A rare 2,000-year-old mosaic depicting dolphins has been uncovered in a Roman city in Shropshire, English Heritage has said. The mosaic which dates from the early 2nd century was found by archaeologists carrying out excavations looking for the main civic temple at Wroxeter, one of the best preserved examples of a Roman city in Britain. The experts behind the dig said the discovery, along with a large number of small finds including coins and pottery, would help them date the various phases of the city and the activities taking place.
Wroxeter, or Viriconium as it was known, was established in the 90s AD and was once as large as Pompeii, with a civic bath house, market place, county hall and judicial centre as well as more than 200 houses. Today, a small number of ruined buildings are all that remains of the lost city above the ground, cared for by English Heritage. The excavation, a collaboration between English Heritage, the University of Birmingham, Vianova Archaeology and Heritage Services, and Albion Archaeology, opened trenches near the city forum as part of efforts to find the main civic temple based on geophysical surveying showing a walled precinct.
It uncovered a large monumental building on the city’s main road, as well as a shrine or mausoleum which may have honoured an important individual in Wroxeter’s earliest history, experts said. They also found the mosaic, which dates to soon after the city was established, and depicts dolphins and fish in bright colours.