"Once in a lifetime" discoveries include an amphora, oil lamp and sculpted stag in Roman Cumbria



© Courtesy Megan Stoakley / Wardell Armstrong Archaeology

© Courtesy Megan Stoakley / Wardell Armstrong Archaeology

Keep up to date with the Papcastle dig on the Wardell Armstrong Archaeology blog. Visit Discovering Derventio and follow Wardell Armstrong Archaeology on Twitter @WA_Archaeology.

© Courtesy Megan Stoakley / Wardell Armstrong Archaeology

© Courtesy Megan Stoakley / Wardell Armstrong Archaeology

© Courtesy Megan Stoakley / Wardell Armstrong Archaeology

© Courtesy Megan Stoakley / Wardell Armstrong Archaeology

© Courtesy Megan Stoakley / Wardell Armstrong Archaeology

A fertility genius in “amazing” condition, believed to be a local deity thousands of years ago, and the carved heads of male and female Roman gods have been found by archaeologists digging at a village in Cumbria.The vague outline of an altar can be seen below the hand of the genius, unearthed in a 2,500-square metre area at Papcastle, where the 2009 floods gave excavators the first glimpses of Roman remains.A cap worn by the male statue comes from thein modern-day Turkey, meaning the figure could be, who was worshipped in the north between the 1st and 4th centuries AD. Archaeologists are also speculating that he could be the Greek god, which would be likely to identify the female head as– Phrygia's only known goddess.“This happens once in a lifetime,” says Frank Giecco, of Wardell Armstrong Archaeology, which has overseen the Heritage Lottery Fund-backed Discovering Derventio project.“You can work in archaeology all your life and never find anything like that. It’s incredible.”The base of a coin-scattered amphora, a miniature stag, a Roman oil lamp and ditch enclosures have also been found in the flood deposits.“During the initial stages, the amount of Roman pottery recovered was significant,” says Dave Jackson, of the archaeology team.“Forty-two objects of significant interest were unearthed in the first week alone.“Work began at the southern extent of the investigation area, but it soon became apparent that the archaeological features identified through geophysical investigation were going to be difficult to identify on the ground.“This difficulty in identification is a result of extensive flood deposits, both pre-dating and post-dating the archaeological features, which limit the visual differences between the features and the surrounding natural ground.”