The deadline has now passed for entries to round two of our Ancient World in London Bloggers Challenge, which saw a number of denizens of the ancient history blogosphere eagerly and eloquently state their case for the most important ancient site in London. We’re pleased to announce that the winner is Livius Drusus, from The History Blog, who argued a great case for Drapers’ Gardens – a little known archaeological site that has yielded a wealth of fascinating Roman remains.
There were good shouts made for the grave of the female gladiator in Southwark – the spot where a great Roman warrior of the fairer sex was buried – and the Roman forum beneath Leadenhall Market, which was “symbolic of the sustained commerce in Roman Britain that was necessary for Rome to hold onto the southern part of the island for hundreds of years”.
But Livius’s blog did exceptionally well to highlight an obscure and still quite new trove of finds, made in 2007 when the old Drapers’ Gardens skyscraper was demolished in preparation for a new building. Beneath this “soggy patch of land on Throgmorton Avenue,” as Livius describes it, lay a “microcosm of Roman city life”.
“An archaeological survey stumbled on a massive treasure trove of daily life in Roman London from the 1st to the 4th century A.D. The dig uncovered not just rare and beautiful artifacts, but really the entire structure of the neighborhood for 300+ years of Roman life in London: streets, alleys, floors, clay and timber foundations of dwellings, waste disposal and plumbing systems. In Rome itself you don’t find this kind of staging…
“The Drapers Garden find is a microcosm of Roman city life, not only a worthy candidate for the most important ancient site in London, but surely in the running for one of the most important discoveries of Roman social history, period.”
Congratulations Livius!
Here’s a link to the winning blogpost.
Should the British Museum Return the Rosetta Stone?
Another batch of Thames & Hudson books have been handed out, but there’s a bigger prize at stake. Keep participating in Ancient World in London challenges to come and you could be in with a chance of winning a one-week holiday in Turkey, courtesy of our sponsor HolidayMate.
There are plenty of ways to earn points towards the grand prize. Check out our range of current quests and contents, and find out more about earning points.
Once again, there’s 50 Heritage Key points up for grabs in another round of the bloggers challenge. This time we’re posing a question that promises to prove highly controversial: should the British Museum return the Rosetta Stone to Egypt? Click here for more details. Get your entries in by 25 March 2010.