said to be in perfect condition and was found south of Panarea, in the group of Aeolian/Lipari islands north of Sicily. The news agency reported that Italy's Maritime Superintendency and the Aurora Trust, an American foundation, were responsible for the find.


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The Gladiator Girl Found By Archaeologists

Archaeologists in Herefordshire have exposed the remnants of what could perhaps be a female gladiator. Amongst the verification of a Roman suburb in Credenhill, they have found the grave of a gigantic, muscular woman.

Toughened with iron straps and copper strips, she was found in an elaborate wooden coffin, which signified her importance.

Her remains were found in a squatted position, in what could be a hamlet of the close by Roman town of Kenchester.

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