Ancient Buildings Unearthed in Roman Colchester

COLCHESTER, ENGLAND—BBC News reports that Roman tessellated floors, stone foundations, fragments of painted wall plaster, a tiny bone die for gaming, and a candle holder were uncovered in southeastern England during construction work near the town of Colchester’s ancient Roman wall. “This was clearly a fairly well-off part of Roman Colchester,” said archaeologist Philip Crummy. During the second and third centuries A.D., homes in this area were likely to have tessellated or mosaic floors, under-floor heating, piped water, and painted walls, he added. A coin dating to about A.D. 360 was also recovered. “What we can tell from what is on top of the floors is when it stopped being used,” Crummy explained, “and we can see from the remains lying on the floors that these buildings were left derelict to stand.” For more on Roman England, go to “London’s Earliest Writing.”