Big excavations and finds

One of the most famous and significant archaeological discoveries is the ancient town of Pompeii in south-western Italy. After years of painstaking excavation and conservation, it is now possible to walk around its streets and buildings. Thousands of artefacts and items from everyday life have been retrieved, which tell us how the people of Pompeii lived and died.

Pompeii was a thriving commercial port, until it was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79, lying forgotten under tonnes of volcanic ash and pumice for almost 1700 years. Excavations to recover items of art began in the 17th century and Pompeii was officially discovered in 1763, when an inscription was unearthed. Major buildings were excavated in 1820, but the true significance of the site wasn’t realised until archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli began work there in 1860.

Fiorelli systematically excavated the remains of the town, layer by layer. He found that the remains of the victims had been preserved in ash, and, by pouring plaster of Paris into the cavities, he created ‘body casts’ of the dead. This system is still used by archaeologists today, who now use a rubber or fibreglass compound so that the bones inside are visible.

In 1939, researchers discovered one of the most important finds in British archaeology; an immense timber ship buried beneath Sutton Hoo, in East Anglia. It was an Anglo-Saxon burial chamber, believed to be the grave of King Raewald, who died around AD625. Excavations yielded gold coins, jewellery, weapons and a helmet, which are now held at the British Museum. Further burial mounds were investigated in the 1980s; researchers found a warrior buried beside his horse, but most of the other graves had been plundered a few hundred years before.

There are many ancient sites in Britain that have revealed what life was like during the period of Roman occupation. During the 19th century, archaeologists began to investigate the sites around Hadrian’s Wall. Emperor Hadrian began building the fortified wall in AD122, to mark the northernmost boundary of the Roman Empire. Taking six years to complete, it stretched all the way from South Shields in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west and large parts are still visible today.

Through excavation and research, experts have gained an understanding of how and why the wall was constructed and what life was really like for the Roman legionnaires and civilian population who lived in the forts along the wall. Artefacts that have been discovered include pottery and textiles, leather goods and wooden objects and rare Roman writing tablets.

Bignor Villa in West Sussex is an amazingly well preserved example of a Roman villa, dating from the 3rd century. A farmer came across the site accidentally in 1811 and antiquarians excavated the villa over the next eight years. Work began again in 1925 and today visitors can see the glory of the sumptuous mosaics that were unearthed. Rooms uncovered and preserved include a bathhouse, changing rooms and two dining rooms, one that had evidence of under floor heating.