Workers have discovered the remains of a Saxon town beneath London’s National Gallery, revealing that the centuries-old town was much larger than previously thought.
The discovery was made during underground tunnel excavation for the museum’s redevelopment, which is being carried out to commemorate the museum’s 200th anniversary. The archaeologists reported the discovery to authorities, who continued excavating and unearthed various artifacts including hearths, postholes, pits and flat deposits, the report said. statement The excavation was carried out by Archeology South East, part of the UCL Institute of Archaeology, from University College London.
Radiocarbon dating of the hearth dated it to some time between 659 and 774 AD. The pockmarked remains of various pits and ditches on the site show how various fence lines and property lines were moved over the centuries to enclose what was once a Saxon town. A table was also provided. Lundenwick served as a waterfront trading center in the 7th century.
Until then, this place was surrounded by walls roman The city of Londinium was founded in 47 BC and was inhabited until it was abandoned by settlers in the 5th century.
Archaeologists have also found the remains of post-medieval walls on top of older Saxon layers, with the earliest walls likely built in the 17th and 18th centuries. I am.
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“The evidence we found is that in urban areas [center] “The Lundenwick site extended further west than originally thought,” Stephen White, a senior archaeologist at South East Archeology who led the excavation, said in a statement. It’s about archeology across London and engaging with young people in the city. ”
This is not the only ancient settlement that British archaeologists have recently discovered. In Northumberland, on England’s northeast coast, another archaeological group has unearthed the remains of an Anglo-Saxon oven, loom weights and a structure built with large pillars. BBC.