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Pensioner pals Graham Ryan and Bob Dennison, who live next to each other at Beckfoot, near Silloth, found the ring in January last year while using their metal detectors on a Maryport beach. has been declared as treasure after being examined by experts at both Tullie House in Carlisle and the British Museum in London. Mr Ryan, 73, has also been told his suggested name for the treasure - Angie's ring - has been accepted. Mr Dennison's daughter, Angie, 43, died last year... Recalling the day they found the ring, he said: "It was bitterly cold, and we just went...

Roman boxing gloves have been discovered near Hadrian's Wall, thought to be the only known surviving examples, even though the sport was well- documented on Roman wall paintings, mosaics and sculptures. With a protective guard designed to fit snugly over the knuckles, the gloves were packed with natural material which acted as shock absorbers. They date from around AD120 and were certainly made to last: they still fit comfortably on a modern hand. One of them even retains the impression of the knuckles of its ancient wearer. They are among the latest discoveries at a pre-Hadrianic Roman cavalry barrack, which...

Nowhere gets you closer to the Romans on Hadrian's Wall than the fort and settlement of Vindolanda, the extraordinary hoard of personal artefacts gives you a unique insight into the lives of people living here 2000 years ago. The latest addition to the collection of artefacts from the current excavation has certainly made an impression on everyone. Someone 2000 years ago quite literally put their foot in it and as a result a volunteer digging at the site has unearthed a tile with a clear imprint of a human foot that accidentally, or perhaps mischievously stood on the freshly made...

Human remains dug up from an ancient grave in Oxfordshire add to a growing body of evidence that Britain's fifth-century transition from Roman to Anglo-Saxon was cultural rather than bloody. The traditional historical narrative is one of brutal conquest, with invaders from the North wiping out and replacing the pre-existing population. But a new study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, hints at a more peaceful process. Dr Andrew Millard, from Durham University, is one of the study's authors. 'The main controversy over the years has centred on how many Anglo-Saxons came across the North Sea,' he says. 'Was...

Scientists have determined that fragments of artifacts recovered from the Broxmouth Iron Age hill fort in the 1970s were forged from high-carbon steel. The objects, which date to between 490 and 375 B.C., may have been tools or weapons. “The process of manufacturing steel requires extensive knowledge, skill and craftsmanship. It is far from straightforward, which is why such an early example of its production tells us so much about the people who once occupied this hill fort,” said Gerry McDonnell of the University of Bradford. The site featured well-preserved roundhouses, hill fort entrances, and an Iron Age cemetery.

Archaeologists have found more than 600 relics from a huge battle between a Roman army and Barbarians in the third century, long after historians believed Rome had given up control of northern Germany. "We have to write our history books new, because what we thought was that the activities of the Romans ended at nine or 10 (years) after Christ," said Lutz Stratmann, science minister for the German state of Lower Saxony. "Now we know that it must be 200 or 250 after that." For weeks, archeologist Petra Loenne and her team have been searching this area with metal detectors,...

Archaeologists working near the village of Dunning found an Iron Age broch which has evidence of early contact between the Picts and the Roman Empire. The broch -- a drystone wall structure -- is the first of its kind to be found in the Scottish lowlands for 100 years. Evidence shows that the Roman dwelling was destroyed by fire and then probably reoccupied by a Pictish warlord... Brochs were the preferred residence of the elite during Roman times. The team said the "exquisitely preserved" Dunning example was built at the top of a hill and offers a 360-degree views of...

For more than 2000 years a suburb of monumental Roman buildings lay undiscovered beneath a modern South Wales town, but now archaeologists from Cardiff University hope to reveal the secrets of this fascinating ancient site. In spring 2010, staff and students from the School of History, Archaeology and Religion located a complex of buildings outside the Roman fortress at Caerleon. The 'Lost City of the Legion' -- as it has been called -- was completely unknown and is a major addition to our knowledge of Roman Britain. Geophysical surveys taken by the Cardiff team at the time of the discovery...

The disappearance of Rome's Ninth Legion has long baffled historians, but could a brutal ambush have been the event that forged the England-Scotland border, asks archaeologist Dr Miles Russell.One of the most enduring legends of Roman Britain concerns the disappearance of the Ninth Legion. The theory that 5,000 of Rome's finest soldiers were lost in the swirling mists of Caledonia, as they marched north to put down a rebellion, forms the basis of a new film, The Eagle, but how much of it is true? > Hadrian's Wall was designed to keep invaders out of Roman territory as well ensuring...

It is a major public sector building project which has been delayed, causing headaches for bosses and the public. But it is decapitated skeletons and 2000-year-old forts rather than red tape and swelling costs that have caused the hold-up for the new health centre in Musselburgh... significant Roman remains were discovered... human remains, the bones of horses and weapons and culinary tools. Archeologists there said the "unique" finds, among the most impressive ever discovered in Scotland from that period, will help build a picture not only of Roman activity in Musselburgh from 140AD, but improve the wider understanding of life...

English taxpayers face being held to ransom by Scottish and Welsh nationalists in a 'rainbow' coalition to prop up Labour - despite having voted overwhelmingly for the Conservatives. Even though Labour and the Liberal Democrats have now entered talks over a possible deal, they will only get a Commons majority if they ally themselves with minority parties from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But these parties, such as the SNP and Plaid Cymru, have said they will demand their countries be protected from cuts as a price for keeping Labour in No 10. Although last week's election was inconclusive across...

The majestic Hadrian's Wall is an awe-inspiring sight at the best of times. But last night it took on a magical new light as 500 flaming torches were dotted end to end along the 84-mile long Roman fortification. As night fell, a group of 500 volunteers holding gas-powered beacons and standing 250m apart created a 30 minute 'line of light' in a spectacle to mark the 1600th anniversary of the end of Roman rule.

When Anglo-Saxons first arrived in Britain 1,600 years ago, they created an apartheid-like society that oppressed the native Britons and wiped out almost all of the British gene pool, according to a new study. By treating Britons like slaves and imposing strict rules, the small band of Anglo-Saxons -- who had come from what is now Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands -- quickly dominated the country, leaving a legacy of Germanic genes and the English language, both of which still dominate Britain today. The new theory helps explain historical, archaeological, and genetic evidence that until now had seemed contradictory, including...

Archaeologists have uncovered a small - but vital - clue to the use of a chariot in Moray. The piece for a horse harness was found during the latest dig at an Iron Age site at Birnie, near Elgin. Dr Fraser Hunter, of the National Museums of Scotland, said it was further evidence of the high status of its inhabitants. Excavations would have been unlikely at Birnie if not for the discovery of Roman coins 10 years ago. Glass beads that may have been made at Culbin Sands, near Nairn, in the Highlands, a dagger and quern stones for making...

It begins in Old Kilpatrick, on the River Clyde, and ends in Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth. It runs inconspicuously by cemeteries, schools and rows of shops, along streets where pedestrians walk, probably unknowingly, along its spine. In some places railway tracks and roads cross it, in others the trains and traffic race alongside. The Antonine Wall is Scottish history's forgotten legacy. Yet when members of Unesco's World Heritage Committee meet in Quebec tomorrow, the wall -- built by the Romans in AD142 -- will be on their agenda. Having applied for World Heritage Site status, it is on...

Excavations In Iran Unravel Mystery Of 'Red Snake' ScienceDaily (Feb. 18, 2008) — New discoveries unearthed at an ancient frontier wall in Iran provide compelling evidence that the Persians matched the Romans for military might and engineering prowess. The 'Great Wall of Gorgan'in north-eastern Iran, a barrier of awesome scale and sophistication, including over 30 military forts, an aqueduct, and water channels along its route, is being explored by an international team of archaeologists from Iran and the Universities of Edinburgh and Durham. This vast Wall-also known as the 'Red Snake'-is more than 1000 years older than the Great Wall...

An unexpected historical discovery has been made at Scottish Water's site at Glencorse, near Penicuik -- a Roman marching camp nearly 2000 years old. The revelation has provided another clue as to how the Romans organised their occupation of the Lothians. It had not been confirmed whether the site was, in fact, a Roman marching camp, which had previously only been suggested by aerial photographs... It is believed the site, which is part of a network of other bases, watchtowers and camps across lowland Scotland, was situated to guard a gap in the Pentland Hills to the northwest of Flotterstone...

Roman tombstone found at Inveresk The tombstone was found near the line of a Roman road The first Roman tombstone found in Scotland for 170 years has been unearthed at Carberry, near Inveresk. The red sandstone artefact was for a man called Crescens, a bodyguard for the governor who ran the province of Britain for the Roman Emperor. The National Museum of Scotland said the stone provided the strongest evidence yet that Inveresk was a pivotal Roman site in northern Britain. It was found by amateur enthusiast Larney Cavanagh at the edge of a field. It had been ploughed up...

Archaeologists have found a camp thought to have been built to accommodate Roman construction workers who constructed the Antonine Wall. It was discovered in a dig following the demolition of the former OKI factory at Tollpark, near Castlecary, North Lanarkshire. Ross White of CFA Archaeology said the rectangular camp's outline was first identified in cropmarks on aerial photographs taken in the late 1940s, before the development of the area. The camp was situated about 400 metres south of the Antonine Wall and midway between the Roman forts at Westerwood and Castlecary... Construction of the Antonine Wall began in 142, during...

Scotland's culture minister has thrown her weight behind the bid to make the Antonine Wall a World Heritage Site... Five local authorities are also supporting the bid, which was officially launched in 2003. The Antonine Wall runs 37 miles from Bo'ness, near Falkirk, to Old Kilpatrick in West Dunbartonshire... built in 140AD to keep Pictish warriors out of the Roman Empire after the conquest of southern Scotland... The Antonine Wall was built after the Romans invaded southern and central Scotland almost 2,000 years ago. It became a monument to the reign of Emperor Antonius Pius but was abandoned after just...