15/08/2024
2,000 year-old-mosaic discovered at Wroxeter Roman City
A remarkable 2,000-year-old Roman mosaic was uncovered during excavations at Wroxeter Roman city, that have also uncovered an ancient building and shrine.
Astonishing depictions of dolphins and fish in striking white, red, blue and yellow tiles surprised archaeologists at Wroxeter Roman City in Shropshire, as a remarkable 2,000-year-old Roman mosaic was uncovered during excavation at the ancient city.
The excavations, originally seeking a possible location for the city's main Civic Temple, revealed a number of important discoveries including coins, pottery fragments, the mosaic and a possible shrine.
One of the best-preserved examples of a Roman city in Britain, Wroxeter (or Viriconium as it was known) established in the 90s AD, was a thriving city of the Roman Empire, once as large as Pompeii.
At its height, the city would have contained more than 200 houses, a civic bath house, marketplace, county hall and judicial centre.
Today, a small number of ruined buildings (the Old Work – the largest piece of free-standing Roman wall in the country – and the town's public baths) are all that remain of the lost city above ground, alongside a museum. Much of the site remains unexcavated.
This recent Wroxeter excavation, a collaborative effort between English Heritage, the University of Birmingham, Vianova Archaeology & Heritage Services, and Albion Archaeology, set out to open a series of evaluation trenches near the city's forum, a possible location for the main Civic Temple, as indicated by a geophysical survey that revealed a walled precinct.
As hoped, the excavation uncovered a large monumental building along the city's main road, as well as uncovering a shrine or mausoleum within the precinct which may have honoured an important individual in Wroxeter's earliest history – possibly someone associated with the legionary fortress or perhaps a founding father of the new city.
However, archaeologists were also amazed to reveal a beautiful and particularly rare mosaic. Dating to the early 2nd century, soon after the city was established, the mosaic must have been commissioned by a wealthy and important person. It depicts dolphins and fish in strikingly bright colours still visible today. A painted plaster wall on one side of the mosaic remarkably also survives to knee height.
The excavation was a research, training and engagement project. Thirty archaeologists spent a month on site, including 20 student archaeologists and volunteers of all ages.
The area of the excavation has now been reburied for its protection and preservation, but the public can visit Wroxeter Roman City's existing ruins, a reconstructed Roman town house and the museum (which contains artefacts such as figurines of deities, water pipes, glass perfume bottles, and amulets) to learn more about the site's history.