Roman antiquities tell an important story in development of historic city

They discovered a decorative floor mosaic in-situ, meaning it would have been walked on by Romans in that exact spot 2,000 years ago. Also discovered at the site in the Toft Green area was painted wall plaster.

Following the discovery by contractors working for Yorkshire Water, archaeologists spent 
three months excavating the important remains, and found numerous other items including a selection of coins and a bone hair pin.

Oliver Cooper, project manager for Northern Archaeological Associates (NAA), which excavated the finds and is now preserving them, said: “The chances of finding a mosaic like this in-situ are incredibly slim in York because of all the previous development.

“We know this area was mainly home to retired soldiers and the mosaic and painted plaster together indicate a high status building – perhaps either a 
home or an official building. It may also have been part of a temple.”

The NAA team were on site with Yorkshire Water’s contractors, Mott Macdonald Bentley, from the start of the project to replace a 120-metre section of damaged pipe, owing to the high likelihood of there being archaeological finds.