Archaeologists Unearth 1,600-Year-Old Devon Roman Villa With Britain’s Westernmost Mosaic
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Aug 5
Archaeologists Unearth 1,600-Year-Old Devon Roman Villa With Britain’s Westernmost Mosaic
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · Aug 5
Summary
A fourth-century Roman villa uncovered on Devon farmland includes a large polychrome mosaic, a bathhouse and another stone building, pointing to a substantial rural estate.
Thousands of red, white and dark blue tesserae form an eight-petaled floral design that experts call the westernmost mosaic yet found in a Roman villa in Britain.
Artifacts including a copper-alloy bracelet, a silver-plated spoon, a drinking beaker, pottery fragments and a gemstone engraved with Victory suggest the site housed a wealthy family integrated into Roman life.
The SHARE project—run by the University of Exeter and Cotswold Archaeology—followed up Roman remains first spotted by metal detectorist John Hill in 2004 and is now preparing to move the mosaic to Tiverton Museum.