In an English garden they find a rock that turns out to be a Roman relic valued at $ 20,000 dollars | The State
The minimum price they intend to have for the rock is $ 13,600. (Image for illustrative purposes only).
Photo:
Rob Sheahan / Unsplash
A woman in England was very pleasantly surprised to discover that she was using a Roman relic as a step to mount her horse.
A bungalow owner in southern England stumbled upon a marble slab in her rock garden 20 years ago, which she used in her stable to lean on and ride her horses for nearly 10 years.
Marble slab dug up in British garden revealed to be rare #Roman relic worth £ 15,000. https://t.co/eVXDGuQrv7 #RomanArchaeology #RomanBritain #Archeology pic.twitter.com/H9o96Vin6g
– Roman Archeology News (@RomArchable) January 4, 2021
At first, the slab had layers of soil and moss, which were removed over time to finally reveal laurel wreaths and an inscription carved into its surface, according to the British auction house. Woolley and Wallis, which plans to auction the slab for an estimate of £ 10,000 to £ 15,000 pounds (roughly $ 13,600 to $ 20,400).
Realizing that the garden rock was anything but ordinary, the woman consulted a local archaeologist who identified the marble slab as being from the 2nd century, probably originating from Greece or Asia Minor, the peninsula that today constitutes the Asian portion of Turkey.
The slab is 63 centimeters high, and has an inscription in Greek that reads: “The people (and) the youths (honor) Demetrios (son) of Metrodoros, (the son) of Leukios,” as reported in CNet.
“Artifacts of this type came to England as a result of the Great Tours in the late 18th and 19th centuries, when wealthy aristocrats roamed Europe learning about classical art and culture. We assume this is how it entered the UK, but what is a complete mystery is how it ended up in a home garden, and that is where we would like the help of the public, ”said Will Hobbs, Wooley and Wallis Antique Specialist.
The bungalow where the valuable slab was found is in the village of Whiteparish, about 100 miles west of London, and was built in the mid-1960s. The auction house hopes that someone who has lived in the area at the time or who has helped build the place will be able to provide information that will shed some light on the valuable stone that was placed in the garden.
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