Tuesday, July 02, 2013

Roman shrine found at Rutland Water

From BBC News:
Archaeologists have uncovered a Roman shrine at Rutland Water nature reserve. 
The team from Northamptonshire Archaeology investigated the site ahead of a 240-acre extension to the reserve by Anglian Water. 
They found the remains of an Iron Age farmstead, and a shrine dating from about AD100.
The report goes on:
The team discovered a circular stone building, about 10.5m (34ft) wide, with decorated red and white painted walls. 
They also found more than 200 Roman coins, pottery jars, part of a small bronze figurine and deposits of animal bone, probably from the ritual sacrifice of lambs and cattle. 
A skeleton of a man, aged about 30, was buried in a grave in the centre of the shrine.
When I mentioned this to Lord Bonkers he said that the shrine's proximity to Rutland Water must mean it marks the spot where the Romans first landed in Rutland.

For more on Lord Bonkers, Rutland and archaeology, see his recent diary entry.

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