The Tabard Square Excavations - Inscription
Posted 15 October 2002
A short distance from the west wall of the structure, from the most innocuous looking pit came the most sensational find, one of the most important from Roman London - Londinium - for many years. Lying on the base of the pit was part of a white marble inscription.
The full width of the inscription has survived as has the top. It comprises ten lines of which the first eight are complete, the ninth is legible and the final line is unreadable.
This has been interpreted by one of the leading Latin epigraphic scholars Dr Mark Hassall, of the Institute of Archaeology in London as meaning:
To the spirits of the emperors (and) the god Mars Camulos, Tiberinius Celerianus, ranking moritex of the (traders) of London, set this up.
The inscription appears to have been set up by the trader or negotiator Tiberinius Celerianus who originated from the Rheims district in France. As well as providing a named individual and his status the inscription's importance is magnified by the word Londiniensium.
As Francis Grew, a Curator at the Museum of London puts it: "This (find) is hugely important. It is the first real monumental inscription with the word Londinium on it. It is also visually the most important inscription we have ever found in London. The words are just as clear as people would have seen them 2,000 years ago".
Mr Grew suggests that the plaque was mounted in the between AD 50 - 150. This appears to be verified by the broken pottery fragments that accompanied the object in the pit which themselves date to the later second century.
Amongst the many other artefacts of Roman date already recovered from the site is a much smaller fragment from a second inscription. This however has not been subject to the scrutiny of the epigraphic experts, and it is not possible to say if any meaning can be made from the scrap.
As the excavation progresses parts of an even earlier landscape is evolving. Flint tools and pot sherds testify to prehistoric activities, as do a series of narrow grooves in the underlying soils. These 'ard marks' are physical evidence of agricultural practices dating from the later Bronze Age. Too little has, as yet, been revealed to discuss the nature of the occupation but more will be revealed in the coming weeks.
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