Archaeologists in Buckinghamshire uncovered three extraordinarily rare stone Roman busts at a hypothesized Roman mausoleum under a Medieval Church in Stoke Mandeville. This church, St. Mary’s Norman church, was in its final stages of excavation when they found three stylistically Roman stone busts.
Two of the stone busts are made up of a head and torso while the other one just the head. These two complete statues look like a female adult and a male adult with the other head like a child. The discovery of the said artefacts brought excitement to the team of archaeologists working on the site, and these efforts have been carried out by HS2’s Enabling Works Contractor, Fusion JV, and their archaeological contactor, L-P Archaeology.
Dr. Rachel Wood, the Lead Archaeologist for Fusion JV, said, “For us to end the dig with these utterly astounding finds is beyond exciting. The statues are exceptionally well preserved, and you really get an impression of the people they depict – literally looking into the faces of the past is a unique experience. Of course, it leads us to wonder what else might be buried beneath England’s medieval village churches. This has truly been a once in a lifetime site and we are all looking forward to hearing what more the specialists can tell us about these incredible statues and the history of the site before the construction of the Norman church.”
Aside from the statues, a well-preserved hexagonal glass Roman jug was found that can only be compared to another intact vessel in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The discovered artefacts will be brought to a specialist laboratory for cleaning and examination.
Image: HS2
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