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2,000-Year-Old Theatre Street Unearthed at Aspendos with Shops, Bakery and Ancient Sewer
Archaeologists at Aspendos in southern Turkey have uncovered nearly 300 metres of a 2,000-year-old street lined with shops, houses, public buildings and a well-preserved bread oven. Known as the Theatre Street, the road once connected Aspendos’s famous Roman theatre with the acropolis above. It was one of the ancient city’s main internal routes, carrying residents…
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A 1,700-Year-Old Roman Board Game from Vindolanda Is Playable Again Thanks to 3D Printing
A 1,700-year-old Roman board game excavated at Vindolanda, one of the most important archaeological sites on Hadrian’s Wall, has been made playable again through 3D scanning and 3D printing. The replica allows visitors to handle and play a version of the game while the original stone board remains protected. The project centers on a stone…
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Nearly 5,000-Square-Meter Roman Bathhouse, the Largest in the Netherlands, Unearthed in Nijmegen
Archaeologists in Nijmegen have uncovered the largest Roman bathhouse ever found in the Netherlands, a nearly 5,000-square-meter complex that once served the Roman city of Ulpia Noviomagus. The discovery was made in the Waalfront district, where a former industrial area is being prepared for new housing. According to the Municipality of Nijmegen, archaeologists from RAAP…
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A Building Older Than Hadrian’s Villa Has Been Found at Villa Adriana
Archaeologists working at Villa Adriana have uncovered a structure that may predate one of the Roman world’s most famous imperial residences. The newly identified underground feature, found in the Palazzo area of the UNESCO World Heritage site near Tivoli, could be the oldest documented construction so far known at Hadrian’s Villa. The discovery was made…
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Restored Agrippina the Elder Statue Reveals New Details After Centuries of Darkened Layers
For years, the face of Agrippina the Elder had been difficult to read. Old waxes, oxidized oils, varnish and surface grime had darkened the marble, softening the details of one of the most important Roman portraits ever found at ancient Veleia. Now, after a careful restoration in Parma, the larger than life-sized statue has returned…
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Rare 1,800-Year-Old Roman Scutum Reveals the Painted World of Legionary Warfare
A shield once carried by a Roman legionary on the empire’s eastern frontier is now studied as one of the rarest surviving examples of ancient military equipment. Found at Dura-Europos in present-day Syria, the painted Roman scutum is not only a preserved weapon of defense. It is also a remarkable archaeological document of Roman frontier…
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Rare Intact Roman Grave Found Beneath Croatian Market Opens a Window Into Ancient Cibalae
A rare intact Roman grave in Vinkovci has transformed a modern market reconstruction project in eastern Croatia into a striking encounter with ancient Cibalae, one of the most important Roman cities of southern Pannonia. Archaeologists working ahead of the €3.8 million reconstruction of Vinkovci’s open-air city market have identified 44 Roman graves at the site.…
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Tiny Roman Good-Luck Charm Found at Carlisle Reveals the Superstitions of Life on Hadrian’s Wall
A tiny Roman good-luck charm found in northern England has brought archaeologists closer to the private fears, hopes and protective rituals of people who lived on Rome’s frontier nearly 1,800 years ago. The phallus-shaped Roman artefact was discovered during excavations at Carlisle Cricket Club in Cumbria, where archaeologists have been investigating the remains of a…
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Roman Tool Discovered in Czech Republic May Reveal How Legionary Chainmail Was Made
A small iron plate, punctured with a precise sequence of holes, may hold the key to how Roman craftsmen produced one of the empire’s most recognizable forms of armor. Discovered in the Czech Republic, the object appears to have been used to draw metal wires—an essential step in the production of Roman chainmail. Archaeologists believe…