British Archaeologists Unearth Stone Head of Roman God in Garbage Dump

A garbage dump doesn't seem like a likely place to find priceless artifacts. In this case, though, it is. British archaeologists have uncovered an 1,800-year-old carved stone head of a Roman god under the remains of an ancient rubbish heap.

Around AD 100, a fort was built in northeastern England's County Durham. Known as Binchester Roman Fort, the structure was probably built in order to guard the crossing of the River Wear by the main Roman road between York, Hadrian's Wall and Scotland. It's actually the largest Roman fort in the area, and the site has become a major ground for archaeological discovery.

This latest find, though, is unusual; the carved stone head was actually thrown away as "trash" when the building was abandoned in the fourth century during the fall of the Roman Empire, according to LiveScience.com. There, the 8-inch-long figure remained until it was recently discovered.

"We found the Binchester head close to where a small Roman altar was found two years ago. We think it may have been associated with a small shrine in the bath house and dumped after the building fell out of use, probably in the 4^th century AD," said David Petts of Durham University in a news release. "It is probably the head of a Roman god--we can't be sure of his name, but it does have similarities to the head of Antenociticus found at Benwell in the 19^th century."

Antenociticus is actually a northern god, coming from a region which seems to have had a number of its own deities. Thought to be a native British deity, little is known about the god and what attributes he may have represented.

"It's also an excellent insight into the life and believes of the civilians living close to the Roman fort," said Petts. "The style is a combination of classical Roman art and more regional Romano-British traditions. It shows the population of the settlement taking classical artistic traditions and making them their own."

The recent find is exciting for the archaeologists. It reveals exactly how different cultures mixed together in this area, showing a little bit more about the ancient past.

The head will be displayed at the Binchester Fort Festival on July 13 and 14. 

Want to learn more about the statue? Check out the radio piece here.