Step into the Cotswolds and uncover a mysterious Roman villa with stunning mosaics, hidden walls, and secrets stretching back 2000 years. What really happened here?
In this episode, the Time Team returns to the Cotswolds to investigate a sprawling Roman site near Cobbleley, Gloucestershire. Scattered across the fields are fragments of Roman pottery, coins, roof tiles, and the remarkable remains of two intricate mosaics. But is this just another villa, or something far more significant? Our experts use geophysics, targeted trenches, and a bit of detective work to unravel the story behind these ancient walls.
Follow as the team debates whether the site is a classic Roman villa, a bathhouse, or even a temple. The discoveries raise new questions about the function, status, and evolution of this building over centuries. See how clues like a mosaic cantharus (wine jug), an apse (curved room), painted wall plaster, and evidence of industrial kilns help reveal the site's rich history. Along the way, the team faces challenges, misidentified features, and shifting theories as the true plan of the villa - with its portico, heated rooms, and grand apse - emerges.
Learn about Roman mosaics, their symbolism, and the possibility of Christian iconoclasm erasing pagan images. Explore how this villa’s strategic location connected it to Roman Britain’s economic and social networks. By the end, discover how generations of Romans shaped, expanded, and lived in this remarkable building, leaving traces that still captivate archaeologists today.
#Archaeology #RomanVilla #TimeTeam #Cotswolds #RomanMosaic #AncientBritain #Geophysics #HistoryExplained