Archaeologists excavating a site in the north of England have discovered this Tuesday that their findings amount to one of the country´s most important ancient Roman sites.
The team digging at Binchester, Durham county, in the north of England made a number of discoveries, including: a bath house, a silver ring and an inscribed altar dedicated to a Roman goddess. They only now verified the significance of their findings.
The discovery is “hugely significant,” said Dr David Mason, principle archeologist at Durham County Council, reported the BBC.
"They are virtually in tact and present a graphic illustration of life under the Roman Empire,” said Mason, referring to the town in central Italy that was largely destroyed in 79 AD when Mount Vesuvius erupted, and preserved by volcanic ash.
"They are so stunning and spectacular that we can claim we have our very own 'Pompeii of the north' right on our doorstep," he said.
Last year, an 1,800-year-old carved stone head of what is believed to be a Roman god was found at the site, while earlier this year the team found the silver ring which is to be “one of the earliest pieces of evidence for Christianity in Roman Britain.”
According to project coordinator Dr David Petts, a lecturer in a archaeology at Durham University, "Our excavations have uncovered parts of one of the best preserved Roman buildings in Britain.
"The most unique feature of these remains is the sheer scale of their preservation. It is possible to walk through a series of Roman rooms with walls all above head height. This is pretty exceptional for Roman Britain," he said, as reported by the BBC.
The altar was dedicated to the Roman goddess, Fortune the Home-bringer, and was inscribed by a retired trooper who described his rank as “architectus.”
According to the archaeological team, this is the only example, outside of Rome, which shows architects were on the staff of auxiliary cavalry units and not just the legions of the Emperor's personal protection unit.
The country also claimed to have found “the Pompeii of the North” in April last year, when a team of archaeologists unearthed Roman artifacts in the center of London.