SCIENCE BRIEFING

Archaeologists have unearthed a Roman glass bowl, a unique find in the Western Roman Empire, at an ancient cemetery beyond the walls of the old city of London.

The dish, believed to date from around the 2nd to 3rd century, is a mosaic of indented blue petals with white bordering. “It is unprecedented in the western Roman world,” said Jenny Hall, curator of the Roman collection at the Museum of London. The artifact was found eight to 10 feet down at an ancient cemetery in Aldgate, east London, just beyond the old city walls. Romans were required by law to bury their dead outside the city gates.