2,000-year-old Roman wall paintings unearthed in London
A Museum of London Archaeology photo on June 19 shows sections of bird decorations from the Roman remains. PHOTO: AFP
LONDON - Archaeologists have unearthed one of the largest collections of painted Roman wall plaster ever found in London and painstakingly pieced the fragments together, they said on June 19.
The plaster, which was discovered on a construction site in 2021, once decorated around 20 internal walls of a high-status early Roman (AD 43-150) building in Southwark, south of the River Thames, the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) said.
The plaster was found dumped in a large pit, having been smashed into thousands of pieces during Roman demolition works that took place some time before AD 200.
MOLA senior building material specialist Han Li has spent the last three months laying out the fragments and reconstructing the designs.
'This has been a once in a lifetime moment, so I felt a mix of excitement and nervousness when I started to lay the plaster out,' he explained.
'Many of the fragments were very delicate and pieces from different walls had been jumbled together when the building was demolished, so it was like assembling the world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle.
'The result was seeing wall paintings that even individuals of the late Roman period in London would not have seen,' he added.
The reconstruction revealed bright yellow panel designs decorated with images of birds, fruit, flowers, and lyres not seen for 1800 years.
Among the fragments is evidence of a painter's signature, although their name is not among the pieces, as well as unusual graffiti of the ancient Greek alphabet.
Another fragment features the face of a crying woman with a Flavian period (AD 69-96) hairstyle.
The construction site has already yielded mosaics and a rare Roman mausoleum. AFP
MOLA senior building material specialist Han Li lays out Roman plaster fragments from the collection found in London.
PHOTO: AFP
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
When rich college kids dump designer items worth over $1,000
Ms Lena Geller with a toaster oven left behind when Duke University students moved out of her apartment complex at the end of the semester. PHOTO: CORNELL WATSON/NYTIMES Valentino sneakers that retail for US$980 (S$1,255). A Tovala toaster oven, originally US$390. A Clear Home Design Lucite table, which would have cost US$899 – except in this case, it was free. Ms Lena Geller found those items, and many others, in the dump of her apartment building in Durham, North Carolina, after scores of Duke University students had moved out at the end of the spring semester. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Straits Times
2,000-year-old Roman wall paintings unearthed in London
A Museum of London Archaeology photo on June 19 shows sections of bird decorations from the Roman remains. PHOTO: AFP LONDON - Archaeologists have unearthed one of the largest collections of painted Roman wall plaster ever found in London and painstakingly pieced the fragments together, they said on June 19. The plaster, which was discovered on a construction site in 2021, once decorated around 20 internal walls of a high-status early Roman (AD 43-150) building in Southwark, south of the River Thames, the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) said. The plaster was found dumped in a large pit, having been smashed into thousands of pieces during Roman demolition works that took place some time before AD 200. MOLA senior building material specialist Han Li has spent the last three months laying out the fragments and reconstructing the designs. 'This has been a once in a lifetime moment, so I felt a mix of excitement and nervousness when I started to lay the plaster out,' he explained. 'Many of the fragments were very delicate and pieces from different walls had been jumbled together when the building was demolished, so it was like assembling the world's most difficult jigsaw puzzle. 'The result was seeing wall paintings that even individuals of the late Roman period in London would not have seen,' he added. The reconstruction revealed bright yellow panel designs decorated with images of birds, fruit, flowers, and lyres not seen for 1800 years. Among the fragments is evidence of a painter's signature, although their name is not among the pieces, as well as unusual graffiti of the ancient Greek alphabet. Another fragment features the face of a crying woman with a Flavian period (AD 69-96) hairstyle. The construction site has already yielded mosaics and a rare Roman mausoleum. AFP MOLA senior building material specialist Han Li lays out Roman plaster fragments from the collection found in London. PHOTO: AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
11 hours ago
- Straits Times
Pink pond in Chinese village sparks fear of toxic water
A video of the pink pond at a village in China's central Henan province has gone viral since June 18. PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM WEIBO A group of residents in China woke up on June 18 to find that a pond in their village had turned pink mysteriously, raising concerns that their underground water might be contaminated. Worried about the quality of the water, residents of Matun village in central Henan province alerted the authorities to investigate the cause of the abnormal hue of the pond that was formed next to a dike along a river. A video of the rosy water quickly went viral. The village's party secretary Wang Kuaijing said the pond is 'still water', and the pinkness could be the result of a 'reaction when new water combines with existing water' in the pond, reported Jiupai News. She added that drinking water in the village had been tested and the results did not show any abnormalities. The local government said it has set up a team with officers from various departments to retrieve samples of the water and to investigate the businesses operating on both sides of the river for any wrongdoing. Water bodies, such as saltwater marshes, turning pink have also been reported in other parts of the world, and the phenomenon has been attributed to natural causes, such as an algal bloom. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
