A few weeks ago I wrote that there was not much chance of making amazing new physical discoveries for London's Roman and post-Roman past as most of the archaeology has been destroyed by later rebuilding. It is the curse of jounalism that as soon as you make a confident assertion you are immediately proved wrong and so it is with me today.
A team led by Museum of London Archaeologists (MOLA) digging the bed of the now 'lost' river Walbrook have uncovered an area of Roman London occupied between AD47 and the early fifth century so extensive they have dubbed it the 'Pompeii of the north' principally because the mud and silt of the former riverbed has provided an anaerobic environment which means that even organic artefacts like leather and wood have been perfectly preserved.
A spokesman for MOLA revealed that the site contains layer upon layer of Roman timber buildings, built-up waterfronts, fences and yards all beautifull preserved and containing amazing personal items, clothes and documents. The latter are perhaps the most exciting find of all, around 100 fragments of Roman writing tablets, everything from names and addresses to personal letters. Up until now very few written records of Roman London have come to light.
The dig has also uncovered a previously unexcavated part of the Temple of Mithras which we did know about. It was originally discovered in 1954.
The exceptional preservation of the timbers means that it will be possible to date them using dendrochronology and the archaeologists believe they will date to before AD47 which will be very interesting as this would suggest the infrastructure pre-dates the Roman conquest and thus must be of pre-Roman Celtic construction. Altogether the discoveries are truly exceptional and will give us a great insight into London's Roman history.
Pictures from the site can be seen at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-22086375
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