NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, ENGLAND—According to a statement released by Newcastle University, a team of researchers led by James Gerrard uncovered about 30 pounds of litharge, a material associated with the extraction of silver from other metals, at a small, rural Roman site in southeastern England known as Grange Farm. The amount of litharge indicates that the Romans refined silver at the site on an industrial scale, yet the researchers have not uncovered any evidence of infrastructure to support such a large-scale operation. So far, they have found traces of a rectangular building dated to the late third or early fourth century A.D. Divided into three aisles, the building was likely used as a dwelling and for metalworking on a small scale. The site also yielded a mausoleum with a floor of red mosaic tiles. Inside, Gerrard and his colleagues found a lead-lined coffin holding the remains of an elderly woman. Chemical analysis of her teeth suggests that she had lived locally. Gerrard suggests the rural site’s proximity to the River Medway may have made the export of large amounts of silver possible, perhaps without the knowledge of the Roman state. To read about silver mining in the Roman world, go to "Spain's Silver Boom."
1,500-Year-Old Silver Site Uncovered in England
News March 16, 2022
Recommended Articles
Digs & Discoveries March/April 2023
Early Medieval Elegance
Artifacts January/February 2022
Roman Key Handle
Digs & Discoveries November/December 2021
Identifying the Unidentified
Digs & Discoveries September/October 2021
Leisure Seekers
-
Features January/February 2022
At Face Value
Researchers are using new scientific methods to investigate how artists in Roman Egypt customized portraits for the dead
(© The Trustees of the British Museum) -
Letter from the Galapagos Islands January/February 2022
Transforming the Enchanted Isles
Archaeologists uncover the remote archipelago’s forgotten human history
(Courtesy Historical Ecology of the Galapagos Islands Project) -
Artifacts July/August 2024
Etruscan Oil Lamp
(Courtesy Museo dell’Accademia Etrusca e della Città di Cortona; © DeA Picture Library/Art Resource, NY) -
Digs & Discoveries January/February 2022
The Roots of Violence
(Courtesy of the Wendorf Archives of the British Museum)