Roman grave discovered during roadworks in UK

A Roman grave was uncovered during resurfacing works at the A66 road in Cumbria, Northern England.

A66, a major roadway in UK, partially follows the route of the Roman road which linked the Roman forts and settlements of Cumbria with North Yorkshire. The Roman grave, located at Kirkby Thore near Appleby, was found at a depth of about 1 meter under the road. Among other remains, parts of pottery were found.

An extensive archaeological investigation was conducted after the finding. According to John-James Atkinson, lead archaeologist of the investigation, the grave "might have been alongside the old Roman road, which we are still trying to find". He also stated: “The A66 has been a road for at least 2,000 years so when machines came in to start taking the [road surface] off we monitored that and noticed what seemed to be a grave. We can certainly say it is Roman as we found some pottery ware typical of early and late occupation in Britain.”

Mr. Atkinson also stated that the finding is “exciting, but not unexpected” and that the site will be preserved “in situ”. 

Steve Mason, Highways England Project Manager, said: “We’ve worked very closely with archaeologists for several months and it’s been very interesting to see what kind of things are turning up. It has added a bit more complexity to planning and delivering the improvements but we’ve been determined from the outset to ensure that what we find on site is treated seriously and sensitively.”

Sources: BBC.com, Itv.com