In an early 2003 post I talk about thinking of Boston, where I was born, as an old town until I ate in an Edinburgh restaurant that had been serving food 200 years before the Pilgrims began the American immigration wave. That had to be revised once again.
The villa remains are housed in an awesome, climate controlled building which was a work of art in it self.
Steven Brown usually gives tours to children at the villa but as I was the first and only visitor when it opened, he gave me a good 20 minutes of his time and I thanked him for that. All the data h sent me will take time to digest.
People have lived on Vectis, as the Romans called it, for thousands of years before Roman traders, not invaders arrived. The early Romans were all about commerce and would have hugged the coast of France as they traveled from Rome to sell and buy products. The high cliffs of clay told them that the water would be well filtered and the inhabitants were peaceful. They settled here in around 50 BC and stayed for neaarly 300 years. In 1879 a farmer was attempting to sink a fence pole, normally an easy task in clay, and he kept hitting resistance. Excavation revealed a multiple roomed villa as this model shows.
And this was no rough dwelling. Stone walls, tiled roof and mosaic floors. It even was heated by underfloor vents that allowed fire heated air to circulate underneath.
The mosaic are amazing.
If I understood Mr. Brown correctly, the image to be depicted was first drawn on a cloth. The tiles were then affixed and the whole thing was then laid on the wet concrete, grouted and sealed.
And the front door was locked!
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