SC - Unknown Roman Town Is Unearthed - OOP

[Groulx, Michelle]

Hi there,

Filched from the Electronic Telegraph in the UK, Tuesday 11 August 1998.
Thought it might be interesting to the early period people.

Micaylah

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Unknown Roman Town Is Unearthed
By David Millward 

A PREVIOUSLY unknown Roman town has been discovered by archaeologists on the
site of a planned housing estate.

The town, which is believed to have covered 25 acres, lies on farmland about
two miles from Ashford, Kent. Its exact location has not been disclosed to
avoid artifacts being removed by treasure hunters.

A team from the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit found evidence of the site
when carrying out a geophysical survey of the land before the developers
were allowed to move in. Their machinery detected evidence that ditches had
been dug in the land, indicating that a settlement once existed on the site,
which lies at the junction of two Roman roads.

The team has already removed 3,000 artifacts. Pottery has enabled them to
establish that the town was occupied for 250 years before being abandoned in
the 4th Century. The roads within the town are flanked by rectangular
enclosures, which are believed to have been plots for houses. Roof tiles,
hearths and                   ovens have also been uncovered.

Maurice Chenery, one of the archaeologists, said: "Nothing was known about
this town before. It was not a walled settlement but at 25 acres it was
pretty big. We are looking at a shanty settlement, rather like a Wild West
town."

A spokesman for English Heritage described the find as significant. He said:
"It is a substantial Roman settlement and it is rare to get sites like this
surviving under agricultural land." Discussions are taking place with the
owner of the land, Wilcon Homes, to agree how much of the site can be saved
for posterity.


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