Well, well - rare artefacts discovered near Rome
Archaeologists headed down the well in search of answers
- Published
Rare Roman artefacts have been discovered inside a well in Ostia, Italy.
The dig site is near the Temple of Hercules, which was built in 100BC.
The Temple would have been used for religious and social gatherings.
Archaeologists think the finds in this well could help us learn more about Roman religious rituals and buildings.
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What was found in the well?
All these ceramic objects and burned bones were found in the site
The well is around 10 feet deep - which makes it pretty difficult to dig out of.
Luckily, after the water had cleared, archaeologists discovered there was plenty to find at the bottom.
They found bones, which they think were used in some kind of religious ceremony, based on similar artefacts that have been found in the past, and what we know about Roman religions.
There were also various ceramic pots, which could have been used for all sorts of different things.
Because the well is so close to the Temple of Hercules, it's largely suspected that the ceramics also had a religious purpose.
How do you investigate the past?
When investigating a historical site, there's a lot more to archaeology than just digging up artefacts and sending them off to museums.
Even if only small objects have been found, there's still plenty we can learn from them.
For example, if objects look similar to those found at similar sites, archaeologists can guess they had a similar purpose.
There's also objects that can suggest if an area was richer or poorer. For example, if there's lots of jewellery, or wine pots, it could mean that people in that place had extra money to spend on nice goods.
Archaeologists also analyse the soil in the ground, to try and work out where in the past certain objects could belong.