Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

romanbritain.bsky.social @romanbritain.bsky.social · 1d

#TombTuesday

Archaeologists discover rare liquid gypsum burial of 'high-status individual' from #RomanBritain.

The newfound stone coffin that had gypsum poured over it in #Roman times in what is now England. (See Alt )

#History

(Image credit: Courtesy of Headland Archaeology)

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/archaeologists-discover-rare-liquid-gypsum-burial-of-high-status-individual-from-roman-britain

This practice is known from Roman times, but archaeologists still don't fully understand it. The mineral was made into a cement or plaster and then poured over the deceased person to make a hard cast. This process sometimes preserved organic remnants such as clothing or a burial shroud. The gypsum from the newfound burial is fragmentary, but it retains impressions of the individual's shroud and preserved a small piece of fabric.

This type of burial is largely known from Roman urban centers — such as York in England, which has 45 documented gypsum burials — but it's rare to find them in rural regions, as this one was. In this case, "we do believe this would have been an expensive endeavour and is therefore indicative of a high-status individual," said Jessica Lowther, community archaeologist for Headland Archaeology, the company that did the excavation.

3 14

Reposted

Dr Simon Elliott FSA @simonelliott20.bsky.social · 4d

Severus marches o0n! To Carlisle!!!

1 3

Reposted

Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 4d

Pot of gold!

Rare Roman gold coin hoard uncovered near Didcot, Oxfordshire, by a metal detectorist in 1995. The pot contained 126 gold aurei, struck between AD 54-160. It would have taken a legionary soldier over ten years to earn this large sum!

Ashmolean Museum 📷 by me

#FindsFriday
#Archaeology

My photo shows a pile of shiny Roman gold coins below five fragments from a grey pot

7 61 350

romanbritain.bsky.social @romanbritain.bsky.social · 4d

Hoard of 160 gold aureus coins in a bronze jug, with two bronze #coins in the neck of the jug to disguise the worth of contents. Discovered below the floor of a #Roman house in Corbridge, Northumberland in 1911. Circa AD 160. British Museum.

#FindsFriday #RomanBritain

6 31

Reposted

romanbritain.bsky.social @romanbritain.bsky.social · 18d

Metchley Fort was a #Roman fort in what is now #Birmingham.

It lies on the course of a Roman road, Icknield Street, and the University Birmingham in Edgbaston.

The fort was constructed soon after the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43.

#RomanBritain #History

1 4 19

romanbritain.bsky.social @romanbritain.bsky.social · 12d

#RomanFortThursday

The vexillation fort at Clyro is a large site, covering roughly 26 acres. It was established around A.D. 60 as part of #Roman attempts to subdue the #Silures tribe of mid #Wales

📸C.R. Musson, 19/10/1992.

#RomanBritain #History #Archaeology

7 50

romanbritain.bsky.social @romanbritain.bsky.social · 18d

Metchley Fort was a #Roman fort in what is now #Birmingham.

It lies on the course of a Roman road, Icknield Street, and the University Birmingham in Edgbaston.

The fort was constructed soon after the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43.

#RomanBritain #History

1 4 19

Reposted

rogueclassicist ~ david meadows @rogueclassicist.bsky.social · 22d

Roman villa with swimming pool marked out in Hemel Hempstead - BBC News
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Roman villa with swimming pool marked out in Hemel Hempstead - BBC News

An expert says the Roman villa has "the second largest swimming pool in England".

www.bbc.com

7 25

romanbritain.bsky.social @romanbritain.bsky.social · 22d

www.bbc.com/news/article...

#RomanBritain #Archaeology

Roman villa with swimming pool marked out in Hemel Hempstead - BBC News

An expert says the Roman villa has "the second largest swimming pool in England".

www.bbc.com

1 7 22

romanbritain.bsky.social @romanbritain.bsky.social · 23d

#MosaicMonday one of the four seasons depicted in the mosaic found at Caerwent, #Newport.

#RomanBritain

1 8

Reposted

Jon Hawke @archaeohawke.bsky.social · 24d

#Silchester #amphitheatre looking through one of the entrances. A stone revetment wall contained the seating banks which were probably fitted with wooden seats. The visible remains belong to the early 3rdC AD but at least 2 predecessors lie underneath. #RomanBritain #Archaeology
#RomanSiteSaturday

2 14 68

Reposted

New Scientist @newscientist.com · 25d

Britain's economy thrived after the withdrawal of the Roman Empire. We had thought industries collapsed when the Romans left Britain, but archaeological evidence tells a different story.

Britain's economy thrived after the withdrawal of the Roman Empire

www.newscientist.com

4 14

Reposted

Archaeology Magazine @archaeologymag.bsky.social · 28d

Scholars long assumed that when Roman rule over Britain collapsed around A.D. 400, the island's economy tanked. But new analysis at an ancient metal processing site in Yorkshire suggests: maybe not.

archaeology.org/news/2025/09/15/britains-economy-remained-surprisingly-robust-after-roman-collapse/

Britain's Economy Remained Surprisingly Robust After Roman Collapse

archaeology.org

9 18

Reposted

Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 24d

The amazing Roman pharos (lighthouse) at Dover, still standing after almost 2,000 years! 🤩

The tallest surviving Roman structure in Britain, and one of only three surviving lighthouses from the former Roman Empire! Dated 1st-2nd century AD.

📷 by me

#RomanSiteSaturday
#Archaeology

My photo shows the ruin of an eight-sided Roman brick lighthouse with four stepped levels. There is a doorway at ground level, above which, on the upper three levels, are narrow rectangular window openings. It stands 15.8 metres high and is 12.2 metres wide at the base. Roman fabric survives to a height of 12.5 m. The brickwork of the uppermost level was reconstructed for use as a church bell tower for the adjacent Anglo-Saxon church of St Mary in Castro of which a small portion can be seen in my photo on the right hand side. The Pharos is dated 1st century - early 2nd century AD and is one of a pair originally built on the headland flanking each side of the Roman port of Dubris (Dover). It now stands within the grounds of Dover Castle.

7 160 790

Reposted

Jon Hawke @archaeohawke.bsky.social · 26d

The skeleton was located away from a nearby #Roman cemetery & its position suggested that it had been thrown into a ditch rather than buried. The head & upper vertebrae were missing; this could have resulted from digging of a ditch for modern services. #Archaeology
#FindsFriday #History (4/4)

1 2 16

Reposted

Jon Hawke @archaeohawke.bsky.social · 26d

Forced labour and enslavement were features of the #Roman Empire. This discovery of this shackled skeleton has been the first of its type in #Britain and researchers believe that it is the ‘clearest’ case of burial of an enslaved individual found in the UK. (3/4)👇
#FindsFriday #RomanBritain #History

1 2 22

Reposted

Jon Hawke @archaeohawke.bsky.social · 26d

However in 2015 builders came across the #bones when they were constructing a conservatory at a house in Great Casterton. #Police were called and subsequent radiocarbon dating showed the remains were from between AD226 to AD427! (2/4) 👇
#FindsFriday #Archaeology #History

1 2 13

Reposted

Jon Hawke @archaeohawke.bsky.social · 26d

#FindsFriday
It’s no great surprise to find #Roman remains if you dig in your garden at Great Casterton. The crossing point of the River Gwash was the location of a fort and the next significant town north of Durobrivae on Ermine Street. A 🧵(1/4) #Archaeology #History👇

2 7 55

Reposted

romanbritain.bsky.social @romanbritain.bsky.social · Sep 15

#MosaicMonday

#Roman mosaic from a villa in East Coker (southwest England). The object dates to the 4th century CE. On the mosaic, we see two hunters carrying a hunted deer and a hunting dog.

#History #AncientBlueSky
#Archaeology #RomanBritain

1 6 39

Reposted

Dr Pat Witts @wittspat.bsky.social · 29d

On display in the excellent Museum of Somerset.

2 4

romanbritain.bsky.social @romanbritain.bsky.social · Sep 15

#MosaicMonday

#Roman mosaic from a villa in East Coker (southwest England). The object dates to the 4th century CE. On the mosaic, we see two hunters carrying a hunted deer and a hunting dog.

#History #AncientBlueSky
#Archaeology #RomanBritain

1 6 39

romanbritain.bsky.social @romanbritain.bsky.social · Sep 15

Given the nature of this particular claim. They might well be ! 🤣

1 2

Reposted

Michal Krompiec @mkrompiec.bsky.social · Sep 13

They forgot the obligatory „archeologists were stunned/ shocked”

1 2 2

romanbritain.bsky.social @romanbritain.bsky.social · Sep 13

#RomanBritain
#Archaeology
#History 👇

www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/2546081...

1 3 22

Reposted

Dr Toby Driver @drtobydriver.bsky.social · Sep 12

Is it #FindsFriday already? 😮

Spectacular La Tene bi-metal plaques unearthed by picnickers in 1963 from under a boulder on the slopes of Cader Idris mountain in north Wales. Pretty lucky!

Part of the spectacular Late Iron Age Talyllyn hoard 🤩. Now on display in National Museum St Fagans

📷 My own

4 ornate metal plaques decorated in the Celtic style, in a museum case

4 37 160