An incredibly rare Roman figurine made of wood has been discovered in a ditch in Twyford in Buckinghamshire during work on the HS2 project. The object was unearthed last July by a team from Infra Archaeology, who were excavating the area for HS2’s contractor Fusion JV.
The anthropomorphic figure, which is 67cm tall and 18cm wide, was found in an excellent state of preservation due the ditch being water-logged. An initial assessment of the carving and the figure’s clothing suggests the object may be early Roman, and fragments of pottery, dating to AD 43-70, were found in the same ditch.
The figurine was featured in the BBC’s Digging for Britain series last month, and we will take a close-up look at it in next issue’s ‘Context’.
