NIJMEGEN, THE NETHERLANDS—Dutch News reports that a large Roman bathhouse complex has been unearthed in the eastern Netherlands as part of an investigation conducted ahead of a construction project. The structure, which was at least two times as large as other Roman bathhouses found in the Netherlands, was discovered in 1992. Recent excavations have revealed marble-clad interior walls, black-and-white limestone-tiled floors. The study also determined that the bathhouse stood in a prosperous area of the Roman city of Ulpia Noviomagus, surrounded by streets, luxury housing, and a tower. Researchers also uncovered jewelry, signet rings, coins, fragments of bronze statues, and a bronze bust of Bacchus, the Roman wine god. Archaeologist Erik Verhelst said that hundreds of bone hairpins decorated with depictions of cats were also recovered. One shows a standing cat with its tail up, he added. Coins dated to the third century and the reign of Emperor Postumus suggest that this area of the city was inhabited longer than had been previously thought.
