The results of excavations of ancient Roman villas amazed scientists

Many previously unknown objects have been identified

Archaeological excavations have discovered ancient Roman villas and Iron Age manors in Shropshire, England. New features near the Roman town of Wroxeter have been mapped using National Trust terrestrial scanning technology.

Photo: National Trust

An archaeological survey of more than 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) in Shropshire has revealed many previously unknown sites, including two grand Roman villas and several early Iron Age farmhouses, The Guardian reports.

During a geophysical survey, The National Trust's largest ever survey used terrestrial scanning technology to map undiscovered features near the site of the Roman town of Wroxeter, south of modern Shrewsbury.

As well as two buried villas, distinguished by their distinctive shape in the image, and eight prehistoric farmhouses, the archaeologists also discovered evidence of a Roman cemetery, a Roman road network and new features associated with a previously identified Anglo-Saxon great hall.

The National Trust, which owns the land, said the “one-of-a-kind” study was carried out to help it plan future plans for conservation and tree planting across the landscape as part of its ambitious climate change goals.< /p>

Viriconium Cornoviorum, or Wroxeter, was the fourth most important city of Roman Britain, and experts expected that the site of its stately home, Attingham Park, located next to the ruins of the city, would be of archaeological significance, said Janine Young, an archaeologist from the fund. Crop marks on the landscape during dry summers also indicated buried areas.

However, she said, the scale of the discoveries came as a surprise. “This is a very rich area from an archaeological point of view. I also look after other National Trust properties and you wouldn't get this level of occupancy anywhere else. Throughout history, this landscape has been quite densely populated, and it is this continuous settlement that is very exciting.”

According to Janine Young, there are only six other Roman villas known to exist in Shropshire — the equivalent of a large country estate — making the two new sites particularly significant. While there are no plans to excavate any time soon, she said it was “quite possible” that the objects discovered could include intricate mosaic floors and the remains of underfloor heating systems.

Young says: “The villas typically had mosaic floors and were often heated with hypocausts. These are the types of materials that are preserved underground because they are in the bottom layer, if you will. So it is quite possible that there would have been mosaic floors there if they had been preserved under the tilled soil, which these geophysical studies show they are.”

However, she noted that the estate's fences the Iron Age, which were particularly clear in terrestrial scans, were her favorite discovery. “We chose a charming little round object to represent a round house that was probably occupied by a family living in the Iron Age. It takes you right down to a personal level where we can see the outline of a house that people might live in.”

The National Trust says a better understanding of the landscape will help it “plan land use changes with its tenants, to help sequester carbon emissions, build resilience to climate change and support nature's recovery.» Young said: «We can protect archaeological finds, and also learn from how land has been used in the past to find the best possible use in the future.”