Archaeologists Stunned After Unearthing Well-Preserved Roman Road Beneath Manchester City Center in The UK

The Roman Empire is one of the most incredible civilizations, known for its power, fame, and innovation. The Empire’s influence has stretched far and wide, even reaching the far shores of Britain. Now, in the heart of the city of Manchester, archaeologists from Civic have uncovered a well-preserved Roman road, making it one of the most significant finds in the city in over 20 years. They revealed this finding through a statement via their Civic’s official website. 

The Discovery of The Road

In the city center of Manchester, United Kingdom, a Roman road in pristine condition was unearthed by archaeologists. Many artifacts were uncovered from the site, just below street level on the Liverpool Road, near Castlefield. The excavations were carried out by the archaeology and built heritage team as part of the public realm works along Liverpool Road. The site revealed a Roman road, which was the main northern exit route from a former Roman fort. They were also able to discover hearths which hint at possible industrial activity as part of the “vicus” or civilian settlement, a period when the settlement in that region was flourishing. With the help of the team and contractors from TJM and Lee contracting, the road, artifacts, and their features will be recorded for future research.

The Expert Opinions on the Discovery

“The Romans knew what they were doing when it came to engineering,” said Graham Mottershead, an archaeologist with Civic, who handled the excavation, as reported by BBC News. The team found multiple layers, and the road was made completely from compacted gravel. The Roman-British artifacts they found were identified from the late 1st to the 3rd and even the earliest 4th century AD. It showed the period that the vicus or civilian settlement was in Manchester. “It is no exaggeration to say that analysis of the dataset from the excavation will hugely improve our knowledge of Roman Manchester,” said Ian Miller, heritage management director at Greater Manchester Archaeological Advisory Service (GMAAS).

“Not least as it charts the evolution of the Roman settlement over at least two centuries and, crucially, provides a spatial link between two previous key excavations from the last century,” Miller added. The city was well preserved according to the organization involved, which is a remarkable event, as it was only 400 mm beneath the busy city’s surface. The site was near the Roman fort of Mamucium, established in 78 AD and much of which was excavated in the 1970s, according to Miller. It is close to the Roman excavations south of the site, which uncovered the settlements in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Future of the Roman Road

“In some respects, the latest excavation was the missing piece of the jigsaw that will hopefully link to those two together,” said Miller. It should give more insight into the sort of buildings made in that area, outside the Roman fort, and even re-examine the discoveries of the 1970s with a more developed and precise approach. The excavation project happened as part of a development on the site being carried out on behalf of Allied London. The uncovered artifacts, after analysis, will one by one be put on display in the city, Mottershead concluded.