Archaeologists found a stone craved head of what is believed to be a Roman God in a dumpster at Binchester Roman Fort near Bishop Auckland in County Durham.
First year Durham University archaeology student Alex Kirton made a unique discovery in a dumpster at Binchester Roman Fort, near Bishop Auckland in County Durham where he found a 1,800 year old stone carved head, believed to be of a "Geordie Roman god."
The 20cm by 10cm sandstone head bears some similarities with the Celtic deity Antenociticus, thought to have been worshiped locally in war time. The inscriptions on the artifact are similar to those found on a sandstone head discovered in Benwell in Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1862.
"We found the Binchester head close to where a small Roman altar was found two years ago. We think it may have been associated with a small shrine in the bath house and dumped after the building fell out of use, probably in the 4th century AD," Dr David Petts, lecturer in archaeology at Durham University, said in a press statement. "It is probably the head of a Roman god - we can't be sure of his name, but it does have similarities to the head of Antenociticus found at Benwell in the 19th century.
"Antenociticus is one of a number of gods known only from the northern frontier, a region which seems to have had a number of its own deities," he explained. "It's possibly a Geordie god, though it could have been worshiped at the other end of the wall."
Antenociticus has not been mentioned in any Romano-British site and hence has been identified as a local deity. Though the newly found sandstone head bears similarities to artifacts of this deity, the lecturer rules in the possibility of it being the head of another deity worshiped in Binchester.
The discovery was made as part of a five-year project at Binchester Roman Fort, which is attempting to shed new light on the twilight years of the Roman Empire.
