Time Team expert John Gater describes Rutland Roman villa estate, containing rare Iliad mosaic, 'special' as ground survey results revealed
The full scale of a large Roman villa estate which housed a rare mosaic has been revealed following an extensive survey.
The discovery of the mosaic on agricultural land in Rutland made headlines around the world late last year and featured on an episode of BBC TV archaeology series, Digging for Britain.
The mosaic, dated to the 3rd and 4th Century AD, was the first found in the UK to display scenes from Homer’s The Iliad.
Attention then turned to discovering the scale of the estate and SUMO Geophysics were brought in to work with the University of Leicester.
A follow-up survey of the five-hectare site, funded by Historic England, has revealed a range of buildings believed to include a bathhouse, chapel and even a second villa.
“For me it is the best results I have ever seen from a Roman site,” said SUMO’s Dr John Gater who also worked on Channel 4’s hit archaeology show Time Team.
“I spent 20 years on Time Team going around the country and found about 10 Roman villas.
“Two or three were on a par with the one found in Rutland, but the results here are really special.
“The quality of the geophysics is up there with the best I have ever seen.”
A survey using magnetic variations was done first which helped pinpoint ditches and pits within an overview of the site.
To get more depth and detail, ground penetrating radar was then used, revealing startling results.
“It wasn’t just one building, it was a whole series of buildings inside the enclosure of ditches,” John explained.
“We just couldn’t believe how the buildings kept coming. It was so exciting.
“They were emailed to me while I was in the pub and when I played the images back I could see the buildings appearing.
“I thought someone was maybe having a joke and got data from somewhere else because it was so clear and so sharp.”
While John can ally his decades of experience and knowledge with the pictures to estimate what could be there, nothing can be confirmed without further excavation.
The site was given protected status by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport late last year and funds are being sought for follow-up digs by the University of Leicester.
John explained: “I think we have found a possible bathhouse and chapel, a second villa building, maybe a hall, but we won’t be sure until someone goes into the ground and confirms it.
“We have depth information but it’s only my interpretation.
“You can’t date things through geophysics, but at least you can show archaeologists the layout and give them a good idea of what’s there.”
John believes there is also evidence to suggest the settlement is not exclusively Roman and could have been used prior to their
arrival.
“The big curving ditches we spotted could be Iron Age because ditches from that period were traditionally curving while the Roman ditches were straight,” he explained.
“There are five ditches to the west of the site which are straight and will be
Roman.
“They could have held water and been an ornamental feature.
“We are talking about a special Roman villa and not the sort that are found every day of the week.”
