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Roman settlement found next to 'devil's hill'

Saturday, May 12 2007 @ 09:57 AM CDT

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By Roger Highfield

Evidence of a Roman sacred site has been discovered at the foot of a man-made hill created thousands of years before the Romans arrived in Britain, it was announced yesterday.


Silbury hill: The original purpose and use of the man-made Neolithic hill still mystifies archaeologists

English Heritage called the uncovering of the settlement a "startling discovery", and all the more so because it lies next to 5,000-year-old Silbury hill, which at 130ft is Europe's largest man-made prehistoric monument.

The original purpose and use of the Neolithic hill, which took an estimated 20 million man hours to make, still mystifies archaeologists.

Yesterday's disclosure indicates that a Roman community was equally taken with the Wiltshire hill and established a sacred settlement in its shadow, some 3,000 years after it was created.

The discovery of a settlement the size of 24 football pitches is "quite unexpected" said Dr Amanda Chadburn, an English Heritage archaeologist and team leader. "Although there were hints - the odd Roman coin kicking around - that the Romans were doing something around there we did not know what. This is an important Roman settlement."

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The site straddled the Roman road from London to Bath where it crossed the Winterbourne River.

But it was more than just a way station for weary travellers. The Romans were as intrigued by Silbury as people are today, and there is even a tantalising hint of a temple.

"There are a lot of legends about it being built by the devil and you wonder what the Romans thought about it," said Dr Chadburn.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/


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