Roman Villa Found in Southeastern England

KENT, ENGLAND—Art News reports that archaeologists spotted the outlines of a Roman villa complex where wealthy farmers may have lived in southeast England in Google Earth images. Volunteers then assisted archaeologist Richard Taylor of the Kent Archaeological Society to uncover the foundations of the main villa and the adjacent bathhouse. Parts of the hypocaust system that circulated heat through the walls and floors of the bathhouse also survived. “There are many villas spread across Kent, but the fact that there’s a hypocaust system remaining is rare,” Taylor said. “Operating a hypocaust was expensive, requiring a constant supply of fuels—firewood—and a workforce to operate it.” The archaeologists also unearthed a fourth-century A.D. amphora-shaped belt adornment, a small Romano-British key, two fourth-century coins, pottery, and some wall plaster. To read about a mid-fifth century A.D. mosaic uncovered at a Roman villa in Gloucestershire, go to "After the Fall."