Image copyright Crown Copyright RCAHMW Image caption The original discovery of part of the cut-glass Roman vessel in July 2011

Fragments of a glass bowl have been the "star find" during a dig of a 4th Century Roman villa in Ceredigion.

The most north-westerly villa found in Wales was discovered at Abermagwr in 2006 from an aerial photo during a drought.

A final report into the dig which started in 2010 said no bowl with an "exactly similar" decorative scheme has been identified in Roman Britain.

It is due to go on display at Amgueddfa Ceredigion Museum, Aberystwyth.

Image copyright Crown Copyright RCAHMW Image caption Up close - the detail found on some of the fragments of glass

Report author Prof Jennifer Price of Durham University, said: "It was an extraordinary item of luxury for this modest villa, probably used for mixing wine and water at grand dinner parties and celebrations.

"One can only wonder what circumstances led to it being left broken and lost in the rear room of the Abermagwr villa."

She added: "Its quality is vastly superior to the rest of the glass vessels found at the villa, and indeed to virtually all the late Roman tablewares known in Wales."

Image copyright Crown Copyright RCAHMW Image caption A reconstruction of the house showing a simple garden and gravelled path surrounding the villa

Excavations showed that the villa was established around AD230, at least a century after the nearby Roman fort was abandoned.

It was occupied until around AD330 when it was abandoned following a catastrophic fire. A cooking pot dropped on the kitchen floor was never picked up showing the urgency of the evacuation.