Surprising discovery reveals new Roman settlement and their customs

Discovery of rare ceramic head reveals previously unknown Roman settlement

Archaeologists have unearthed a 2,000-year-old clay head that once belonged to a Roman figurine of the god Mercury.

A rare artifact discovered at an archaeological site in Smallheath Place in Kent, England, reveals evidence of a previously unknown Roman settlement that existed between the first and third centuries, according to a press release from the National Trust, a conservation charity.

Portable figurines and statues of Roman gods were part of everyday life in Roman Britain. Both the elite and ordinary citizens worshiped the figurines in their homes or left them in temples or other places as an offering or gift to the god in question.

Mercury was the Roman god of fine arts, trade and financial success. This newly discovered Mercury was made from pipe clay, a thin white clay used to make tobacco pipes, and examples are extremely rare, with fewer than 10 of them having been discovered away from Roman Britain. Most often, Mercury figurines were made of metal, the report says.

“Finds like this at Smallheath provide extremely valuable information about the religious beliefs and practices of the culturally mixed populations of the Roman provinces,” Dr Matthew Fittock, an expert on ceramic figurines in Roman Britain, said in a press release.

According to the National Trust, this complete figurine likely depicted a standing Mercury, draped in a short cloak or naked, carrying a staff with two intertwined serpents.

The Head of Mercury, along with other finds from the excavation, will be on display from February 28 at Smallheath Place, which was one of the most important shipbuilding centers in medieval England from the 13th to the mid-16th centuries.