What’s your favourite Roman artefact you have ever found? Mackenzie Catlin (age 8)

Hi Mackenzie, thanks for your question!

Not being a digger, I have to be satisfied with looking at the artefacts my colleagues have found, and there have been some wonderful things over the years. Roman Samian ware pottery is very beautiful and cleverly made, and I have a real fondness for Roman glass, especially beads. As the Portable Antiquities Scheme liaison officer, I have had not one but two Roman bells reported to me recently!

But I have to say that my favourite Roman artefact, is this floor tile (below) with paw prints on it! This was found by my colleague Ian at a quarry site near Wrexham in north Wales. Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust have been digging there on and off since 2008 when a Neolithic settlement was found. As the quarry, and so the area of archaeological excavation has expanded, we have also found Roman archaeology including this tile. It’s not as pretty or as clever as other artefacts but I love it because it represents a brief snippet in time and it was (presumably!) a complete accident. Things like this tile are what bring the past to life for me. Close your eyes and imagine dozens of freshly-made and still wet clay tiles lying out in the sun to dry before firing. Then imagine a small dog trotting across the tiles, not caring about the hours of work that the now-very-angry tile-maker has spent making them! I wonder what the Latin for ‘get off my tiles!’ is.

Abi