Friday, April 3, 2015

BEDALE, ENGLAND—A vast Roman villa with winged corridors is being excavated in North Yorkshire, at a site where a new bypass is being built. Pottery from the villa dates to the mid-third to fourth centuries A.D. Culture 24 reports that the villa was surrounded by a landscape of enclosures and field systems. Stones from its masonry walls were likely to have been reused by later builders, but the cobble foundations of the walls survive in deep trenches. The villa was eventually demolished, and in areas of the building, archaeologists from Prospect Archaeology have recovered pieces of its painted-plaster walls that had fallen on an intact concrete floor. There was also a pavilion-style room with an under-floor heating system. This room had wall tiles and painted wall plaster in many colors that may have been used for entertaining. Stone and tile roof tiles, iron nails, and small quantities of window glass have been recovered across the building. For a unique look at Roman life in the north of England, read "Artifact: A Roman Party Invitation."