inches of the surface. On two sides of the room, where the junction of
the concrete floor with the bounding walls could be carefully examined,
there was no crack or separation. This trench afterwards proved to have
been dug within an adjoining room (11 ft. by 11 ft. 6 in. in size), the
existence of which was not even suspected whilst I was present.
[Picture: Fig. 8: Section through the foundations of a buried Roman
villa]
On the side of the trench farthest from the buried wall (W), the mould
varied from 9 to 14 inches in thickness; it rested on a mass (B) 23
inches thick of blackish earth, including many large stones. Beneath
this was a thin bed of very black mould (C), then a layer of earth full
of fragments of mortar (D), and then another thin bed (about 3 inches
thick) (E) of very black mould, which rested on the undisturbed subsoil
(F) of firm, yellowish, argillaceous sand. The 23-inch bed (B) was
probably made ground, as this would have brought up the floor of the room
to a level with that of the atrium. The two thin beds of black mould at
the bottom of the trench evidently marked two former land-surfaces.
Outside the walls of the northern room, many bones, ashes, oyster-shells,
broken pottery and an entire pot were subsequently found at a depth of 16
inches beneath the surface.
The second trench was dug on the western or lower side of the villa: the
mould was here only 61 2 inches in thickness, and it rested on a mass of
fine earth full of stones, broken tiles and fragments of mortar, 34
inches in thickness, beneath which was the undisturbed sand. Most of
this earth had probably been washed down from the upper part of the
field, and the fragments of stones, tiles, &c., must have come from the
immediately adjoining ruins.
It appears at first sight a surprising fact that this field of light
sandy soil should have been cultivated and ploughed during many years,
and that not a vestige of these buildings should have been discovered.
No one even suspected that the remains of a Roman villa lay hidden close
beneath the surface. But the fact is less surprising when it is known
that the field, as the bailiff believed, had never been ploughed to a
greater depth than 4 inches. It is certain that when the land was first
ploughed, the pavement and the surrounding broken walls must have been
covered by at least 4 inches of soil, for otherwise the rotten concrete
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