
Metal detectorist finds two Roman swords — then ancient settlement uncovered
In the United Kingdom, a recent catalyst of discovery came in the form of two centuries-old weapons discovered by a metal detectorist.
Glenn Manning was only on his second metal detecting search ever when his machine pinged on two Roman-era swords in the spring of 2023 in Willersey, according to a July 4 news release from Historic England and an interview with The Guardian.
The swords were donated to the Corinium Museum, and X-rays were later taken of the weapons to see past the degradation, according to Historic England.
The swords still had traces of their scabbards, or cases, but had been severely damaged over time, officials said.
'The X-rays clearly show that the swords were constructed differently: one has evidence of decorative pattern welding running down the (center), whereas the other sword is plain,' Historic England said. 'The pattern-welded sword would have been more expensive to produce and therefore higher status.'
The swords themselves were a significant find, but their discovery sparked interest in searching the area for any other Roman items, officials said.
Instead, archaeologists found an entire settlement.
At least three, and possibly more, Iron Age ring ditches reaching about 60 feet across were unearthed, as well as a large rectangular enclosure, according to Historic England.
Archaeologists also found 'possible evidence of a Roman villa, which may also have a pair of flanking wings, one at either end of a central range,' according to the release.
Roman building materials like ceramic roofing tiles, box flue tiles and painted plaster were also found at the site, archaeologists said.
Finding the swords, and therefore the settlement, was like the 'stars aligning,' Cotswold Archaeology project officer Peter Busby, told The Guardian.
Busby said the swords had been damaged by farm machinery and likely would have been destroyed if they weren't identified during the metal detecting search.
'It was phenomenally lucky,' Busby told the outlet. 'The swords were within half an inch, no more than an inch, of oblivion.'
The swords are believed to be 'spatha' or long swords used by horse-riding Romans in the second and third centuries and date to about the same time as the suspected villa, according to Historic England.
The swords may have been intentionally buried in the courtyard or garden near the villa to protect them from being stolen by the Saxons who were moving through the region, officials told The Guardian.
Along with the Roman items, archaeologists also uncovered an older Iron Age burial with an iron arm band and a horse skull in a nearby pit, as well as an arm and hand found in a different trench, according to Historic England.
The human remains were dated to between 800 and 100 B.C., according to The Guardian.
A final report is still to come from archaeologists, and more work is needed to confirm the Roman villa and understand why it might have been built at an Iron Age site, officials said.
'I am very proud of how much our team of volunteers, professional archaeologists and metal detectorists achieved in 15 days, despite the heavy January rain,' Busby said in the release. 'We turned a ploughed field, the swords and geophysical anomalies into the story of a settlement spanning hundreds of years — the first stage in telling the history of these fields and their cavalry swords.'
Willersey is in south-central England, about a 95-mile drive northwest from London.
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We were perhaps the first to give him his proper place in the eyes of the public, either in spreading his system more widely in our musical instruction or in making known the full significance of his invention.' Louis Braille did not live to see the universal adoption of braille. He died on January 6, 1852, surrounded by his brother and friends. Not a single newspaper carried a death notice for the man called 'the apostle of light' by Jean Roblin, the first curator of the Louis Braille Museum. Students raised money for Parisian sculptor François Jouffroy to create a marble bust based on Braille's death mask. In 1878 in Paris, a global congress for deaf and blind people proposed an inter- national braille standard. Braille was officially adopted by English speakers in 1932, and postwar UNESCO efforts unified adaptations in India, Africa, and the Middle East. Braille's profound legacy cannot be overstated. 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But neuroscientists argue that writing is essential for thinking, brain connectivity, and learning. The cognitive benefits of writing are fundamentally important. Studies have shown that when a blind person reads braille through touch, the visual cortex is illuminated. With a shortage of braille teachers worldwide, braille literacy has plummeted, and its very future is in peril. Saïdi-Hamid, the curator of the Louis Braille Museum for nearly 17 years, equates her fight to defend braille as a 'combat to defend intelligence itself.' Noting Braille's 'extraordinary personality,' Saïdi-Hamid said, 'he always perceived his disability as a strength and not as a limitation.' As Braille fought during his lifetime, the fight must go on. (How the wheelchair opened up the world to millions of people.) U.S.S.R and India: Alamy; Qatar: Shutterstock Six million people around the world use braille today. Its future is secure in a high-tech world. It can be easily converted to digital formats, and it can be read and written on tactile displays on computers or tablets. An expert braille user can read 200 words a minute (most sighted people can read 250). Although braille literacy is declining, it will be necessary for a future in which an aging population increases the number of blind and visually impaired people. Its strength as a universal system that can be used by anyone, regardless of their linguistic background, has attained international hero status for its French creator. Numerous countries have paid homage to Braille in their postage stamps, including these stamps (clockwise from the left: the U.S.S.R., Qatar, and India). This story appeared in the July/August 2025 issue of National Geographic History magazine.