SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND—According to a report in The Guardian, more than 800 broken whetstones have been found in northern England on the banks of the River Wear. The site is about 10 miles south of Hadrian’s Wall, in an area where no evidence of Roman occupation had previously been uncovered. Underwater archaeologist Gary Bankhead of Durham University said that many more stones may remain in the riverbank, which is now thought to have been a Roman production hub. Sandstone may have been quarried from the north riverbank and moved to the flatter, southern bank, where whetstones were shaped. Vessels on the river could then have transported the finished whetstones to other parts of the British Isles and to seagoing vessels. “We’ve found the broken ones, the off-cuts,” Bankhead said. “The second it fractures, it’s useless, it can’t be used, which is why they remain here,” he explained. To read about previous artifacts recovered from the River Wear, go to "Anchors Aweigh."
