Man accidentally discovers 'perfectly preserved' Roman villa in his backyard

[rpannier]

Luke Irwin came across the well-preserved Roman villa dating back 1,400 years and which may have been home to an emperor

A man stumbled across a Roman villa in his back garden which is being hailed as the most significant discovery of its kind for a decade.

Luke Irwin, from Wiltshire, was laying an electricity cable in his barn when he uncovered a mosaic underground.

snip

After an eight-day dig, archaeologists uncovered more of the ‘elaborate’ and ‘extraordinarily well-preserved’ villa, thought to be one of the largest ever found in the country.

Dating from between AD 175 and 220, the grand home is thought to have been three storeys high, similar to those found at Chedworth in Gloucestershire.

link
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/man-accidentally-discovers-perfectly-preserved-roman-villa-in-his-backyard-a6987901.html

[Uncle Joe]

1. If it was dated between 175-220AD, wouldn't that be more than 1400 years?

Thanks for the thread, rpannier.

[whistler162]

8. It is a metric year.

[Uncle Joe]

9. Thanks for the clarification, whistler.

[left-of-center2012]

11. So .....

I would be a lot younger than 70 if I used 'metric years'?

[Uncle Joe]

14. 70 is the new 45 in metric years.

or something like that.

[A Simple Game]

31. Well, there is one thing I use the metric system to measure. 2.54 cm to the inch equals... n/t

[left-of-center2012]

47. Your waist? n/t

[Brickbat]

13. Later on, they say it "collapsed" 1,400 years ago.

Built in the 200s, stood for awhile, then collapsed. It's a lazy lead.

[snooper2]

33. That was using the business hours model

[ShrimpPoboy]

2. Amazing stuff

Thanks for sharing this

[etherealtruth]

3. Very cool, thanks for posting

[redwitch]

4. Why doesn't this kind of thing happen to me?

I already checked the attic too. Twice. No Carravagios either.

[rpannier]

6. I know

They had that guy in Italy who was digging a new bathroom (maybe it was a basement extension) and found underground a part of the city several hundred years old that they had covered.

I'm buying property in the wrong spot

on edit
found the story
http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/man-intent-fixing-toilet-uncovers-centuries-old-subterranean-world-020299

[redwitch]

10. I remember reading this one too.

Pretty amazing!

[2naSalit]

19. Right?

Story of my life! All the cool stuff happens to other people.

[redwitch]

21. Oh My Goodness!

I just now read your username and understand! I usually do really well figuring this stuff out quickly. How are ya tunasalad?

[2naSalit]

25. I'm fine...

It was my last furrylovekitty's name. It was a long time ago that she went away but I still think of her, best cat I ever had. She was more like a guard dog dressed up in kitty clothes! Nobody entered the yard without her approval, thank goodness I had a fenced yard! And the squirrels were her playmates. I found a picture of her...

I posted her picture, from 1999 here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1107104319#post37

[Silver_Witch]

32. What a beauty.

Thank you for sharing!

[LittleGirl]

36. pretty kitty eom

[nilram]

23. None, NONE! of my pictures have copies of the Declaration of Independence,

OR the Constitution hidden behind them, damnit. Awesome that this guy is getting other folks to dig his flower beds for him, though. Sharp.

[kentauros]

48. Because you don't live in England?

All of England is an archaeological site! It should roped off and dug up for preservation

[redwitch]

49. I love England.

I could move there. And find out my house was actually built by that legion that disappeared. Hmmm.

[geardaddy]

50. All of England should be roped off alright.

Says most of Wales and Scotland.

[kentauros]

51. Well, that's a given

However, where will all those displaced Brits go?

[geardaddy]

53. The Welsh and Scots are actually Brits too.

They can be assimilated the way the Welsh and Scots were expected to be assimilated. Or they can go to one of their Commonwealth countries. Or back to Jutland and Angeln and Saxony?

Nah, they'll stay.

And of course the Celts will have to go back to France and Anatolia. If we're to believe the academics.

[MerryBlooms]

5. Incredible.

Thanks for sharing.

[MisterP]

7. 2016 AD-1400 = 616 AD ...

the site gave up ~600, tho, as the Saxons infiltrated their rule

[Brother Buzz]

12. But the Villa was built in roughly the middle of the Roman occupation ...

AD 175- 220?

[HooptieWagon]

26. Romans left Britain 425ish AD.

175-225 was roughly the peak of Roman occupation. After Romans left, the buildings fell into ruin. 600 AD is a good guess when the villa was no longer occupied.

[geardaddy]

52. There were still Romano-British "kingdoms" left...

in the wake of the Roman withdrawal. So, I'm guessing the structure was in use until it was destroyed or abandoned during the Saxon onslaught.

[KG]

15. where's the Time Team when you need them?

&index=12&list=PLiw5X7jx1CENkgHgMNFLAKro2aSe_PQ4Q

[dorkzilla]

18. Mick Aston is dead

There can be no TT without Mick.

[mnhtnbb]

16. Totally cool.

My husband loves this old Roman stuff.

On our last trip to London--in January--he went to visit Lullingstone again.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lullingstone_Roman_Villa

[Norrin Radd]

17. These articles never have

enough photos of the artifacts.

[2naSalit]

20. Wow!!

I love stories like these!

Thanks for sharing!

[robertgodardfromnj]

22. Whoa, that is awesome

I wish my place had some historical significance too.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

24. Oyster shells too! How cool is that?

[progressoid]

27. Cool. But I their idea of "perfectly preserved" might be a little off.

[Logical]

28. Cool, love these stories! Thanks! Nt

[Jack Rabbit]

29. To set a crude timeline for Roman Britain . . .

(All dates Anno Domini/Common Era)

43 -- Claudius Caesar leads successful invasion of Britain.
60-61 -- British Queen Boudica leads revolt against Roman rule; revolt not put down before much carnage inflicted on both sides
105 -- Roman suffer defeat at the hands of the Picts in Alba (modern Scotland) and retreat.
117 -- Hadrian's Wall built, establishing the northernmost frontier pf Roman influence in Britain.
117-late rth Century -- Roman is stable except for the occasional insurrection by British patriots.
175-220 (approx) -- Villa built.
Late 4th/Early 5th Century -- Barbarian invasions begin.
410 -- Honorius Caesar in Rome rejects pleas from Romans in Britain for help repelling barbarian invasions; Honorius tells Roman settlers to fend for themselves.
430 -- Last Roman coins minted in Britain; presumably, all Roman troops have been withdrawn by this time.
After 430 -- Vortigern, a British warlord, invites Saxons to Britain to help repel invasions of Picts and Scots. Saxons remain in Britain and make themselves at home, causing ethnic and religious tensions between Roman Britain Christians and Saxon pagans.
446 -- Plea for help against Saxons addressed to Roman commander Aetius in the western main laind of the Empire goes unanswered.
476 -- Western Roman Empire falls; Visigoth King Odoacer assumes title King of Italy.
577 -- Saxons complete conquest of what is now southern England and Cornwall; Any historical basis for the Arthurian legends took place during the preceding century to century and a half.
600 (approx) -- Villa falls into permanent disrepair.

[DesertRat]

30. Wow, incredible

Thanks for the story!

[snooper2]

34. The team also discovered hundreds of discarded oyster shells

I guess this is before curb side trash collection

[Bad Dog]

35. This was all over the news yesterday.

It doesn't normally happen at all. The landowner was using a Roman child's coffin as a flower pot, (not any more.)

[dorkzilla]

37. I found a circa 1920's medicine bottle while digging a new rose bed

I was just in Wiltshire last month, musing about all the history that is under their soil. Neolithic barrows, Roman remains etc. I'm curious as to why they've not found more in the southwest of England (Devon) - didn't even realize it till I looked at this map and there is a big ol' chunk of Blighty missing Roman remains.

http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/RomanSites/

And if there are any Anglo Roman experts out there, wondering if they have any theories as to why the Roman tradition of hypocausts was lost after the 5th century? I'm assuming it could have been just that they would have been focused on subsisting but you would think that would be the ONE IMPROVEMENT the Romans bought to Britain that the native British would want to keep!

[muriel_volestrangler]

39. Most of Devon and Cornwall is fairly hilly

and the Romans don't seem to have lived in the hilly areas of Britain much (except for the hills that Hadrian's Wall ran over, of course) - not so good for agriculture, I guess. Though you might have expected some interest in Cornish tin mines, for bronze.

The hypocaust requires an extensive brick or stone quarrying industry. Once the Romans left, building in Britain largely reverted to wood, and wattle and daub, until the Normans started building stone castles, churches and cathedrals.

[dorkzilla]

42. I hadn't thought of the brick-making aspect

Completely makes sense. I suppose I would have expected they'd have re-used the brick from the villas and the vici for other things, judging by the robber trenches they find everywhere but I reckon they were busy trying to figure out how to survive.

Thanks!

[ginnyinWI]

38. more pictures--CNN has picked the story up

http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/17/europe/uk-roman-villa-wiltshire/index.html

[Helen Borg]

40. So, now he won't have access to his backyard anymore?

How does this work?

[blackspade]

41. Sweet!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

43. If you dig in Vegas you find sand.

[bvar22]

44. Gotta hurry. Going out to dig up my barn now.

See Ya!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

55. If you find Jimmy Hoffa, just fill the hole, quietly.

Unless you want your barn demolished, in which case, tell the FBI you "think" he might be there.

[struggle4progress]

45. Cool!

I once found a little green plastic beach-toy shovel in my backyard!

Unfortunately I never tried to learn if it might be a ancient Roman artifact, and now I have no idea what happened to it

[Retrograde]

46. Cool! All I ever find are odd bricks and roofing nails

although I once found some charred newspapers under a thin concrete slab I took out.

[TeddyR]

54. This is awesome

I'm a huge history buff. And yeah, the person who found the Carravagio in the attic is my hero