A “saw” of 2,000 years old pieces has been combined together Archaeologist To reveal a notable Roman wall painting,
Fresco pieces were discovered at a site in central London that was being redeveloped In 2021.
A team of archaeologists has now re -organized broken plaster pieces, revealing a wide wall painting, it is believed that once donated the walls of a house in “Beverly Hills”. Roman london,
120 boxes of pieces have rare evidence of a painter’s signature, as well as unusual graffiti of ancient Greek alphabet with beautiful images of birds, fruits and flowers.
The frescoes once decorated 20 interior walls of a early Roman building, making them one of the largest collections of painted Roman plaster discovered in London.
They are believed to have been shattered into thousands of pieces by demolition works, which took place at some point before 200 AD.
Nearly 2,000 years later, he was dumped in a large pit on the ‘The Liberty’ development site in Southwark, and a team of Mola (Museum of London Archaeology) has now finally finally put the puzzle together.
Mola’s senior manufacturing material expert Han Lee said: “It has been ‘once in a lifetime’ moment, so I felt a mixture of enthusiasm and nervousness when I started to exclude the plaster.
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“Many pieces were very delicate and pieces from separate walls were connected together when the building was demolished, so it was like collecting the world’s most difficult puzzle.”
The paintings were designed to show both the wealth and excellent tastes of the building owner or owners. These include bright yellow panel designs with black gaps, which are beautifully decorated with images of birds, fruits, flowers, and lire.
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While panel designs were common during the Roman period, there were no yellow panels, they were recognized only on only a few sites across the country.
Mola’s Andrew Henderson -Shwartz told The BBC: “It was a rich, stirred settlement during the Roman period, and it is almost that kind of rich suburb – Roman London’s Beverly Hills.
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“And it shows that Roman are committed to London. They are investing in London, and they are looking at it as a place to settle, a place to live. It’s not just a kind of provincial outpost.”
Plaster also depicted the remains of evidence that the artist signed Fresco – the first known example in the UK.
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The Latin word on the piece is ‘facit’ which translates into “it is made”. Sadly, the piece is broken where the painter’s name may have appeared, which means that their identity will never be known.
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The plaster also shows the scars left behind by the owners and visitors of the building – in the form of ancient frescoes. It contains a masters near a full Greek alphabet – the only known example of this inscription of Roman Britain.
Another piece is the face of a crying woman with a flavion period (69–96 AD) hairstyle.