Archaeologist Dr Roger White helped uncover the ancient aquarium-like floor at a former Roman townhouse in Shropshire.
A stunning, 2,000-year-old Roman mosaic has been unearthed in Wroxeter, after a month-long dig by archaeologists co-led by the University of Birmingham. The elaborate floor, featuring fish and dolphins in bright colours, has been compared to an aquarium captured in stone and is remarkably in tact.
"It is extremely rare to find both a mosaic and its associated wall plaster, and nothing like it has ever been found at Wroxeter before," said Dr Roger White, Honorary Senior Lecturer in Archeaology at the University of Birmingham and co-director of the excavation with English Heritage, Vianova and Albion Archaeology.
The floor belonged to a former townhouse whose wealthy owner likely commissioned it. The home once formed part of the city, Viroconium Cornoviorum, and was the fourth largest Roman settlement in Britain at the time, with a population of more than 15,000.
Having spent many years excavating and studying Wroxeter Roman City, and its later history, it was enormously exciting to be involved in making such major new discoveries. We have long suspected that a major public building was located here and while we have now confirmed that this is the case, the building is in some respects puzzling to understand. This is not so surprising given how large this building seems to have been, but the new knowledge is startling evidence for the wealth and confidence of the founders of the city. This confidence is breathtakingly emphasised by the extraordinary survival of a multi-coloured mosaic and substantial surviving frescoed walls built in the first few decades of the city’s existence. Importantly, the site also offers scientific opportunities to understand how the Roman city became productive farmland for more than 1,500 years following its demise in the fifth century. This part of the former city was never ploughed in modern times and our research into evidence for ancient ploughing may offer insights into the future evolution of the soil in the light of climate change.
Honorary Senior Lecturer in Archaeology
Biographical and contact details for Dr Roger White at the University of Birmingham.
