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Roman finds

Genealogy, Local, General
XFool
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Roman finds

#454069

Postby XFool » October 29th, 2021, 9:36 am

Stoke Mandeville: Roman sculptures HS2 find astounding, expert says

BBC News

Archaeologists have uncovered an "astounding" set of Roman sculptures on the HS2 rail link route.

"Two complete sculptures of what appear to be a man and a woman, plus the head of a child, were found at an abandoned medieval church in Buckinghamshire."

Nimrod103
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Re: Roman finds

#454236

Postby Nimrod103 » October 29th, 2021, 8:45 pm

Very interesting, but there was no info on what the statues were made of. From the detail in the carving, the woman's head looks more like marble than just limestone, and if that is the case, it must have been imported perhaps from Italy, perhaps in its finished state. I wonder if a Roman expat bigwig brought it with him, to remind him of his parents?

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Re: Roman finds

#454277

Postby bungeejumper » October 30th, 2021, 8:47 am

Nimrod103 wrote:Very interesting, but there was no info on what the statues were made of. From the detail in the carving, the woman's head looks more like marble than just limestone.

Hmmm, the man's bust looks like standard grade Cotswold limestone to me. It wouldn't be native to Stoke Mandeville, or at least not in sculpting quality, but there's plenty of it within a 50/60 mile radius. Bath is full of the stuff. :lol:

Brilliant find, though! I came across this 2014 survey of the churchyard area, which was prompted by the HS2 proposals. Quite brief, well illustrated and generally fascinating. http://www.bucksas.org.uk/documents/hs2 ... eophys.pdf

BJ

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Re: Roman finds

#454373

Postby Nimrod103 » October 30th, 2021, 4:25 pm

bungeejumper wrote:
Nimrod103 wrote:Very interesting, but there was no info on what the statues were made of. From the detail in the carving, the woman's head looks more like marble than just limestone.

Hmmm, the man's bust looks like standard grade Cotswold limestone to me. It wouldn't be native to Stoke Mandeville, or at least not in sculpting quality, but there's plenty of it within a 50/60 mile radius. Bath is full of the stuff. :lol:

Brilliant find, though! I came across this 2014 survey of the churchyard area, which was prompted by the HS2 proposals. Quite brief, well illustrated and generally fascinating. http://www.bucksas.org.uk/documents/hs2 ... eophys.pdf

BJ


It is a possibility that it is local Cotswold stone, though there are doubts in my mind:
1) the standard of sculpture is really very good compared to other Roman stone carvings I have seen from the UK
2) the story seems to be that the statures were discarded in a ditch some time in later Roman times, or maybe as late as Norman times. Even if buried early, if they were of local limestone, I think they would have become weathered and corroded in the ground. The woman's features seemed remarkably crisp. The other statue was in a much worse condition.


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