Posted on 04/19/2013 5:45:09 PM PDT by NYer
Thousands of Roman artefacts have been unearthed in an archaeological dig hailed as 'the most important excavation ever held in London'.
Archaeologists have found coins, pottery, shoes, lucky charms and an amber Gladiator amulet which date back almost 2,000 years.
Experts leading the excavation have also uncovered wooden structures from the 40s AD around 40ft beneath the ground.
The site is just yards from the River Thames and alongside a huge building project for new offices on Queen Victoria Street in the heart of London's financial district.
he Bloomberg Place construction site
Archaeologists work to unearth Roman artifacts.
The discoveries have been so well preserved in the muddy waters of the lost Walbrook River that archaeologists have nicknamed the site 'the Pompeii of the North'.
Sadie Watson, the site director from the Museum of London Archaeology, said: 'Certainly the archaeology on this project so far is probably the most important excavation ever held within London, certainly within Roman London.
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2306443/The-Bloomberg-Place-Construction-Site-Archaeological-dig-London-heralded-capitals-important-excavation.html#ixzz2QxZ21brv Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
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An amber amulet in the shape of a gladiator's helmet
More like the shape of a hand grenade ;-)
A great discovery!
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Very cool.
I’m guessing whoever had their money invested in that construction project are not as pleased as the rest of us.
I love that movie!!
haha that movie was my first thought as well
The amulet looks like a stamping device. Amazing site.
I knew, I just KNEW somebody would post that. I knew it the second I read “lucky charms”.
This being Free Republic and all.
(chuckle)
Not to disparage either the beauty or the importance of this find, but if somebody says "Pompeii", I think pyroclastic entombment.
It is a pity that the DVD for Five Million Years to Earth is so ridiculously expensive. A Hammer film that costs more than most Criterion collection, fancy that.
Oddly enough, though the special effects were not as good, there is a lot of love for the original four part BBC series, Quatermass and the Pit. Because it was much longer, they were able to build up the mood and some say it was one of the best BBC productions ever made.
Fortunately, they preserved it and it has been restored.
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I’ve read a couple of articles about this find. They mention that the wet conditions preserved the materials. This seems to run counter to common sense. It’s not like it was underwater in near freezing conditions.
Similar to peat bogs, the preserving ingredient in this situation is low to no oxygen, or oxygen depleted.
Nice to know that mud can be so nice to us.
Wow. It’s amazing how intact and preserved those artifacts are, especially the ceramic ones.
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