ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS - British Tin Really Did Fuel The European Bronze Age!

In late March 2020, the UK stopped. In one of the most significant historical events since the Second World War, for the next eight weeks, the streets were silent. Pubs closed. Motorways empty. In an unprecedented moment of national mourning, even Greggs shut its doors. And yet, all over the country, something strange happened too. People took up new hobbies, or got back to grips with old ones. Out on their government-mandated daily exercise, people who'd never walked before began to enjoy the great delights of the British countryside. Others looked to their local areas much more intently, finding new places to visit. Archaeologists, too, took the time to scour the land from the comfort of their own homes using satellite data, making several astounding new discoveries. Even in the darkest of times, there can be a silver lining. In Rutland, England's smallest county, wedged between Leicestershire, Cambridge and Lincoln, the situation was the same. When Jim Irvine, the son of a local farmer, went out to walk the land one day during the lockdown, he spotted something he hadn't been looking for, nor expected to find. Unusual pottery jutting out of the ground. Taking the pieces home, he began looking at satellite imagery of the field. There, he saw the faint outlines of buildings, entombed in the ground for who knows how long. Irvine describes it as an oh-wow moment. Those outlines would take up all of his free time over the next year and a half. Soon enough, archaeologists from the University of Leicester were called in, and the site confirmed to be a late Roman villa, hidden for some 1600 years. And not just any villa, a great sized one from the 3rd or 4th centuries, a rarity in this part of the country. And that's not all. Under the ground emerged patterns and colours, and as more and more dirt was shoveled away, a great fresco of the ancient world. Astride mighty war chariot, the great hero Achilles galloped forth, seeking battle with the storied Trojan prince, Hector. This is the only Trojan war mosaic ever found in Britain, and one of the rarest in all of Europe. It speaks of a time when an immensely wealthy classical elite held court here in the East Midlands. Links stretching all across the known world. When finally announced to the public in late November 2021, the discovery was hailed by many archaeologists as one of the greatest finds in a hundred years. And it's placed the tiny county on an international stage. This is the story of Rutland's Roman Villa, and it's only just begun. Let's have a look. When Constantius Chlorus arrived in Britain at the end of the 3rd century, a bloodthirsty warrior lord riding at the head of his battle-hardened legions, victorious from innumerable battles with kinsmen and barbarian hordes alike, he entered a land that had had little to do with much of the rest of the empire for at least a generation or more. The chaos of the 3rd century and the necessity of self-defence having spawned a slew of self-proclaimed Emperors of Britannia. When they turned their gaze across the Channel, these little-known generals and military leaders looked to the similarly independent rulers of Gaul rather than Rome. And yet, they still saw themselves as Roman. By the year 300 however, times had changed. For all their pomposity and grandeur, all were usurpers in the eyes of the new boss, and all alike would be swept aside in his fury. Painstakingly pieced back together by the efforts of Aurelian and Diocletian, the empire was strong once more, and Constantius had been sent in to do a job. By the time his son Constantine began campaigning north of Hadrian's Wall against the barbarous Picts a decade later, Britannia was firmly back within the international system of empire, and a flourishing of aristocratic life came with it. As far as the archaeological and historical records are concerned, Britannia was an unusual place in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Its cities having declined in population as the legionaries and their purchasing power were gradually withdrawn, needed elsewhere in the massive unwieldy state. Almost all became fortified, replacing their bathhouses and theatres with elaborate defence works. Yet, perhaps paradoxically, for the most part, rural life continued unchanged, and some towns even grew. In fact, archaeology has revealed a remarkable revival and growth of rural life at this time, with many new villas being built, and flourishing, particularly those scattered around the south of the province and towards the Irish Sea, a source of trade and riches even when links to the continent were severed. And now, as this new discovery hammers home, villas were by no means contained to the south, but show a flourishing of elite activity in the Midlands and the North too. In August 2020, just as the country came out of full lockdown, getting back to relative normality for a short time, archaeologists from the University of Leicester finally secured funding to conduct urgent excavations at Rutland. What they found there was amazing. Placed within a series of boundary ditches, the villa is surrounded by what appear to be barns, circular structures and even a possible bathhouse. As most Roman villas tend to have lost most of their surrounding buildings over the centuries, this is a hugely significant find. The entire settlement seems to be still visible and very well preserved, providing unique insights into what essentially amounts to a late Roman manor house and accompanying estate. But of course, the most amazing find of all was in the great central building. On the floor of a room, probably once used as an entertaining or dining area, were found the remains of an elaborate and unique mosaic. Measuring some 11 by 7 metres, this is the only depiction of Achilles and the Trojan War ever found in Britain, and one of only a handful from the entire empire. Whether this was a last flourishing of paganism in a world converting to Christianity, we can't be sure. Though during the time people feasted here, most Roman officials were becoming Christian. Constantine made it the official state religion in the 330s and his son Constantius II used it as an arm of diplomacy. By this time, towards the end of the 4th century, everyone of note was becoming Christian. This was already a relic of sorts, or at least soon would be. Thus, the Rutland Villa provides a vivid insight into the life and later demise of the local Romano-British elite. Having opted in for the last great flourishing of the empire, they were soon trapped by its prosperity. Clearly, the villa's owner was an individual with a keen interest and knowledge of the classics, who had the money and means to commission such a piece at this remarkable time of change and upheaval. Where it came from, we can't say, but the great mosaic factory at Cirencester is always a possibility. Creating and shipping similar works far and wide throughout the empire, even after its fall. For by the early 5th century, if the inhabitants of this villa hadn't already left, they soon would. Many of the villas near the Severn and the Cotswolds were sacked and burned. There is evidence of burning at Rutland too, even in the mosaic itself. And then, above the mosaic, human remains were found, interred here apparently after a period of abandonment. Seeming to still have some relevance for those who came after. Were the crumbling ruins here used as a shrine in the years that followed? A monument to the old world? Or by an incoming people who had an entirely different meaning for the place? Whether those later generations still understood the meaning of the mosaic, we'll never know. But it's interesting to wander nonetheless. I recently walked the halls of the Great Museum of the Americas in Madrid, witnessing elaborate and immense frescoes of another lost world. That of the Maya. Yet one which sadly we have almost no literary record of. For the most part, we can only guess what these elaborate images mean. In the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries, for at least some of those looking at the images of the old empire of Rome, whose burned out remains they now inhabited, it must have been the same. With no context or frame of reference to link them to a meaningful story, these are just images, no more. Be happy we have any writing left at all to see into those generations so long ago. That ramble in 2020 was one which caused a remarkable discovery. Get out into the nature, people. Who knows what you will find. The Rutland Villa is on private land, its location hidden to protect it. Excavations will continue, and there are plans afoot to eventually open it to the public. Fingers crossed. You've been watching Archaeology News. Don't forget to like and subscribe. Let me know what you think in the comments, and I'll see you next time.