READING University’s summer excavations at Roman Silchester are underway, and this week Bygones has been invited on site to see how their Department of Archaeology’s 2018 dig is progressing.

The years four-week dig, by over 80 archaeologists, is concentrating on Calleva Atrebatum’s bath complex (on the south-eastern side of the town), which is one of its earliest post-conquest roman structures.

Roman Silchester lies 10 miles to the south-west of Reading, covering 40 hectares within its town walls, and was occupied from the Iron Age period, to the eventual fall of the roman empire in the 5th century AD.

The dig takes place in the northern part of bath complex, with its mixture of cold (Frigidarium) and warm areas (Tepidarium), this would have been a meeting place inhabitants and visitors alike for many hundreds of years.

The portico (entrance) excavations have shown that the area was subject to many alterations over the years, having been raised up to a higher level (burying an earlier colonnade), possibly due to localised flooding.

Archaeologists are keen to look at the relationship of the baths to the ditch and nearby stream, also hoping that the wet conditions will have preserved good environmental evidence.

An Edwardian dig of the area yielded one of the Silchester’s first Nero tiles, so the UOR experts will also be hoping for more evidence of the infamous first-century emperor’s influence on the town.

Earlier digging by Edwardian antiquarians has always been an issue at Silchester, and the baths complex is no exception, in as much that the disturbance makes modern analysis challenging.

As with many roman remains the site has suffered from ‘robbing’, with any re-usable stonework being taken away for building work, leaving only a fraction of the amount that would have been there originally.

Many of the rooms within the bath complex would have had mosaic floors and although a small amount has been discovered this year, it is very unlikely that any sizeable amount will be found.

But evidence of a Hypocaust (under floor heating system), has already been uncovered, with stacks of tiles known as pilae (supporting the floor) and box flue tiles (which spread heat up the walls) in the Tepidarium room.

The diggers ‘small finds’ trays display a good spread of roman activity with coins, bracelets, tweezers, animal bones and roof tiles (some with animal footprints).

Despite a relatively short digging season Prof Mike Fulford told Bygones:” This dig is a wonderful opportunity to see a big chunk of well preserved bath complex, we hope this will be the first of many seasons.”

The site will have its open day this Saturday 14th July, when visitors will have a chance to see how the dig is progressing and youngsters can have a go in a special ‘dig pit’.