Roman Well Excavated in Portsmouth

PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND—A third-century well has been excavated on the southern coast of England. Coins, a bronze ring bearing an image of Neptune, and the skeletons of eight dogs have been recovered from the Roman-era well, which was lined with stone from the Isle of Wight. Andy Russel of the Southampton Archaeology Unit thinks that the dogs, which may have been used for fighting because they had wounds that had healed, could have been dropped in the well as a sacrifice to the gods. “I’ve never come across a deposit of dogs down a Roman pit or well before—it’s intriguing,” he said. The ring may have been worn by a Roman sailor, he added.