Imagine London, not as the bustling metropolis we know today, but as a layered cake of history, each slice revealing secrets of civilizations past. That's precisely how Professor Alice Roberts sees it, comparing the UK capital to a delicious 'London lasagne.' But here's where it gets controversial... are we truly appreciating the fleeting glimpses into the past that construction projects reveal?
The constant redevelopment reshaping London provides archaeologists with unique, if brief, opportunities to peer into the earth and uncover remnants of bygone eras. As buildings are demolished and new structures rise, archaeologists rush to excavate and document what lies beneath, a race against time to preserve London's rich heritage.
Recent years have been particularly fruitful, witnessing the discovery of what's believed to be London's earliest theatre, the city's first basilica, a rare mausoleum, and even a luxurious Roman villa unearthed near the Shard in 2021. These finds offer tantalizing glimpses into the lives of those who walked the streets of London centuries ago. Think about it: beneath our modern skyscrapers and bustling streets lie the foundations of an ancient world.
A particularly exciting find, featured in the BBC Two show "Digging for Britain," involves 20 colorful frescoes discovered in a Roman pit, shattered into an astonishing 10,000 pieces. The painstaking work of piecing these fragments together is revealing remarkable details about Roman art and life in London. Professor Roberts, who presents the program, emphasizes the rarity of the pigments used in the frescoes and the unique discovery of what appears to be the artist's signature on one of the pieces. "These details are always beautiful and extraordinary," she notes, highlighting the personal connection to the past these artifacts provide.
The Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) team, responsible for the dig, was led by Sophie Jackson. Jackson explains that while they knew the site was located between two Roman roads lined with buildings, the discovery of the pit and wall plaster was entirely unexpected. "Working in London is just fantastic," she exclaims, revealing her unconventional path to archaeology. "I wasn't going to be an archaeologist, I didn't even have an archaeology degree... but it becomes very addictive because the sites are so brilliant." She describes the unique challenge of urban archaeology, where centuries of history are stacked upon one another, requiring archaeologists to "undo time" and "unpack the site in the reverse order that it happened."
And this is the part most people miss... Sometimes, the most valuable finds are the discarded remnants of daily life. Consider the Bloomberg building project, which unearthed thousands of Roman objects, including what is thought to be the UK's oldest handwritten document. Jackson attributes the site's richness to its proximity to the waterfront, where Romans continuously dumped layers of landfill from various parts of the city. "From that rubbish, we were able to tell a huge amount about the changing population in London; that the earliest people tended to be coming from Gaul, from what is Germany and France now... you could tell by things like the brooches they were wearing," she explains. These seemingly insignificant objects provide invaluable insights into the origins and diversity of London's early inhabitants.
Discoveries like these have fueled new theories about Roman London, suggesting that the city was divided into distinct zones or quarters, each inhabited by different nationalities. "So there's a Gaulish tradition in north Southwark, while there are different groups to be found in different parts of the city," Jackson points out, highlighting the complex social dynamics of Roman London. Could this be an early example of cultural enclaves within a major city?
The location and timing of archaeological digs are largely dictated by planned developments. Unsurprisingly, the historic core of London, within the Square Mile, consistently proves to be the most archaeologically productive area. Jackson expresses her desire to explore areas like Upper and Lower Thames Street, which sit above Roman waterfronts and potentially hold a wealth of early Roman, medieval, and later archaeological treasures. "It sits above Roman waterfronts so that road effectively protects a whole massive swathe of wonderful archaeology - and that would be early Roman waterfronts, medieval buildings, everything," she says.
While there are no immediate plans for a tunnel project in that area, the MOLA team recently excavated a site in Wapping, the future location of a distribution center. There, senior archaeologist Alex Banks describes uncovering a "little microcosm of a whole community." The excavation revealed building foundations, including a school, domestic houses, terraced houses, almshouses, and even a chapel floor. The team unearthed tonnes of artifacts in former cesspits and brick-lined wells, ranging from Roman times to the Victorian period. These finds offer new perspectives on Sailor Town, an area once perceived as overcrowded and dangerous, revealing a more nuanced picture of a diverse community.
Banks emphasizes that the reality of archaeology often differs from its portrayal on television. "Archaeology is often seen as being very nice, with excavations perhaps being a little bit slower and research-based... but we're not always using little brushes, we're using diggers, we're directing big machinery," he explains, underscoring the fast-paced and demanding nature of urban archaeology. "That's not to say we don't take a great deal of care and a lot of detailed recording," he hastily adds, emphasizing the meticulous documentation that accompanies even the most rapid excavations.
In 2024, Banks and his team made an astonishing discovery: what is believed to be the first Roman bed ever found in Britain, unearthed during a dig at an ancient cemetery in Holborn. "We don't really have anything like it from Britain and even the Roman Empire in general," he says, emphasizing the exceptional nature of the find. "Finding furniture like that is very rare outside of somewhere like Herculaneum or Pompeii so to have it in a very muddy building site in central London is pretty amazing," he marvels. The bed, having survived nearly two millennia underground, is currently undergoing preservation treatment before being studied and displayed to the public.
Jackson emphasizes the importance of making these discoveries accessible to the public. "Archaeology does lots of things: it gives a sense of perspective, it allows people to connect with the past in a very visceral way; you can see it and touch it," she says. "It's to make people aware of their place in London; it's a place that's existed for 2,000 years and we're part of this continuing story." The work of MOLA and other archaeological organizations helps us understand our shared history and appreciate the layers of civilization that lie beneath our feet.
So, what do you think? Is enough being done to protect and preserve London's archaeological heritage amidst the relentless pace of development? Should developers be required to allocate more resources for archaeological investigations? And what responsibility do we have, as citizens, to advocate for the preservation of our past? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
