Everything you wanted to know about Roman Britain – but were afraid to ask

In a recent podcast interview with Dr Miles Russell, we tackled the top questions about the four centuries of Roman rule in Britain…

How long were the Romans in Britain? How did they make their mark? And why did they leave? As part of our recent ‘Everything you need to know’ podcast series, we sat down with historian Dr Miles Russell to find out more about the popular historical period. Tackling questions submitted by our readers, and the top queries posed to the internet, Miles explored everything you ever wanted to know…

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Let the Dice Roll! 1,700 Year Old Board Game Found in Early Iron-Age Norwegian Burial Mound

Sensasjonelt funn i Alver. – Dette er statusgjenstander som vitner om kontakt med Romerriket, sier arkeolog.

Board games of this kind indicate broad contacts with the Roman Empire, researchers say.

Game chips and dice have been found in an early Iron Age tomb in northern Hordland in Norway.

The discovery dates from the early Iron Age (circa 300 AD) in a burial mound at Ytre Fosse near Alversund in the municipality of Alver in connection with plot development. A total of 13 whole and five broken game chips were unearthed, complete with a die.

The place is close to the narrow strait Alverstraumen, which was a central point on the maritime way between the north and south, the so-called “Nordvegen”, or “North Way”, which gave Norway its name.

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Roman Temple of Mithras – London Mithraeum

The London Mithraeum is a Roman Temple of Mithras discovered in 1954 in Walbrook, London, and is one of the most famous 20th-century Roman discoveries in London.

The temple was built in the mid-3rd century and dedicated to Mithras and several other deities popular among Roman soldiers. Much later, it was rededicated to Bacchus in the early fourth century.

Finely detailed third-century white marble likenesses of Minerva, Mercury, Mithras, and Serapis were found during the excavations. Some appear to have been carefully buried within the temple at the time of its rededication.

The quality marble sculptures were imported from other parts of the Roman Empire. There are also several coarser locally-made clay figurines of Venus, combing her hair. These artifacts are on display in the Museum of London.

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2,000-year-old Roman sewn boat discovered under Poreč waterfront

(Photo: Grad Poreč)

Istrian archaeologists have excavated an ancient wooden boat dating back two thousand years from under the Poreč waterfront.

The archaeological finding, the biggest in the last 30 years, is significant because the boat is well preserved and has many elements that are very rarely seen.

The results of the research were presented on Monday by the director of the National Museum of Poreč Elena Uljančić, archaeologist Klaudia Bartolić Sirotić, the staff of the Local Museum, historian Gaetano Benčić, archeologists Davor Munda, Aleksandra Pajić and Marko Uhač from the Conservation Department of Pula and Mayor Loris Peršurić.

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Deformed 'alien' skulls offer clues about life during the Roman Empire’s collapse

Artificially deformed skull of an adult woman. Permanent binding during childhood caused the elongation of the braincase and depressions in the bone.

(Image: © Balázs G. Mende. Research Centre for the Humanities, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary)

Over decades, dozens of artificially deformed "alien-like" skulls that are more than 1,000 years old have been unearthed in a cemetery in Hungary. Now, these skulls are revealing how the collapse of the Roman Empire unleashed social changes in the region. 

During the fifth century A.D., people in central Europe practiced skull binding, a practice that dramatically elongates head shapes. These altered skulls were so drastically deformed that some have compared them to the heads of sci-fi aliens. The fifth century was also a time of political unrest, as the Roman Empire collapsed and people in Asia and eastern Europe were displaced by invading Huns, a nomadic Asian group. 

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Drone video shows new excavations at Pompeii

Photography often takes us places we can’t go ourselves. And drone photography takes us even farther than most cameras can. So are we able to get this amazing drone video surveying new excavations in the ancient city of Pompeii.

The drone video provides a wide overview of Regio V of Pompeii, the latest part of the city to be unearthed, over the past two years. It starts off with sweeping vistas over the entire neighborhood. Then it dives down to navigate the ruins of two unique houses, getting close enough that you can see the tiles in floor mosaics.

The archeologists prepared a stunning video tour, narrated in Italian. But English subtitles make the story clear. The tour focuses on the street Vicolo dei Balconi, with houses on either side.

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The British Museum is displaying 4 million items from its collection online

Photograph: The Lewis Chessmen. © The Trustees of the British Museum

Got some browsing time on your hands? Load up the British Museum’s website. Yesterday the museum decided to do an earlier-than-planned unveil of its revamped online collection. It’s now the biggest database of any museum in the world, with more than 4 million objects to click through. 

The collection features the museum’s most famous artefacts, like the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Sculptures, along with every item the institution holds from Ancient Egypt. 

But there are some new additions too – including 280,000 new object photographs that are being published for the first time. Among them are images of 73 portraits by Damien Hirst and a watercolour by the Pre-Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rossetti that until recently had been thought lost. You can also look for works by Kara Walker, William Hogarth and Rembrandt in a digital archive of 75,000 art prints. If you’re more into coins, they have about 50,000 of those – medieval, Tudor, the works. Fill your boots. 

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OSTRICH EGG VESSEL, SILVER THRACIAN HORSEMAN FOUND IN ROMAN ERA BURIAL MOUND NEAR BULGARIA’S LYASKOVETS

The extremely intriguing artifacts discovered in the Thracian Roman-Era burial mound near Bulgaria’s Lyaskovets, including the ostrich egg vessel, the silver, gold-plated Thracian fibula, and the ceramic vessel decorated with a human face mask. 

Photo: Veliko Tarnovo Regional Museum of History

A wide range of highly intriguing artifacts such as an ostrich egg turned into a vessel and a gold-plated silver fibula featuring the Thracian Horseman deity have been discovered in rescue excavations of a Thracian burial mound from the Roman Era near Bulgaria’s Lyaskovets.

The burial mound in question is located near the St. Peter and St. Paul Monastery, Lyaskovets Municipality, Veliko Tarnovo District, in Central North Bulgaria.

It was 50 meters in diameter and 1 meter tall, and dates back to the 2nd – 3rd century AD.

All of Ancient Thrace south of the Danube was conquered by the Roman Empire in 46 AD, with the Thracian aristocracy and population becoming well integrated in Roman life.

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Site of battle fought between Carthaginians and Carparthians in 220 BC discovered in Spain

Illustration of a Second Punic War: the Roman general and statesman Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus meets the Carthaginian leader Hannibal (bearded, on left) before defeating him at the Battle of Zama

[Credit: Getty Images]

The year was 220 B.C. and the young Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca had to return to his winter quarters in Qart Hadasht – now Cartagena in southeast Spain – after taking Helmatica – now Salamanca in the northwest of the country – from the Vettones tribe. It was spring or summer, and the 27-year-old and his troops had to overcome two obstacles to get to their destination: firstly, the wide rivers and high mountains that were difficult for their 40 elephants to cross; the secondly, the hostile local Carpetani, Vettone and Olcade tribes, who sought revenge for the destruction of their crops and cities.

With just 25,000 soldiers, Hannibal managed to defeat 100,000 enemies. Nobody knows where exactly this battle took place, only that it happened somewhere along the banks of the Tagus River, which stretches 1,007 kilometers from the province of Teruel in Spain to Lisbon in Portugal.

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If the Ancient Romans Could Recycle, Then So Can You

A wide shot of the Pompeii archaeological site in Italy.

Photo: Giorgio Cosulich (Getty Images)

A team of researchers at Pompeii recently discovered evidence that Romans were avid recyclers, according to a weekend Guardian report. It figures that the same society that brought us urban planning, indoor heating, and concrete was also ahead of its time with going green too.

Preserved piles of trash, some several meters high, found outside the city walls are believed to have been “staging grounds for cycles of use and reuse,” according to professor Allison Emmerson, an American academic with the University of Cincinnati’s excavation team. While researchers had previously discovered similar garbage heaps around Pompeii, the prevailing theory was that they were created by an earthquake that hit the city nearly two decades before the infamous Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD buried it in volcanic ash.

In fact, many had already been cleared away in the mid-20th century, the Guardian reported. But upon examining a few newly discovered trash heaps, Emmerson and her fellow archaeologists Steven Ellis and Kevin Dicus were able to trace the journey of these bits of plaster, ceramic, and other refuse.

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Pompeii ruins show that the Romans invented recycling

A reproduction of the market square, from The Houses and Monuments of Pompeii, 

by Fausto and Felice Niccolini, 1854-96. 

Photograph: DEA/G Dagli Orti/De Agostini via Getty

Excavations reveal that rubbish left outside the city walls wasn’t just dumped. It was being collected, sorted and resold

They were expert engineers, way ahead of the curve on underfloor heating, aqueducts and the use of concrete as a building material. Now it turns out that the Romans were also masters at recycling their rubbish.

Researchers at Pompeii, the city buried under a thick carpet of volcanic ash when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, have found that huge mounds of refuse apparently dumped outside the city walls were in fact “staging grounds for cycles of use and reuse”.


Professor Allison Emmerson, an American academic who is part of a large team working at Pompeii, said rubbish was piled up along almost the entire external wall on the city’s northern side, among other sites. Some of the mounds were several metres high and included bits of ceramic and plaster, which could be repurposed as construction materials.

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Museums are showcasing their creepiest objects, and this is how nightmares are made

We're kicking things off with this 3rd/4th century hair bun from the burial of a #Roman lady, still with the jet pins in place...

Museums are having a moment right now. Despite the doors being locked, they’ve managed to use the power of the Internet in fun and creative ways to still engage with art lovers around the world.

Some are providing virtual tours you can take from the comfort of your couch. And now, museums are making headlines once again – this time for challenging each other.

The only difference? You might not be able to sleep afterwards.
It all started on April 17 when the Yorkshire Museum in England took to Twitter.

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Siege Weapons

(Ivo Van der Graaff, Hay Castle Trust)Top: City wall, Pompeii, Italy; 

Above: Medieval catapult stone, Hay-on-Wye, Wales

Some time around 89 B.C.—the exact year is debated—Roman forces led by the general Lucius Cornelius Sulla laid siege to the city of Pompeii, likely in response to its residents’ agitation for full Roman citizenship. The walls on the city’s north side, where fortifications were particularly weak, still bear the impact marks of projectiles fired by the attacking Romans. In a number of areas inside the city walls, archaeologists have found catapult balls, small lead slingshot bullets, and machine-launched arrows known as scorpio bolts, all fired during the siege. “I don’t think anyone at the time was under any illusions that sustained bombardment would actually bring down the walls,” says archaeologist Ivo Van der Graaff of the University of New Hampshire. “It looks like one of the Romans’ tactics was to just fire munitions into the city to cause damage and, perhaps, lower morale.”

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Archaeology breakthrough: 2,000-year-old find changing history of Roman Empire revealed

Five graves are shining light on the Roman Empire (Image: GETTY)

ARCHAEOLOGISTS were stunned by the discovery of five skeletons in Dorset, which is helping shed light on the Roman Empire's stronghold over Britain at the end of the Iron Age and its decline before the Dark Ages.

The Durotriges were one of the Celtic tribes living in Britain, prior to the Roman invasion in 43AD, who resided in modern Dorset, south Wiltshire, south Somerset and Devon. Dr Mike Russell is a senior lecturer in prehistoric and Roman history at Bournemouth University, who is co-director of a project looking into the transition from the Iron Age to the Roman period. In 2015, his team of archaeologists discovered five skeletons at Winterborne Kingston, which gave an incredible insight into life expectancy, religious views and diseases at the time.

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Probable Roman shipwrecks unearthed at a Serbian coal mine

Thanks to the pandemic, radiocarbon dating and further excavations are on hold.

Coal miners in Serbia recently dug up an unexpected surprise: three probable Roman-era ships, buried in the mud of an ancient riverbed for at least 1,300 years. The largest is a flat-bottomed river vessel 15 meters (49 feet) long, which seems to have been built with Roman techniques. Two smaller boats, each carved out from a single tree trunk, match ancient descriptions of dugout boats used by Slavic groups to row across the Danube River and attack the Roman frontier.

The Kostolac surface mine lies near the ancient Roman city of Viminacium, once a provincial capital and the base for a squadron of Roman warships on the Danube River. When the Roman Empire ruled most of Southern Europe, the Danube or one of its larger branches flowed across the land now occupied by the mine. The three ships lay atop a 15-meter- (49-foot-) deep layer of gravel, buried under seven meters (23 feet) of silt and clay, which preserved them for centuries in remarkably good condition—or did until the miners' earthmoving equipment dug into the steep slope to excavate for the mine.

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Leap of faith: ancient Britons viewed hares and chickens as gods

The brown hare was considered too special to eat, as were chickens. 

Photograph: Chris Upson/Getty Images/Flickr RF

Iron age research reveals modern Easter festivals not first to celebrate chicks and bunnies

Brown hares and chickens were revered as gods rather than reared for food when they were first introduced to Britain in the iron age, archaeological analysis suggests.

In research that shows modern-day Easter festivals were not the first to celebrate chicks and bunnies, a team of experts from the universities of Exeter, Leicester and Oxford have found evidence that the animals were buried with care and intact in the period that preceded the Roman invasion of Britain.

Historical evidence suggests Britons of the period associated the animals with deities and considered them too special to eat. Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Julius Caesar’s firsthand account of the Gallic wars, says “the Britons consider it contrary to divine law to eat the hare, the chicken or the goose. They raise these, however, for their own amusement or pleasure.”

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Fourth Style Frescos of the Casa del Principe di Napoli, Regio VI, 7,8 in Pompeii.

I am working on the illustrations for my translation of Houses in Pompeii, Volume 1, Casa del Principe di Napoli and have also uploaded the color photographs of its Fourth Style frescos from the book to Wikimedia Commons so they can be used for teaching and research independent of the embedded images in the book. (Under U.S. law these images are in the public domain because the original artist has been deceased for more than 70 years.)

Roman wall paintings in Pompeii are divided into four periods that were originally delineated and described by the German archaeologist August Mau, 1840–1909. These periods are usually referred to as First, Second, Third, and Fourth but are also known as Incrustation, architectural, ornamental, and intricate. Wall paintings were not only used for decoration, as Roman interiors often had no windows, but were used as a guide to function and social orientation for invited guests as well as the public at the morning salutatio. They also reflected the social status of the household.

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Archaeology project unearths rare Roman artefacts in Long Melford

Anne Grimshaw, Valerie Wiseman from Long Melford Heritage Centre with pottery expert Alice Lyons. (32370855)

On first inspection, members of Long Melford Heritage Centre had identified the object as a whistle or knife handle due to its distinctive shape.

More than 2,500 fragments of pottery dating back to the Roman and Iron Age were also discovered during the excavation.

Pottery expert Alice Lyons, who inspected the objects, said: “It was most unusual to have a secure, complete stratification sequence, proving occupation from the Iron Age through to the end of the Roman period.”

A large quantity of sheep and cattle bones containing butchery markings were also unearthed, an indication to the meat processing trade that took place in the village.

Other items of pottery were identified as imported pieces from Europe, including Spain, France and Germany.

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Alternate history: what if Boudica had defeated the Romans?

Each month BBC History Revealed asks a historical expert for their take on what might have happened if a key moment in the past had turned out differently. This time, Jonny Wilkes asks Miles Russell what if… Boudica had defeated the Romans?

There came a moment when Iceni queen Boudica had good reason to believe her uprising would end in victory over the Romans. Beginning with her warriors and an alliance with a rival tribe, the Trinovantes, her horde of bloodthirsty Britons had kept growing as more joined her march through southern England in AD 60 from one success to the next. As well as ambushing and obliterating the Roman 9th Legion, she had burned Camulodunum (Colchester), Londinium (London) and Verulamium (St Albans) to the ground.

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Virtual Visits to Sites and Museums

Self-isolating and bored?

You can find a list of Virtual Visits to Sites and Museums at:

http://emas-archaeology.org/useful-websites/virtual-visits-to-sites-and-museums/

to help you pass the time.

Defiant British Museum appoints Mary Beard as trustee

Professor Mary Beard, who has been appointed as a trustee of the British Museum. 

Photograph: Michael Bowles/Rex/Shutterstock

Board approves the ‘perfect candidate’ after she was rejected by No 10 for her pro-European views.

Renowned classicist Mary Beard has been chosen as a trustee of the British Museum, despite Downing Street blocking her nomination last year because of her pro-European views.

Under the museum’s constitution, its board can pick five of the 25 trustees. Downing Street approves most of the others and after it rejected Beard, the board appointed her itself.

The Cambridge don, who will take up the role for an initial period of four years on Monday, said she was delighted. “It was a visit to the BM which first inspired me to work on the ancient world,” she told the Observer. “I have been a huge beneficiary of this and other museums in the country over the past 60 years, and am now delighted to be able to give something back.”

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Man Fearing Coronavirus Apocalypse Returns Stolen Ballista

The COVID-19 or coronavirus outbreak has shaken many around the world. In Israel, a man with a guilty conscience, who fears the virus could result in the end of the world, gave back a Roman catapult stone he stole many years ago. This ballista stone was probably fired during the Siege of Jerusalem , some 2000 years ago.

Small numbers of people have begun to worry about an apocalypse, those with a guilty conscience want to put things right before the end of the world. According to HAARETZ “some people are stirred by the notion of impending doom to return antiquities they stole years or even decades ago.”

Mysterious Culprit Sees Sense
The identity of the culprit is unknown. He used an intermediary Moshe Manies to return the item because he was too shamefaced or frankly scared of facing any punishment. The stolen item was returned to the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) by Mr. Manies.

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Rare Roman coin minted in London among record number of treasure discoveries

Roman relic: The coin is one of a record number of treasures

A rare Roman coin minted in London thousands of years ago is among record amounts of treasure declared today.

The bronze coin is thought to be one of the last made during the reign of the British rebel emperor Carausius whose brief reign from AD 286–293 saw Roman Britain break away from the wider empire in continental Europe.

Found in Hampshire, it has been donated to the British Museum which today revealed the number of treasure discoveries — which covers gold and silver more than 300 years old and other ancient objects — has hit a record level again.

According to its annual report there were 1,311 finds across England, Wales and Northern Ireland last year. 

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British Museum says metal detectorists found 1,311 treasures last year

A Roman Britain coin, known as a radiate, found in Headbourne Worthy in Hampshire. 

Photograph: British Museum

An astonishingly well-preserved medieval brooch featuring what could be dragon and dog decorations is among a record number of objects discovered last year by the nation’s army of metal detectorists.

The British Museum on Tuesday announced that 1,311 finds which are defined as treasure had been found by members of the public across England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2019.

They also included an iron age drinking set, a solid gold bronze age arm ring and a coin which helps tell the story of Carausius, a usurper emperor who in 286AD broke Britain away from Europe, in an adventure which ended badly.

Michael Lewis, the head of the British Museum’s portable antiquities scheme, said the 1,100-year-old brooch discovered in Norfolk was a particularly striking and rare discovery.

“It is an amazing example of Anglo-Saxon art of the period,” he said. “When the finder found it the reaction was, is this old? It could be something more modern which was inspired by the past. Your gut reaction might be that it was Victorian.”

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Historic Welsh sites to be protected by vandalism patrols

Archaeologist Tomos Jones says pieces of Preseli bluestone have been put up for sale online

Plans to tackle heritage crime have been extended to protect historic sites across Wales.

Archaeologists, national park officials and Dyfed-Powys Police officers have held a meeting to discuss growing concerns about vandalism.

At the conference in Llandrindod Wells, Powys, areas at risk of damage were outlined and training was given on how to best protect remote monuments.

Police, Cadw wardens and park rangers will regularly patrol sites.

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L’AGGLOMÉRATION ANTIQUE ET MÉDIÉVALE DE MOUGON À CROUZILLES (INDRE-ET-LOIRE)

À Mougon, en Indre-et-Loire, les archéologues de l’Inrap viennent de fouiller un site exceptionnel où se superposent des ateliers artisanaux, des habitations et un ensemble sépulcral sur une période qui s’étend du Haut-Empire au début du Moyen Âge.

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Unearthed 2,000-year-old Roman dagger restored to its former glory

After the restoration, it's difficult to guess the dagger's real age — about 2,000 years old! 

(Photo: LWL / Eugen Müsch)

Less than a year after it was recovered from an archeological site in Germany looking like little more than a rusty lump, an ornate 13-inch Roman dagger has been returned to its former glory.

The spectacular weapon and its accompanying belt, which lay buried for an estimated 2,000 years, was discovered in a trench in the Roman burial ground of Haltern am See. The region, once the site of a massive military camp, bore witness to several devastating battles between the Romans and Germanic tribes.

"This combination of a completely preserved blade, sheath and belt, together with the important information about precisely where they were found, is without parallel," Michael Rind, director of archaeology at the Westphalia-Lippe Landscape Association (LWL), told the Times.

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Experts amazed after 'incredibly rare' Roman artifact found in Lincolnshire field

The incredibly rare artifact was found in a field (Image: Lincolnshire County Council)

A metal detectorist has amazed experts after finding an incredibly rare Roman artifact in a Lincolnshire field.

Jason Price, from Grantham, was searching in a field near Leasingham when he unearthed a colourful horse brooch.

The 48-year-old, who is an armed forces veteran, was left gobsmacked by the find, which one local expert says has rewritten the understandings of Roman brooches.

The brooch, which is only the second of its kind to be found in the UK, was unearthed when Jason was on  a 'Detecting for Veterans' weekend, and is set to go on display later this year.

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Richborough Roman amphitheatre dig: 'Once in lifetime' opportunity

All that remains above the ground is a mound of earth which is evidence of the ampitheatre

ENGLISH HERITAGE / PA

An amphitheatre under the ground at one of England's most important Roman sites is to be excavated by archaeologists.

Wild animal hunts, executions and gladiatorial combat are believed to have taken place in the arena at Richborough, Kent.

To the naked eye it appears as a mound in a field.

English Heritage senior properties historian Paul Pattison said the dig was a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to "unlock the story".

The charity hopes to discover when it was built, what it looked like, more about how it was used and what happened when the Romans abandoned it.

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DERNIÈRES DÉCOUVERTES ARCHÉOLOGIQUES AUX ARÈNES DE NÎMES

Une équipe de l'Inrap a fouillé la salle cruciforme située sous la piste des arènes de Nîmes. Les archéologues y ont découvert de multiples traces d'aménagements techniques servant à l'organisation des jeux, dont une probable fosse de machinerie, peut-être antérieure à l'amphithéâtre dans son état actuel.

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DES THERMES ET UNE « SALLE DE SPORTS » À BEUTIN (PAS-DE-CALAIS)

Un édifice thermal à circuits balnéaires distincts, dont l’un semble avoir été dédié à des activités sportives, a été mis au jour en 2013 par les archéologues de l’Inrap à Beutin (Pas-de-Calais). Une publication de David Labarre (Inrap) dans la revue Gallia dresse le bilan de cette découverte unique dans le nord de la Gaule.

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Walberton’s ‘warrior’ burial

Archaeologists from ASE excavating the ‘warrior’ burial. 

[Image: Archaeology South East / UCL]

The grave of a late Iron Age or early Roman ‘warrior’, who had been laid to rest with a sword and spear, has been discovered in Walberton, West Sussex.

The burial was found by Archaeology South East (ASE), the commercial branch of UCL’s Institute of Archaeology, during investigations ahead of the construction of a new housing development. The rectangular grave cut, which measured 2.8m by 1.2m, was initially interpreted as a large pit, but lead archaeologist Teresa Viera soon realised that the team had uncovered something much more exciting.

While the local soil conditions meant that no human remains had survived, traces of a wooden ‘container’ (2m by 0.8m) on which the body may have been lowered into the ground could still be seen, as well as an impressive iron sword, an iron spearhead, and four ceramic vessels.

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Roman road found under Guildhall during redevelopment

The remains of a Roman road, found under the Guildhall

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered a previously unknown Roman road under the Guildhall as work continues to restore and redevelop the buildings.

Currency and 'an abundance of Roman pottery' have also been found at the riverside site by York Archaeological Trust (YAT).

City of York Council said the trust had been working on its behalf for the past six months to monitor and record features exposed through ongoing redevelopment and restoration work by VINCI Construction UK.

"The excavation of new foundation trenches recently revealed an area of cobbled surface dated to the Roman period," they said. "Buried over 1.5m below modern street level, the surface contained an abundance of Roman pottery and a silver coin.

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Downing Street 'blocks' appointment of Mary Beard as British Museum trustee due to 'pro-European views'

Image: GETTY

Britain’s best-known classicist Mary Beard is pretty much a national treasure. So you’d think she’d be e​asily acce​pte​d onto the board of the country’s most prestigious historical institution, right?

Well, in normal times, you’d be correct. But sadly we’re in 2020 and everything is awful. The Observer reports that Beard was rejected by Downing Street as a trustee of the British Museum. Whitehall sources said the decision last year to turn her down had been made because of her pro-European views, which she isn’t at all shy about on social media.

In response to the bizarre snub, the museum is reportedly planning to appoint Beard anyway, seeing as its constitution allows it to choose five out of its 25 trustees for itself, without any approval from Downing Street.

Sir John Tusa, a former trustee of the museum, told the Observer that the veto was an “absolute scandal”.

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Vindolanda Fort: Eco excavation HQ costing £300K to open

The new centre is being named after archaeologist Sir Robin Birley

VINDOLANDA TRUST

A £300,000, all-year-round archaeological dig HQ is to be unveiled at a Roman fort in Northumberland.

To mark the 50th birthday of the Vindolanda Trust it commissioned the centre to be based at the Hexham Fort, near Hadrian's Wall.

To blend in with its surroundings its vaulted roof has been designed to mimic that of Roman Bath House roof.

The structure is being transported to the site in early March and will be unveiled on 1 April.

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Romulus mystery: Experts divided on 'tomb of Rome's founding father'

An ancient tomb that has been linked to Rome's legendary founder, Romulus

GETTY IMAGES

A sarcophagus discovered in the remains of an ancient temple in Rome is causing a stir among historians who cannot agree if it belongs to the Italian city's legendary founder, Romulus.

The stone tomb, along with circular altar, dates from the 6th Century BC.

According to legend, Romulus founded the city on Palatine Hill in 753 BC after killing his twin brother Remus.

But experts are divided over whether the empty tomb can be linked to Romulus - or if the brothers even existed.

The discovery was unveiled by Italian archaeologists at the Roman Forum on Friday.

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Pompeii's House of Lovers reopens to public after 40 years

Restoration specialists working inside the House of Lovers in Pompeii, which has reopened to the public. Photograph: Cesare Abbate/EPA

One of Pompeii’s most celebrated buildings, the House of Lovers, will reopen to the public on Tuesday, 40 years after it was severely damaged in an earthquake.

The domus, considered to be among the jewels of the ancient city that was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79, was discovered in 1933 with its second floor and decorations almost completely preserved.

The building was closed for repair following the Irpinia earthquake in 1980, which killed almost 3,000 people.

The restoration was completed as part of the EU-funded Great Pompeii Project, which since 2012 has allowed the archaeological park to undertake wide-ranging restoration works and carry out new excavations.

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Pompeii restoration unearths ‘surprise’ treasures

The painstaking Pompeii restoration saw an army of workers reinforce walls, repair collapsing structures and excavate untouched areas

© PRESS OFFICE OF THE POMPEII ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK/AFP Handout

Vivid frescoes and never-before-seen inscriptions were among the treasures unearthed in a massive years-long restoration of the world-famous archeological site Pompeii that came to a close Tuesday.
The painstaking project saw an army of workers reinforce walls, repair collapsing structures and excavate untouched areas of the sprawling site, Italy‘s second most visited tourist destination after Rome’s Colosseum.

New discoveries were made too, in areas of the ruins not yet explored by modern-day archaeologists at the site — frequently pillaged for jewels and artefacts over the centuries.

“When you excavate in Pompeii there are always surprises,” the site’s general director Massimo Osanna told reporters Tuesday.

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2000-year-old Roman soldier's silver dagger is restored to its incredible pristine glory after teenage work experience archaeologist unearthed it in Germany

An elaborate silver Roman dagger has been painstakingly restored to its original glory after it was unearthed by a teenager on work experience in Germany

An elaborate silver Roman dagger has been painstakingly restored to its original glory after it was unearthed by a teenager on work experience in Germany.

Nico Calman, 19, found the fascinating weapon - believed to be the most remarkable artefact of its kind to have been discovered - at a burial ground in Haltern am See, near Münster. 

It is so well preserved that red enamel and glass, as well as silver and brass handles decorated with ornate patterns of foliage and leaves survived for 2,000 years.

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Hypogeum with sarcophagus from 6th cent. BC found in Roman Forum

Credit: Parcocolosseo

A hypogeum or underground temple and tomb structure with a tufa sarcophagus linked with what looks like an altar has been discovered in the Roman Forum, the Colosseum Archaeological Park director Alfonsina Russo said Monday.

The space is believed to be part of a votive area called a Heroon devoted to the founder of Rome, Romulus, she said.

The sarcophagus, made out of the same tufa rock that built the Capitol, is around 1.40 metres long and is believed to date back to the sixth century BC, she said.

The find was made next to the Curia-Comitium complex, a few metres away from the famed Lapis Niger, which Romans thought had brought bad luck because it was linked to the death of Romulus, Russo said.

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Human remains unearthed at site of early Roman military base in Kent

One of the skeletons found at Aylesham [Credit: SWAT via KentOnline]

Two skeletons dating back to the Bronze and Iron Age have been unearthed by archaeologists working on a building site.

The remains were discovered at the Aylesham Garden Village development near Canterbury and are now being examined by experts at the University of Kent to precisely date them and understand why they were buried there.

They are among the latest archaeological finds at the site, with smaller items of pottery and glass, dating from the Roman occupation of 2,000 years ago, also discovered.

The dig is being undertaken for developers Barratt Homes and Persimmon Homes by a team from the Faversham-based Swale and Thames Archaeology (SWAT).

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Roman snake ring found in Buckinghamshire declared treasure

The Roman ring would have been circular with the snakes' heads touching,
but it has been bent out of shape

COLCHESTER AND IPSWICH MUSEUM SERVICE

A Roman ring might have been made by the same jeweller behind a famous hoard and would have belonged to "someone with access to a fair amount of money".

The silver ring, featuring two snake heads, was found in Buckinghamshire by a detectorist from Essex.

Items with the same "distinctive cobra heads with a kind of frill" were part of the Snettisham Jeweller's Hoard, found in Norfolk in 1985.

Essex finds officer Sophie Flynn, said it was a "pretty exciting" discovery.

The Snettisham hoard, thought to be from the stock of a single jeweller, was buried in a pot in about AD155 and rediscovered during building work.

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2,000-year-old burial of Germanic 'dignitary' discovered in south-eastern Moravia

The grave of a local lord of Germanic origin

[Credit: Archeologicky ustav AV CR]

For two millennia, he had been resting untouched in the earth, in the hollow of what had been his tomb, untouched since his burial. It took only an earthmover and an attentive worker whose gaze was caught by the presence of a shiny object in the overturned earth to uncover the grave of a high Germanic dignitary dating back to the second half of the 1st century AD at Uhersky Brod (south-eastern Moravia), near the Slovak border. This is a particularly rare find according to the archaeologists in charge of the site, and should tell them more about this region at the foot of the White Carpathians, about 200 kilometres from the Roman limes.

"This discovery must be placed in its historical context. Dating places it back to Roman times, but it should be remembered that at that time the Czech and Moravian territories, i.e. the territory of the present-day Czech Republic, were located in an area called the Barbaricum, i.e. beyond the Roman Empire's limes."

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Durham archaeological dig reveals 'earliest resident'

The bone fragments belonged to an adult, but it was impossible to determine the sex

DURHAM UNIVERSITY

Remains found during a dig in Durham have revealed what is believed to be the city's earliest known resident.

Archaeologists from the university unearthed the bone fragments while excavating a city centre site where student accommodation was being built.

Radiocarbon dating has now shown they date to between 90BC and AD60.

Described as "very significant", the bones add to a growing body of evidence there were settlers in the area in the Iron Age and Romano-British periods.

Most of the identifiable bone, found in a site off Claypath, came from a skull, with parts of a radius and tibia also recovered.

Experts were able to establish they belonged to an adult who had been cremated, but could not determine their age or sex.

As well as evidence of the Iron Age cremation, archaeologists found items from medieval rubbish pits and 18th Century street-front buildings.

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