Posted on 07/21/2012 7:25:39 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Iron Age Britons were importing olives from the Mediterranean a century before the Romans arrived with their exotic tastes in food, say archaeologists who have discovered a single olive stone from an excavation of an Iron Age well at at Silchester in Hampshire.
The stone came from a layer securely dated to the first century BC, making it the earliest ever found in Britain -- but since nobody ever went to the trouble of importing one olive, there must be more, rotted beyond recognition or still buried.
The stone, combined with earlier finds of seasoning herbs such as coriander, dill and celery, all previously believed to have arrived with the Romans, suggests a diet at Silchester that would be familiar in any high street pizza restaurant.
The excavators, led by Professor Mike Fulford of Reading University, also found another more poignant luxury import: the skeleton of a tiny dog, no bigger than a modern toy poodle, carefully buried, curled up as if in sleep. However it may not have met a peaceful end...
Fulford has been leading the annual summer excavations at Silchester, which bring together hundreds of student, volunteer and professional archaeologists, for half a lifetime, and the site continues to throw up surprises. It was an important Roman town, but deliberately abandoned in the 7th century, its wells blocked up and its buildings tumbled, and never reoccupied. Apart from a few Victorian farm buildings, it is still open farmland, surrounded by the jagged remains of massive Roman walls.
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
This poorly written piece of crap is so full of misinformation as to be unbelievable. Julius Caesar invaded Brittan in 55BC.
Outside of Italy a lot of ruins dating from the period of the Roman Empire are described as “Roman Ruins”, when in fact the Romans may have had little or nothing to do with them. I was just presenting a different point of view that reinforces the point of this post.
The Romans should get credit, at least, for popularizing the Estrucan Arch, one of the real milestones in engineering, comparable to the invention of the wheel. They were also very skillful builders, and may well have spread their technique around the Mediterrian. Whether or not they were superior to the Carthaginians or Greeks is doubtful.
The real lesson of the Roman Empire is that no matter how advanced a civilization is intellectually, it will not survive if it becomes number two militarily.
Sounds like you could’ve grown up in Modesto. I met my first black person when I was 18. She was a really nice girl.
Romans went to war on diet of pizza, dig shows.
The Scotsman | Mon 26 Aug 2002 | John Innes
Posted on 08/26/2002 2:20:42 PM PDT by vannrox
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/739684/posts
Pepper (the table kind) was imported to the Roman Empire from the SW Pacific, along with the Orangutan. All they’d have needed was a table with a round hole in the middle of it, and they’d have been in the urban legends business. ;’)
Also, all of our ancestors used to eat and/or season with stuff we regard as unremarkable weeds. Tastes change, other stuff is more economical to grow — important as labor specialization and farm mechanization changed agriculture. But don’t forget, ADM and Monsanto are behind everything, and behind them are the Bilderbergers!!! /s
Wintercress is a peppery plant that pops up early in the spring (when it’s actually late winter, really); also there is the lowly mustard seed, loads of other stuff.
I’m sure the Romans didn’t just one day “show up.”
As Cicero said - by defending our allies, we have become master of the whole world.
Don’t get me started on those b*st*rds. ;’)
The salad dressings, of course. Geez.
Rome’s empire preceded the fall of the fascist oligarchy which is passed off as the Roman Republic. The problem I have with the transition to a fulltime emperor is anachronistic — in the arts and media, it’s always portrayed as a single dimensional good vs evil struggle. And around here, the advocates of that view are nearly always advocates of (shall we say) another, more recent, corrupt oligarchy.
BTW, that page appears to be a neonazi website (speaking of more recent, corrupt oligarchy).
Julius Caesar did indeed invade Britain twice, so what’s the problem?
Well said.
Did the Romans bring tomatoes to Britain?
An Oliver Stone from 150 BC? They had to put up with those back then too?
Roman pizzas had no tomato sauce on them.
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| Relic of Harpocrates, the god of secrecy and silence, found at Silchester |
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· 07/19/2010 6:34:52 PM PDT · · Posted by SunkenCiv · · 13 replies · · 1+ views · · Guardian UK · · Friday 16 July 2010 · · Maev Kennedy · |
Archaeological dig at abandoned Roman city in Hampshire yields earliest representation of an Egyptian deity found in Britain... A battered and corroded thumb --- sized piece of bronze has turned out to be a unique find, the earliest representation of an Egyptian deity from any site in Britain --- and appropriately, after almost 2,000 years hidden in the ground, it is Harpocrates, the god of secrecy and silence. The little figure was found at Silchester, site of an abandoned Roman city in Hampshire, in last summer's excavation, but his identity was only revealed in months of careful conservation work. His... |
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| 'Britain's first pre-Roman planned town' found near Reading |
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· 08/20/2011 8:10:56 AM PDT · · Posted by decimon · · 21 replies · · BBC · · August 17, 2011 · · Louise Ord · |
Archaeologists believe they have found the first pre-Roman planned town discovered in Britain.It has been unearthed beneath the Roman town of Silchester or Calleva Atrebatum near modern Reading. The Romans are often credited with bringing civilisation to Britain - including town planning. But excavations have shown evidence of an Iron Age town built on a grid and signs inhabitants had access to imported wine and olive oil. Prof Mike Fulford, an archaeologist at the University of Reading, said the people of Iron Age Silchester appear to have adopted an urbanised 'Roman' way of living, long before the Romans arrived. "It... |
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I went to the same rural public school for twelve years...zero minorties the whole time. We did suspect that one girl may have had a little Asian blood though.
The Blacks had their own school 4-5 miles away.
Went to the Cheese Barn in Milwaukee a month ago. I had barely walked in the door when I was handed a sample of parmasan cut from the wheel. Best I have ever had, flavor burst in the mouth.
Sarvechio, Grand American competition, best parmasan in US.
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