Mystery Beneath Manchester: Ancient Roman Road Found Just Inches Underground—What Secrets Does It Hold?
The road was unearthed just inches below street level underneath Liverpool Road, not far from a previously-uncovered Roman settlement that was excavated in the 1970s and ’80s.
The Discovery Of A Well-Preserved Roman Road Right Beneath Manchester
CivicThe excavation team uncovered pieces of both domestic and imported pottery.
The road was discovered approximately 15 inches below street level in Manchester’s city center. The dig was completed by civil engineers Civic along with OBI Property on behalf of Allied London developers.
The road contained a range of artifacts and showed a number of repairs, revealing information about how the ancient Romans managed their infrastructure.
“The Romans knew what they were doing when it came to engineering,” archaeologist Graham Mottershead said in a statement from the excavation team at Civic.
The road showed multiple visible layers of repairs, culminating in a well-honed piece of Roman construction. The road was made of compacted gravel and contained no potholes.
CivicExperts believe that the road would have been the main route for the nearby fort of Mamucium, established circa 78 C.E.
Archaeologists also found pieces of both domestic and imported pottery and glassware, dating from the late first century C.E. through the fourth century C.E. This wide span of time suggests that the Romans may have had a civilian settlement in Manchester.
The discovery is all the more remarkable due to the fact that it was made so close to the surface in a developed urban area.
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