iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

My final chapter sets the villa in its landscape context, and reviews settlement in the region, postulating that we need to diversify our interpretations of villas, and arguing for the importance of state supply networks, hunting and elite interaction in site location choice. 7/10

Densely packed distribution map of Roman sites, Roman PAS finds and landscape types in central Somerset / westernmost Wiltshire / north-westernmost Dorset. Low Ham is approximately central, amidst a dense cluster of villas and other sites, on an island of higher ground projecting between possibly drained, and possibly undrained, wetlands.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

The villa gradually developed from the 3rd century until at its mid 4th century height it had internal floor space of 5,000 sq. m. across about 80 rooms. It is the largest and most elaborate of the dense concentration of villas around the Roman town of Ilchester, a key node in Roman transport 6/10

Complicated colour coded phase plan of the main buildings of Low Ham Roman villa, showing gradual expansion from several small buildings in Phase 1, through to a very large and complex courtyard villa in Phase 3.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Our work discovered the site's prehistoric precursor, an unenclosed farming settlement, and demonstrated very early Roman activity at that site, including a massive rectangular enclosure ditch cutting through roundhouses (v likely already abandoned!). 5/10

Pages from Chapter 6, showing an image of a large trench being opened by heavy plant under archaeological supervision, and an excavation plan of the same trench, drawn by John Vallender. The plan shows parts of four roundhouse ring gullies, two of which are cut through by a very large early Roman ditch, which also has a narrow V-shaped ditch to the exterior.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Rachel Cubitt has done an exemplary job of drawing together material narratives of lives at the villa, from finds and enviro evidence, bringing the place to life. This project felt like a real partnership between 'field' and 'finds' archaeologists, trying to enrich and diversify villa stories. 4/10

Illustrated small finds from the 2018 excavations. Copper-alloy bracelet fragments SF 31110 and SF 31112; copper-alloy penannular brooch SF 31111; copper alloy tack SF 32007; iron stylus SF 30110. Drawing by Judith Dobie, Historic England.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Building on detective work from fragmentary (mostly absent) records and photos of the 1940s excavations, and R Leech's extensive archival work into these sources, we suggest a sequence for the villa, grounded in the 2018 excavations I directed for Historic England, and HE's geophysical survey. 3/10

Image of a page from Chapter 3 of the Low Ham monograph, illustrating an interpretive plan by Radford, director of the original excavations, and in a lower image, Leech's detective work working out where the sections Radford drew are located on part of the plan of the villa.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Low Ham is primarily famous for its extraordinary mosaic telling the story of Dido and Aeneas in 'story board' form, unparalleled in Britannia until recent finds at Boxford and (especially) Ketton. Here S Cosh sets the mosaic in its bath house context, along with the many others from the site. 2/10

A photograph of Mosaic II, 207.1, from Low Ham, showing aspects of the story of Dido and Aeneas in pictoral form. Each scene is within a box formed by a twisting guilloche pattern. The left hand side shows a hunt, the right Aeneas' ships at sea, the lowest panel Dido and Aeneas embracing, the uppermost in the image Dido and Aeneas' first encounter, the central panel Venus nude with attendant cupids; a cloth or perhaps a towel is behind her, possibly in allusion to the placement of this mosaic in front of a plunge bath. Venus, in Steve Cosh's words, presides over events around her.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Our @antiquaries.bsky.social Low Ham book (myself, Roger Leech and @thepostexcox.bsky.social ) is now available OA - library.oapen.org/handle/20.50... - the first synthetic publication of one of Britannia's largest villas, with reports on strat, finds, & enviro remains, & fully contextualised. 1/10

The purple cover of a large book entitled 'The Romano-British villa and prehistoric settlement at Low Ham, Somerset'. A blurb explaining the contents is on the back, along with sponsors logos. A reconstruction of the villa is the cover image. This image and all others from the book.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 04/10/2025

Just back from our final Teffont Archaeology workshop! Double header of human remains by Dr Anna Davies Barrett, plus three talks. Nearly 150 volunteers engaged in under 24 hours... exhausted! Thanks to NLHF for funding, and to our hosts in Teffont, Bowerchalke and Horningsham for the talks!

Volunteers with replica skeletons laid out on tables listening to Dr Davies Barrett during a practical exercise.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Feedback has been really positive so far; we're addressing skills gaps identified by the CBA and others, and building resilience by nurturing connections across groups in Wales & SW England. We've heard groups make new connections, begin considering improvements to practice, and raising aspirations.

Animal bones in a Finds tray, laptop with animal bone recording guidance, on a table covered in trays of animal bones and paper resources. Photo courtesy CAER heritage

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Today is the last day of our AHRC IAA funded Community Archaeology Specialist Training workshops; we've run 2 day workshops on each of Roman pottery, animal bone, and digital data in each of Cardiff, Exeter and Devizes, for volunteers from more than 14 community archaeology groups. 1/2

Volunteers look at Toman pottery and reference books, and talk to each other, in a seminar room with pottery laid out across tables.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

Somehow I've ended up with 3 community archaeology training workshops running simultaneously today... Teffont Archaeology NLHF funded workshop on Roman glass by Sally and Elizabeth from the Association for History of Glass at Salisbury Museum, plus...

Volunteers training on Roman glass in a large lecture and workshop space

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

Had a great time teaching Teffont Archaeology NLHF funded Stratigraphy workshop with our volunteers last week, and some keen souls made it two days in a row and attended our Roman Pottery workshop the following day. Really rewarding teaching and engagement, upskilling the team ahead of next summer..

Volunteers working at tables on stratigraphic recording practice.

Projector screen showing the introductory slide of a PowerPoint for a stratigraphy workshop

Volunteers being shown around Salisbury Museum’s Wessex gallery by a Roman pottery expert

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Goody bags for participants being prepped for tomorrow's Teffont Archaeology NLHF funded Conservation training workshop led by the fab Celia Godfrey! Great to see our Cardiff postgraduate students spreading their wings and working on our impact activities.

Jute bag containing conservation first aid for finds kit, a short guide to on site conservation and other goodies.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

Took my final year Roman Britain students to Chedworth & Corinium Museum to study elite places & how Roman Britannia is presented to the public. Great day out apart from my kind colleagues on the coach having to navigate after finding the driver wished to use neither sat nav or map #mosaicmonday

Dining room mosaic at Chedworth Roman villa.

Corridor mosaic at Chedworth Roman villa.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Absolute props to Owen Humphreys for this phenomenal caption in his Roman tools volume with BAR...

Images of a series of iron roman tools with the caption: " Figure 4.11. Boring tools from Roman London (aren't they all?)"

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 06/12/2024

Just some lovely Roman chisel marks on a block of chalk masonry from the #ChalkeValleyVilla - my codirector has been busy being a media dahling on BBC Radio Wilts this morning talking about the villa and thanking our wonderful volunteers. #RomanArchaeology

Roman chisel marks on a squared off cuboid block of chalk about the size of a human hand.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 02/12/2024

Whistle-stop visit to Wessex Archaeology this afternoon to drop off some flots and environmental remains. Always good to drop in to the big enviro processing tent... its like bake off, but with mud. Exciting results to come hopefully! Maybe we can find out what date this hypocaust went out of use..

Three archaeologists looking carefully at a hypocaust. Another archaeologist is digging in the foreground.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

The cat has taken up residence on our recently dismounted Teffont Archaeology exhibition panels...

Entitled cat sitting on exhibition panels.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

Back in Salisbury today for a sample processing session with our super keen volunteers, sorting flotation sample residues to find archaeological material. Workshop led by Dr Denise Wilding. #RomanArchaeology may be about mosaics and elites in the news, but the backbone of it is hard work and detail.

Dr Denise Wilding training volunteers on sample processing in the Salisbury Museum meetings room.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 25/11/2024

For #MosaicMonday, here's our newly discovered mosaic from the Garsons Field villa in the Chalke Valley, Wilts. Latch key meander & guilloche panels in a corner of a corridor. Discovered working with our amazing volunteers. Funded by Chase & Chalke. More info: teffontarchaeology.com/index.php/bl...

Copyright Teffont Archaeology. Image shows a monochrome mosaic with a latch key meander pattern and fragments of a guilloche pattern, within a border of plain cream tesserae, within a corridor of a Roman villa.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

This afternoon I've been sorting out these two gorgeous Teffont sections, photographed 8 years apart after we returned to our monumentalised spring in 2023... click for full image.

Two computer monitors showing different photos of the same archaeological section through complex layers of rubble and clay infill in a deep cut feature.

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David Roberts @davidrobertsarch.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

Very much enjoying reconnecting Roman Britain today. Bluntest slide so far from Stephen Roberts!

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