Mosaic find helps piece together Britain's Roman past
More than six metres in length the design is "packed with mythical characters and beasts based on Greek legends".
Saturday 2 September 2017 14:59, UK
A Roman mosaic floor unearthed by archaeologists has been hailed as the most exciting discovery of its kind in Britain for 50 years.
Square-shaped and more than 6m in length, it has a design "packed with mythical characters and beasts based on Greek legends", according to those behind the Berkshire find.
Breaking the news on its Facebook page, Cotswold Archaeology said: "We are excited to announce our star find of 2017, a spectacular Roman mosaic floor!"
Expert Antony Beeson, who has visited the site at Boxford, described it as "without question the most exciting mosaic discovery made in Britain in the last 50 years".
He added that it "must take a premier place amongst those Romano-British works of art that have come down to modern Britons".
The excavation in Boxford is the last in a three-year project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Three Roman sites have been investigated.
Working with Boxford History Project and the Berkshire Archaeology Research Group, Cotswold Archaeology said it had also made other "incredible archaeological finds", including a large villa, a bath house and a farmstead.
It is hoped further investigation in coming years will uncover the entire extent of the mosaic, as well as further aspects of the site.