Maryport Roman settlement: Dig unearths rare Roman jewellery Published duration 12 August 2015

image copyright Maryport Roman Temples Project image caption The carving is filled with white material, possibly enamel, and there was a small piece of bronze with the stone

A rare piece of Roman jewellery has been found during the excavation of a settlement on Cumbria's west coast.

A team of archaeologists and volunteers has spent five years investigating the origins of 17 altars found at Maryport Roman fort in 1870.

Now a rare piece of rock crystal from the 2nd or 3rd Century, believed to be the centrepiece from a ring, has been found at the site.

The head of a bearded man, possibly a philosopher, is carved into the back.

It is thought that, when it was originally worn, the polished bronze back would have looked like gold through the stone.

image copyright Maryport Roman Temples project image caption The five year project was commissioned by the Senhouse Museum Trust and supported by Newcastle University

Built on the cliffs overlooking the Solway Firth, it is believed the fort was founded in the 1st Century AD when the Roman army initially entered the region.

The civilian settlement, which lies north-east of the fort, is currently believed to be the largest along the Hadrian's Wall frontier.

This year's dig has yielded more information about the layout of an area of temples near the remains of the fort and settlement.

Project director Prof Ian Haynes said the team had discovered temples unearthed at the site formed part of a large monument complex.

He said it was "unlike anything" discovered on Britain's Roman frontier to date.

image copyright Senhouse Museum/Jimm Hunt image caption The excavation led to the discovery that the temples formed part of a large monument complex

"The complex was a major undertaking and was dominated by a substantial precinct where many of Maryport's famous altars may once have stood," he said.

Prof Ian Haynes said the project's aim had always been to find out more about how the altars were displayed in Roman times.

He said: "In 2011 we found the altars had been used in the foundations for later timber buildings just over the ridge, not ritually buried as previously thought.

"We think that when they were originally dedicated to the Roman god Jupiter by commanders of the fort each year - which we know from the inscriptions - a number of them would have been displayed together on the cobbled precinct."

image caption As the altar was found face down in a pit, its dedication to the god "Jupiter Optimus Maximus" was intact

Prof Haynes said the group also found more evidence from ditches below the precinct for a temporary camp, which appears to date from before the construction of Hadrian's Wall.

The altars are housed at the Senhouse Museum Trust in Maryport and form part of a significant collection of Roman sculpture and inscriptions at the museum.

Believed to be the biggest single find of Roman inscriptions ever made in Britain, the altars provide evidence that three regiments from as far away as Spain and Germany were stationed at the fort.