Yorkshire Museum to display remains of Roman mosaic (From York Press)

Yorkshire Museum to display remains of Roman mosaic

8:53am Friday 1st February 2013 in News

REMAINS of a Roman mosaic which were found under a York building by engineers will be displayed in the Yorkshire Museum.

The 2,000-year-old decorative floor mosaic was found by Yorkshire Water engineers working on the site in the Toft Green area last year, and experts later spent three months excavating the remains and found a bone hair pin and a selection of coins, which are waiting to be examined by experts to determine the exact age of the find.

Oliver Cooper, project manager for Northern Archaeological Associates (NAA), which excavated the finds and are now preserving them, said: “The chances of finding a mosaic like this in-situ are incredibly slim in York because of all the previous development, so this was a very exciting project to work on.

“We know this area was mainly home to retired soldiers and the mosaic and painted plaster together indicate a high status building, perhaps either a home or an official building. It may also have been part of a temple – the Victorians found a stone describing the construction of a temple dedicated to the god Serapis nearby. We’re lucky to be able to preserve this and the other finds.”

Lee Laherty, project manager for Yorkshire Water comments, “We’re delighted that the mosaic and other finds are being preserved to help tell the story of the Roman city of Eboracum for future generations.”