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Carlisle
- Roman name 'Luguvallium' - was the most northwestern town in the
Roman Empire.
Over
the years, archaeologists working in the city have discovered artefacts
of national and international importance.
Luguvallium
was an important Roman town at the frontier of an empire which spread
to the Middle East.
Recent
archaeological digs in modern Carlisle have uncovered Roman buildings,
roads, water systems and thousands of objects. As a result, experts
have been able to build a picture of what life was like in the Roman
town.
Big
digs
In
1973, a dig began around the Annetwell Street and Abbey Street area.
Over the next 10 years archaeologists revealed the southern gateway
to the first Roman fort. Behind it lay barracks, workshop areas
and stables.
In
these buildings, experts found several important pieces, including
a small altar used to worship the god 'Fortuna' and a hay ration
document, giving the names of the soldiers based in the fort and
how much hay they were allocated for their horses.
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Important
discoveries were made before the Lanes was built.
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Several
big projects followed this, including a dig on the site of
The Lanes shopping centre.
The
archaeologists made many exciting finds - administrative buildings,
homes and the remains of insects and animals.
This
meant that archaeologists could work out what people ate for example,
and how the frontier town was managed. It was a major step in piecing
together the city's Roman history.
Millennium
finds
The
Castle Green dig , or 'Millennium Dig', of 1999 and 2000 turned
up some of the most important finds:
a
wooden fort - the first found in Carlisle
a
workshop
a
stone building, thought to be the commanding officer's house.
The
buildings themselves were a good find but they pale into insignificance
compared to the objects which were discovered.
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'Tunny
Fish Relish' recreated nearly 2000 years on.
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Outside
the commanding officer's home, a pot of fish paste called 'Tunny
Fish Relish' was found. It had a handwritten label which said the
delicacy had been shipped in from Cadiz.
In
the workshop, pieces of Roman armour - only found once before in
Britain - lay where they had been left centuries before. The rare
arm-guards were of international importance.
Alongside
these spectacular artefacts, the diggers found coins as shiny as
the day they were dropped, jewellery, glassware and pottery.
On
display
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Boxes
of artifacts are stored in Tullie House.
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Some
of the items discovered over the years are on display in the Tullie
House Museum and Carlisle Castle.
The
important pieces of armour are being studied and preserved at Durham
University.
The
majority of pieces lay in the rows and rows of boxes in the basement
of Tullie House or in storage at Shaddon Mill, out of public view.
This
doesn't please many people, who think a lot more could be made of
the objects and the information they hold.
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