A team of archaeologists has uncovered a rare collection of Roman busts while excavating a Norman church in Buckinghamshire, England. Archaeologists believe the discovery is a Roman mausoleum.
Excavations revealed three stone Roman busts while excavating a circular ditch around what was thought to be the foundations of an Anglo-Saxon tower. Two of the busts consist of a head and torso depicting a female adult and male child, while the other is the stone head of an additional child.
Archaeologists also found numerous Roman roof tiles, painted wall plaster, cremation urns and a well-preserved hexagonal glass Roman jug. Only one comparable example is known to exist and is on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
The Roman building appears to have been demolished by the Normans when building a church on the site. The walls and demolition rubble of the Roman building are directly beneath the Norman foundations with no soil build up in between.
