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Very rare Roman millefiori bowl found in East London (Great Britain)
may 5th, 2009
The dish will go on display at the Museum of London in Docklands
The dish was found in the grave of the Roman East Londoner whose cremated remains were uncovered, probably buried in
a wooden container, in a cemetery in Londinium's eastern quarter. A number of other ceramic and glass vessels were also ranged along
the sides of the casket, suggesting a rich and unusual burial.
"Piecing together and conserving such a complete artefact offered a rare and thrilling challenge - said Liz Goodman, Museum of London archaeology
conservator - We occasionally get tiny fragments of millefiori, but the opportunity to work on a whole artefact of this nature is extraordinary.
The dish is extremely fragile but the glasswork is intact and illuminates beautifully nearly two millennia after being crafted.'
Guy Hunt, director of the firm L-P:Archaeology, said: 'The dig at Prescot Street produced an amazing range of Roman cemetery archaeology.
It is fantastic for us that one of the many finds is such an exciting and beautiful object. It is great to be able to put an object such
as this into context and to get a first-hand impression of a rather wealthy East Londoner.'
From Google Street view (please note the image could be update by Google and could not show anymore the excavations):
Click to enlarge
From Google Maps:
Click to enlarge
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