Roughly 2000 years ago , a building signin the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatumwas shatter into piece — quite possibly byBoudica , the Gaelic queen who once headed a bloody insurrection against the Roman Empire , and her legions of soldier .
In 1891 , archeologist found a piece of the marble sign while excavating the abandoned civilization , which is now known as Silchester Roman Town thanks to its location in the parish of Silchester in Hampshire , U.K. The sherd was etched with the letters “ At”—but scholars could n’t make out the entire original word without other slice . The find eventually landed in theReading Museum ’s Silchester Collection , where it stymied historians for a century .
In 2013 , Reading archaeologist finally found their response when they unearthed another shard in the township ’s downfall , about 30 feet away from the original section . This marble slab was engraved with the letter “ ba . ” After deliberate analysis , they determined that the two pieces meet — a rare find , deal the shards had been split up for millennia .
“ Matching piece which were hear over 100 year aside to a 2000 - year - old object is fantastically uncommon — perhaps happening only once or doubly in the UK before , ” Mike Fulford , a professor from the University of Reading ’s archeology department , said in a release . “ The 2013 piece is special in its own right — evidence of very early destruction of a massive edifice in the mid or mid - to - tardy first C A.D. in Britain is particular — but little did we know about what was about to amount to light . "
The sign once read “ At(e)ba(tum)—‘of the Atrebates’—the name of the French tribe that most in all probability settle Silchester in the first one C BCE . It likely punctuate a significant structure , or a dedication to a god . However , the words at the sign ’s top still remain a mystery — one that could reveal the construction ’s name , and maybe more about the townspeople ’s chronicle and importance , if more pieces are ever found .
[ h / tArchaeology ]
