Archaeologists in the English town of Scarborough have discovered the foundations of what may have been a luxurious Roman villa.
The complex appears to be the first of its kind found in Britain—and possibly the only known example in all of the former Roman Empire, reports Joe Cooper for the Yorkshire Evening Post.
“This is a really exciting discovery and definitely of national importance,” Keith Emerick, inspector of ancient monuments at Historic England, tells the Guardian’s Alexandra Topping. “I would say this is one of the most important Roman discoveries in the past decade, actually. Easily.”
The Scarborough site housed a complex of buildings, including one with a circular central room and several rooms leading off of it, as well as a bathhouse. The structures’ unique layout has never been recorded in Britain before, according to a statement.
