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Roman Darlington

By 26/05/2023News

Following on from an excavation in 2018, PCA Durham archaeologists, alongside colleagues from the Newark and Warwick offices, have uncovered the continuation of this previously unknown but extensive Roman site. We have just finished the fieldwork so are in the early stages of post-excavation but already we have some amazing finds such as the ‘Darlington’ eagle, a likely iron lamp holder and several Roman coins!

The Darlington Eagle – An iron eagle with a copper alloy head. The head is similar to the bronze Silchester Eagle. The x-ray shows that the copper alloy head is on a stem which goes into the iron body. On cleaning there is a small patch of green enamel surviving in one eye.  The legs are damaged and there is no good join to the lamp holder but the width between the legs suggests that this object was mounted on it.

The iron mount – The iron mount has two prongs to which the eagle may once have been attached, although no join now survives.  The x-ray images of the eagle and mount have been stitched together by the archaeological consultant for the site (Nansi Rosenberg of Prospect Archaeology).

The Roman lamp holder- An iron lamp holder with riveted handle.

A well-preserved Roman silver coin – a Roman silver Siliqua of emperor Valentinian I (AD 364-375), minted in Antioch. It was recovered during a metal detecting survey on the site that was kindly undertaken by George and David Marley of Detectology UK Ltd.

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