New discoveries of medieval church sites may rewrite archaeological cognition
One of the construction sites of the British High Speed Railway Project (HS2) recently unearthed a pair of complete Roman-era busts of men and women, a child's head statue and other cultural relics. Since the excavation site is also a medieval church site, some archaeologists described this discovery as very rare, and I believe it will change people's perception of the site.
HS2 funded Fusion JV and L-P archaeology to excavate the site of St. Mary's Church in Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, England. The church was first built in 1080 AD when the Normans conquered England. Archaeological work began in 2018. During this period, as many as 3,000 human remains and well-preserved walls were discovered, as well as medieval graffiti and stone carvings, which may include sundial or witchcraft symbols. .
At the end of the archaeological project, archaeologists dug the foundation of a tower near a circular ditch. The history of the tower dates back to the 5th century AD to the Anglo-Saxon era before the Norman conquest. After digging deeply, the archaeologists discovered three stone sculptures in ancient Roman style. Two of the complete statues looked like an adult female and an adult male. Their head and torso had been separated before unearthed, and the other incomplete statue was a child. head.
Believe that the church was converted from a mausoleum
In addition, a broken glass jug with a history of more than 1,000 years was also unearthed at the site. Fushion JV chief archaeologist Rachel Wood said he was excited about the discovery of two complete statues. The cultural relics have now been sent to the laboratory for cleaning and identification. Since ancient Roman statues generally have bright colors, they will be analyzed for pigmentation. Experts believe that the church site was a mausoleum in ancient Rome, and the church was built later. Comprehensive report of our newspaper