Roman villas found under playing field

The London Telegraph ^ | August 18, 2002 | Catherine Milner

[LostTribe]

The remains of two Roman villas have been found under a football pitch in Wiltshire in what is believed to be one of the most significant archaeological discoveries since the early 1960s.

[LostTribe]

Bump.

[Cultural Jihad]

[LostTribe]

I believe this helps point out the relative ease with which people of the med. area could travel great distances to have a "summer place" in Britain. While it does not make the case that Jesus visited NW Europe during his lifetime, it does help establish that it would not have taken "exterrestial means" for him to have done so.

The Cotswolds, the region where this was found is west of London, in the region of Oxford University, famous for it's archeology department, and where the Ashmolean Museum is located. I think this site is on the old Roman travel route between London and what the Brits today call "The West", where so much mining activity took place during Jesus time.

Joseph of Arimethia was in the shipping business big time, hauling tin from "The West" of England to Palestine, and probably to Rome as well. As a member of the Sanhedrin, he undoubtedly had lots of business clout (and of course owned the tomb in which Jesus was buried, briefly).

[LostTribe]

Thanks for posting the pics.

[Braak]

Neat stuff, I saw of the ruins from the romans left in Spain, the government takes good care of such treasures. I must say, one gets the impression one tends to trip over things Roman in Europe.

[goody2shooz]

Archaeologists from Bristol and Cardiff universities, who are carrying out the excavation, have also exhumed the body of a Roman teenage boy, whose head had been cut off and placed at his feet.

Interesting. The head of a Roman household, the Pater familias, legally held the power of life and death over members of his family and the household staff including slaves.

For example, the wife of Claudius Ceasar was executed on his order. She was beheaded by a Praetorian guard.

I don't know how archeologists at the site would have determined the teenager had his head separated from his body after death; it seems something a forensic pathologist would have to determine. But I can imagine an enraged Roman father or grandfather killing a young man for dishonoring the family in some way.

Roman writings of the period record such incidents.

[LostTribe]

This helps locate the archological site. I've spent quite a bit of time in the region, both while doing post-Doctoral work at Oxford University in Biblican Archeology, and many other times on weekend breaks from business trips to London. Was at Stonehenge before they fenced it and you could walk around freely among the stones.

[LostTribe]

>Roman writings of the period record such incidents.

Those had to be tough times, even for the wealthy.

[LostTribe]

>I must say, one gets the impression one tends to trip over things Roman in Europe.

Yes, it's rare to stumble into a find of this magnitude. Especially since this part of England sometimes seem so well "picked over" already.

[Publius]

There are legends in British lore that Joseph of Arimithea spent his last days at the Roman garrison at what is now Glastonbury and died in Britain. Wonder if there is any truth to the old stories?

[goody2shooz]

Um, I think as long as you followed the rules and remained cagey, it was okay. No one really had any independence though.

There has been a lot of nonsense about how much Amaricans and the Romans are alike. They were no where near being like us.

[You Gotta Be Kidding Me]

"Roman Villa"............."Bob Villa"............Hmmmmmmmm..................."This old Roman House" episode in the making?

Bob Villa ---"Norm will repair the plumbing in the vomitorium, while I talk to the architect about converting the slave quarters to a new family room and entertainment center complete with colleseum style surround sound."

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

They were no where near being like us.

Give us a few more years. Wait and see!

[Tokhtamish]

The wife of Claudius Caesar (Emperor Claudius), Messalina, held a public mock marriage with her lover in a public insult to him. That is rebellion and it had to be dealt with.

Perhaps then as now, the Cotswolds (where Bath is and where the Romans had a hot springs resort) was a resort area.

[blam]

"I think this site is on the old Roman travel route between London and what the Brits today call "The West", where so much mining activity took place during Jesus time."

Isn't this also the site of the of the tin mines of the Carthaginians (Phoenicians) of the 8th century BC? I've read that the Carthaginians ran a shipping blockade at Gilbralter to protect the source (England) of their tin.

[grumpster-dumpster]

"---"Norm will repair the plumbing in the vomitorium, while..." LOL! My question is: "Can talk of reparations for the slaves be far behind?"

Beautiful mosaic! IMHO, The "tile work" in Italy is the best in the world... but they got nothin' on America when it comes to stucco!

[mewzilla]

Cool beans. Thanks for the post.

[mewzilla]

Re: the severed head thing. The damage done to the cervical vertebrae would make it pretty obvious, even to an archaeologist :)

[mewzilla]

Oh, well, more caffeine for me. I didn't get the time of death angle. As for that, the damage might still provide a clue, but they'll most likely call in a forensic anthro, too. This site is one heck of a find.