Archaeologists have discovered a significant Roman settlement and jewellery workshop dating back nearly 2,000 years beneath a new-build housing estate in north-east Wales.
The settlement was uncovered at Mancot in Flintshire during archaeological investigations ahead of construction on Gladstone Way.
Excavations by Heneb, the Trust for Welsh Archaeology, recovered dozens of artefacts, including Roman brooches, jewellery moulds, pottery and coins.
According to archaeologists, the unexpected discovery represents one of the largest collections of Roman artefacts found in Flintshire and provides new evidence for settlement, industry and trade close to the major Roman centre of Chester.
Project manager Chris Matthews said the discovery has changed archaeologists' understanding of the area during the Roman period.
Although Mancot occupies an elevated position overlooking Chester, comparatively little Roman archaeology had previously been identified in north-east Wales.
This absence had contributed to debate over the relationship between Roman communities and the native population. However, discoveries at Mancot and other sites in north-east Wales are beginning to suggest a more complex picture.
Archaeologists believe the Mancot settlement may have originated during the Iron Age before continuing in use throughout much of the Roman period, although its earliest phases require further study.
Evidence for prolonged occupation includes two Roman coins recovered from the site.
One dates to the reign of Emperor Commodus, who ruled from AD 177 to 192, while another depicts Constantine, whose reign began more than a century later in AD 306.
The wide chronological separation between the coins supports evidence for activity at the settlement over an extended period.
Roman jewellery workshop
Among the most significant discoveries is evidence for a workshop producing decorative metalwork.
Archaeologists recovered lead moulds used to manufacture a range of brooches, suggesting specialised craft production was taking place at Mancot.
Roman brooches served a practical purpose by fastening clothing but could also be elaborate personal ornaments. Surviving examples from the site retain traces of coloured enamel, while some were fashioned into animal forms.
Matthews said the workshop demonstrates that local industry was exploiting the region's rich metal resources to manufacture commodities used by Roman society.
Researchers suggest the workshop may have supplied people living in nearby Chester, known to the Romans as Deva Victrix.
Chester developed around a major legionary fortress established during the Roman conquest of Britain and became one of the most important military centres in Roman Britain.
The Mancot settlement's position overlooking Chester therefore raises questions about the economic relationship between communities outside the fortress and the Roman population concentrated around Deva.
Pottery recovered during the excavation also indicates wider trading connections, with some material suggesting links extending to continental Europe.
Settlement extends beneath modern Mancot
Although houses have now been constructed over part of the excavated area, archaeologists recorded and mapped the archaeology before development proceeded.
Their survey indicates that the ancient settlement extends beyond the excavated site and beneath parts of the modern village of Mancot.
This means the investigation may have exposed only part of a considerably larger Roman-period settlement.
The discovery joins a growing body of Roman archaeology from north-east Wales, including finds at Greenfield and Rossett, which researchers say are changing interpretations of the region during the Roman occupation.
Rather than representing an area with limited engagement with Roman society, the evidence from Mancot points towards local manufacturing, long-distance exchange and sustained occupation.
Brooches undergoing further analysis
A selection of brooches and manufacturing moulds has undergone conservation and will now be studied further at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.
Specialists hope to determine how the brooches were manufactured, identify the metals used and investigate the origins of their raw materials.
The finds are then expected to return to north-east Wales for public display.
Flintshire Museums Service hopes that some of the most important artefacts (Roman brooches in particular) can be displayed at Mold Museum during 2027.
For archaeologists, however, Mancot may be only the beginning of a much wider reassessment of Roman north-east Wales.
Specialised jewellery production, imported pottery and evidence of long-term occupation all suggest that communities overlooking Roman Chester were part of a wider economic network than the sparse archaeological record could tell us.
Sources : BBC