Cock-a-doodle-ooooh! Ancient chicken brooch found at Vindolanda eggs-cavation
The latest discovery at Vindolanda in Northumberland has really got people egg-cited!
Yesterday, a volunteer excavator was digging in a ruin that the trust believes was formerly a bakery. Right next to what would have been an oven, the volunteer uncovered the comb of the chicken first, then the eye, which is what made the item stand out as more than just a piece of metal.
Specialists then determined that the find was a copper alloy brooch - although missing it's pin. Further examination revealed traces of blue and yellow enamel which gives us an idea of what the piece would have looked like in it's hey-day.
Excavations at Vindolanda have been ongoing since the 1970s and various Roman artefacts have been found over the decades.
The bakery was unearthed during this excavation season, which restarted again in April.
The 13-acre site is run by The Vindolanda Charitable Trust. It is home to a huge former Roman auxiliary fort, just south of Hadrian's Wall - which it originally pre-dated! The fort was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD.
It is estimated that only 24% of Vindolanda has been excavated, meaning the trust has approximately another 150 years of excavating to go.
You can visit the excavation site and volunteer Monday-Friday until the season ends in late September.