Posted on 01/03/2022 6:47:13 AM PST by Twotone
On his father’s farm in Rutland, Jim Irving and his family were out walking when he spotted a few bits of ancient pottery scattered on the ground. Little did he know that further investigation into this would lead to the discovery of an extraordinary 1,700-year-old Roman mosaic, depicting Achilles and the Trojan War from The Iliad, and the remains of an ancient villa.
Upon finding these traces during lockdown in 2020, Irving accessed satellite imagery and discovered a cropmark, and after a preliminary search he contacted the Historic Environment team at Leicestershire County Council, who in turn reached out to the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) to excavate the area.
“It was like literally within a couple of weeks before we had people on site to start working this properly,” Irving told the University of Leicestershire. He, too, was able to work along archeologists in the field.
Given the nature of this exceptional find, Historic England secured funding for urgent archeological excavation, which began with a careful clean of the exposed Roman mosaic. “It was a spine-tingling experience as the first figures were revealed, and we quite literally came face to face with the past,” said John Thomas, deputy director of ULAS, in a statement.
The researchers soon uncovered a remarkable Roman mosaic, dating back from the third to fourth century, the first of its kind in the UK, which depicts scenes from the end of the Trojan War as told in Homer’s classic, with several frames illustrating a story sequence, almost like a comic book.
The first of which features the Greek warrior demigod Achilles facing Hector of Troy on the battlefield, both riding chariots led by horses of different colors.
(Excerpt) Read more at theepochtimes.com ...
The Romans were everywhere!
PinGGG!.......................
Achilles needed better heel support.
He was Hectored all over the place!.......................
That’s why they are called ROMANS!😊
The lesson is be careful,
who you Hector he might
A kill you.
Lesson 2. Some gods lie.
Man in Rutland, VT, stumbles across 1700 year old Senator.
Not all of us.
Obviously the work of giants...
Because they be Roamin’ all over?
That is just incredible. It’s amazing it is in a farmer’s field and hasn’t been destroyed by 10,000 ploughs over the eons. Yet it was close enough to the surface for fragments to be lying on the ground.
Notice the 2020 COVID-19 lock down didn't deter the archeologists from descending upon the site. NO MASKS EITHER.
priceless!
Very cool, although Homer does look a bit gay in the mosaic.
“The Romans were everywhere!”
They didn’t hang around very long in the UK (relatively speaking), but they sure got a lot done during that time.
Parts of Hadrian’s Wall still stand.
So interesting! And I’m also a bit amazed that it was just sitting there that whole time and no one knew or noticed. That’s crazy!
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