Hi, my name is Brooke and I'm a conservator with LP Archaeology
who recently completed excavations at the HS2 site of
St Mary's in Stoke Mandeville. During the last few weeks of
the excavation, we found some really exciting finds. A few
fragments of statues that we now know to be Roman. These
statues were found in the rubber layer of a circular
ditch along with a few other artefacts such as a large Roman
glass vessel in Cremation Earns. The statues have
undergone a preliminary dry cleaning prior to specialist
assessment. This process included cleaning with wooden
tools and firm brushes to gently remove surface dirt
without the use of solvents. Now that dry cleaning is
completed, the statues are in the process of being wet
cleaned. Before wet cleaning can start, several solvents
need to be tested on a small inconspicuous area of the
object. The solvent that's chosen is based on several
factors such as how well it cleans the surface dirt and how
much working time the conservator has before the
solvent evaporates. The object be over cleaned and it may not
be stable enough to withstand cleaning with solvents and
these factors are taken to careful consideration during
the test cleaning. The female head is halfway through the
cleaning process and you can see the level of cleaning that
has been chosen for this particular object. During the
cleaning process, more details of the statues have been
revealed. On the head of the adult female for example, we
can now see the finer details such as the tear ducts in her
eyes and the fine curve of her lips. One of the most reveals
has been the level of detail we can see in her hair.
Previously, we could only see the rows of braids framing her
face because the back of her head was completely covered in
a thick layer of dirt. Now, we're able to see the way that
her hairstyle was put together. The level of detail that can be
seen on the female head and it's excellent state of
preservation suggest that these statues were housed inside the
building rather than being exposed to the elements
outside. Another big change can be seen on the sides of the
torsos. Instead of arms, we have beautifully carved leafy
motifs. These were completely covered in dirt prior to
cleaning and it was a wonderful surprise to see them revealed
during the process. The leafy motifs on the sides are not to
our knowledge known from other portrait busts but primarily
paralleled on the sides of some altars including one example
from London carved in Cotswold Stone and others from Germany.
We've not found any evidence of pigment or inscriptions on any
of the statue fragments so far. The statues were carefully
examined under microscopy using a handheld digital microscope
under both visible and UV light. The statues were found
in a rubble layer within a circular ditch and some smudges
of colour have been transferred onto the statues from other
bits of material in that rubber layer. There are black colors
from the charcoal mixed throughout the rubble and
reddish orange and yellow colors were transferred from
bits of ceramic building material and mortar found in
the circular ditch. After dry cleaning, the bus were assessed
by Doctor Penny Coom, Doctor Kevin Hayward and Doctor Martin
Henig. The sculptures were looked at in detail and some
preliminary information was offered by the specialists.
Their initial assessment is that the bus could be a family
group from inside a Roman Mosoleum and are all made of a
high quality Cotswold Bibury type stone. The carvings could
possibly be dated as early as the end of the first century CE
but more parallel for the hairstyles can be found on
portraits from the early second century. The only near
contemporary parallel in this stone is the overlife size head
of a woman from well-cut bath probably also funerary.
Currently the specialist are compiling and finalizing their
assessment and we look forward to sharing the results of their
assessment soon. In addition to the Roman statues, another
amazing artifact that was found within the rubber layer of the
circular ditch is this large Roman glass vessel. What makes
vessel so unique is that it was found in very large fragments
despite its harsh burial environment these glass
fragments were mixed in with large bits of rubble and the
only reason it survived was because a very large piece of
stone fell on top and protected it from being crushed by
anything else. The glass fragments were found in damp
conditions on site so they were placed into wet packaging after
they were excavated. This means keeping them in water so they
don't dry out in an uncontrolled way. Once the
glass vessel was brought safely back to the lab, it was cleaned
in a conservation grade detergent and allowed to safely
dry in a very controlled way. Once the fragments were dry, it
was packaged in acid-free tissue paper and polyethylene
boxes until further treatment. The preservation and potential
deterioration of glass is really based on its manufacture
and the raw materials used. This would be the type of raw
materials and also the ratio at which materials were added.
Roman glass such as this glass vessel tends to be more
stable because it has a higher silica content and it uses
sodium as a modifier. This glass vessel is very well
preserved but if you look closely, you can see
iridescence on its surface. The rainbow colors are caused by a
prism effect when the light hits the glass at different
angles. This was not an intentional effect created
during manufacture and while iridescence is considered
beautiful by modern standards, it can become a concern if not
controlled. To prevent further deterioration, this glass
vessel needs to be kept in an environment where the relative
humidity and temperature are very closely monitored. Based
on specialist information, we believe that this is a Roman
hexagonal glass bottle that was reused as a cremation urn.
Other cremation urns were found in the same circular ditch but
we haven't found any evidence of cremation in this particular
glass vessel. Roman glass hexagonal bottles are not
uncommon but what makes this vessel particular unique is a
large fragments that were found. If we look closely at
the handle, we can see the fine ribs that were perfectly
preserved despite the vessels harsh burial environments. The
base features concentric circles which are circles with
a common center much like a bull's eye. Exact measurements
of the base and of the circles were sent to the specialist so
they can try to match this vessel up with others made from
a similar mold. There's still a lot more work to do on the
artifacts found in this rubber layer of the circular ditch and
we are looking forward to giving you more information as
we do this.