A TREASURE TROVE

Forums: England, Archaeology, Preservation, Wiltshire, History
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Some workmen in Wiltshire have stumbled onto what may be the most dazzling archaeological find ever uncovered in England.

The Guardian report on the villa uncovered in Wiltshire.

I've been hearing reports of this on the radio since yesterday afternoon, and was surprised that no one had covered it here yet. It's a treasure trove not because of gold or jewels, but because of the state of preservation.

Below is what The Guardian calls an "artist's impression" of the building, so i don't know how accurate it is.

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/1a69b6ad85a0e824115589e8bb14d2a8bcc7055c/60_153_1544_927/master/1544.jpg?w=620&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=ef736667c2540e1196d8d87cac239d5a

One of the things which makes this such an important find is the apparent wealth (and therefore, probably power) of the family which lived in the Villa. This was stressed in the radio reports i've heard, too. Apart from that, it is also an extremely well-preserved site.

I would appreciate it is people could post more information on this find.

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Type: Discussion • Score: 3 • Views: 4,548 • Replies: 46

@Setanta,

Wow, it's from something like 175 AD!

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Yeah . . . i don't think they've found any flush-toilets yet.

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@Setanta,

Here is a link from Historic England, who are involved with the dig....

https://historicengland.org.uk/news-and-features/news/Roman-Villa-Discovered-Beneath-Wiltshire-Home

And one or two links from the Beeb News website.....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36066089

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-36062538

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/36066264

And one from the local (Wiotshire) paper.....

http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/14434175.Roman_villa_found_as_home_owner_lays_electric_cables/

It seems like a very big find indeed, but it's early days as far as the archeology is concerned. I'm sure that it will be 'dug' properly and many more discoveries will be made, and maybe they will find a site to equal Fishbourne eventually.

It will probably take several years to fully explore the area, but boy, what a find!

I did see this on the news the other night, but have been a bit involved with a dog walking mate who has broken his leg.

I'll post more if and when.....

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There was something which i didn't fully get because i had gone out the kitchen, and my hearing is bad enough that i don't always hear the radio out there. It was something to the effect of also having found a site from 12,000 years ago. (What i missed on the radio was whether this was at the same site.) Twelve thousand years ago is pre-agriculture, and would also be an extremely important find.

Thank you very much, your Lordyship, for those links.

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Here is the Wiki page for the aforementioned Fishbourne, a Roman Palace discovered near Chichester, near the South coast.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fishbourne_Roman_Palace

If this one is as good as Fishbourne, then that farmer can just set up an admissions booth and forget about raising flocks of cows.

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It does seem that the second century glitterati preferred the south of the island for a residential neighborhood.

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@Setanta,

We've a couple of those "villa rustica" (correct plural: villae rusticae) here in Germany. (One, the Villa Borg, had been discovered 100 years ago, untouched for 1600 years as well)

The remains of a Roman villa urbana can be found east of the Maltese Castle in This country residence of a large landowner in Mediterranean style covered 5.5 hectares and was built around 30 AD, remaining intact until around 275 AD.

In Xanten ( Colonia Ulpia Traiana, now one of the largest archaeological open air museums in the world) we've just one "better villa rustica" but dozens of "strip-houses" (kind of Roman terraced houses in the Gallo-Germanic provinces).

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Only read one story on it so far but I thought it ended with the first exposed bits being covered back up put on hold due to lack of funds to do a proper dig.

Hope that's changed.

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Regarding a very old find (as opposed to reasonably modern Roman Very Happy

), this is all I recall from recent times.......

January 2016

Bronze age dig in Whittlesey uncovers very rare 3,000 year glimpse into the past

Two Bronze Age Round houses, approx 3000 years old.

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/webimage/1.7155139.1452582877!/image/2525009434.jpg_gen/derivatives/articleMaxWidth_620/2525009434.jpg

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/latest-news/bronze-age-dig-in-whittlesey-uncovers-very-rare-3-000-year-glimpse-into-the-past-1-7155145

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@Setanta,

Setanta wrote:

It does seem that the second century glitterati preferred the south of the island for a residential neighborhood.

Well, a villa rustica has been an important part of the structure of a Roman province (besides in the African provinces). It was kind of "mansion-farm-town-thing".

Edit: just checked it up: there are more than 100 of those villae rusticae in Germany, now nearly all used as museums. (And most of those were abandoned by the Romans in the third century.)

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@Leadfoot,

What I heard is that the exploration has finished and they have covered up to preserve the find, whilst the relevant team is assembled and plans drawn up to go ahead and complete the dig.

Our Lottery fund usually steps in and greatly helps with finance regarding heritage projects, and no doubt an application for funding will be winging its way to them within a few months.

The villa isn't going anywhere, and there's no real rush. The priority is to see that everything is done properly.

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@Lordyaswas,

I wish i had more information--the report i heard was in the radio piece on this find, but was talking about a site circa 10,000 BCE.

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If that artist's concept is any where near reality and it's from 10,000 BC, it would re-write history completely. Kinda doubt it.

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@Leadfoot,

Look, we don't usually do rudeness in such threads--but let me clue you into the need to read carefully and try to understand what a coherent discussion is. I didn't say that this villa dated from 10,000 BCE--i said nothing remotely like that. The expression i used was "also having found"--and if you had bothered to read the linked material, you would have known that the villa under examination shows centuries of occupation and renovation. Try to pay attention, 'K?

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@Lordyaswas,

Quote:

Archaeologists say these discoveries place Must Farm alongside similar European Prehistoric Wetland sites; the ancient loch-side dwellings known as crannogs in Scotland and Ireland; stilt houses, also known as pile dwellings, around the Alpine Lakes; and the terps of Friesland, manmade hill dwellings in the Netherlands.

- See more at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/bronze-age-stilt-houses-unearthed-in-east-anglian-fens#sthash.QIG4lXnp.dpuf

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@Walter Hinteler,

They may have referred to the fenlands site--as i say, i didn't catch all of that part of the program. I had read a few months ago the story of the round house found in the fens, and that was quite an extraordinary find, too.

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@Setanta,

I've seen some other (remains of) fen round houses there, but this one really is 'a bronze age English Pompeii'.

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@Setanta,

It's not so 'awesome' a find as you'd expect, but it's the most recent.
Got a friend on the dig - Says ' It's nicely 'intact', but is a tiny aspect, considering the limitations on 'other' 'protected' sites.

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A TREASURE TROVE

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