Mosaic buried for thousands of years uncovered by archaeologists

(CNN) — A beautiful, remarkably well-preserved mosaic that was “hidden for thousands of years” has been uncovered by archaeologists in northwestern England.

The mosaic, which features fish and dolphins, was discovered in Wroxeter Roman City. The fourth largest city in Roman Britain that was almost as big as Pompeii during its heyday, its ruins now survive as an archaeological and educational site about 50 miles west of Birmingham.

Still displaying its bright white, red, blue and yellow colors, the mosaic is the first to be discovered at Wroxeter since 1859, according to a press release from Vianova Archaeology, which was involved in the dig.

It was likely in the dining room of a wealthy person or city official used to “entertaining wealthy guests” who was “determined to impress people with this fine mosaic,” Win Scutt, senior properties curator at English Heritage, which runs the site, told CNN.

Scutt added that archaeologists can’t be completely sure of its function because they have only had a “glimpse” of it.

“It’s not just a self-indulgent thing,” Scutt added of the mosaic. “I think a lot of it is about outward display, about your position,” he said, adding the mosaic was “meant to be seen by other people.”

A mosaic featuring six colors, requiring stones to be imported from outside the local area, and one that depicts designs like this has never been found in Wroxeter before, said Roger White, an archaeologist at the University of Birmingham.

“It’s very much in line with the taste of the time so this is someone who knows about fashion and what to put on your mosaics, they’re culturally attuned,” White added.

Discovering such a mosaic, particularly one that dates back to the early 2nd century, was an unexpected boon for the archaeologists. When they began excavating, they expected to uncover only 4th century finds as they’re prohibited from digging through remains due to the historical significance of the site, Scutt said.

“(The archaeology) will be multi-layered,” he explained. “There will be city upon city because the city lasted for 300 years at least so there are lots of levels and we’ve only been able to come down to the top level.”

The mosaic likely only survived for all this time because the room was filled in with building debris to raise up its interior, likely sometime in the 3rd or 4th century, which also allowed archaeologists to reach it without digging through any other layers.

“Our excavations were in hope of discovering the walls of this building, but we never suspected we would find a beautiful and intact mosaic, which had lain hidden for thousands of years,” Scutt added in a press release from charity English Heritage.

Huge monumental building

The excavation, run jointly by Vianova Archaeology, Albion Archaeology, the University of Birmingham and English Heritage, also uncovered a small square shrine or mausoleum as well as an enormous 50-meter (164-foot-) long monumental building that was situated on one of Wroxeter’s main streets.

So far, archaeologists haven’t been able to precisely date the monumental building as they haven’t excavated the trenches it sits in and have no clear theories to explain the presence of such a large building, although Scutt speculates that perhaps it was a ceremonial structure at first and perhaps later became shops.

“It’s a bit early to say the exact dating but it was clearly a massive building that must have dominated the center of the city for hundreds of years,” he adds.

These newest discoveries add to the history of Wroxeter, which researchers have established contained more than 200 houses, a civic bath house, forum, county hall and judicial center. It was founded in the mid- 1st century as a legionary fortress before the soldiers moved away and the old fortress continued to grow into a thriving city.

Today, its position in the countryside has shielded it from modern development meaning that “you’ve got a terrific level of preservation in the middle of a Roman city which you don’t find anywhere else in the country,” said Scutt.

“So Wroxeter was special even before the mosaic was found,” he added.

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