A CT scan of the Roman chicken egg discovered in Berryfields, Buckinghamshire, has revealed that it isn’t just the shell that is intact, but the contents — yolk, whites, and air bubble — are still inside. That makes it the only known example in the world of an ancient chicken egg that is complete with its interior liquids.

The Berryfields site was excavated between 2007 and 2016 in advance of the construction of new a housing development. The fieldwork uncovered evidence of human occupation going back to the early Neolithic period and extending into the early Modern era. The site saw significant activity in the Roman era, and in a waterlogged pit dating to the 4th century, archaeologists found a wealth of organic remains including leather shoes, animal bones and a woven basket containing four eggs. The ancient eggs were so fragile that three of the four disintegrated on contact, so the last egg standing became the only intact Roman egg ever found in Britain and the second ever found anywhere in the world.

The only other Roman-era egg to survive intact was found in a child’s grave in the Vatican necropolis under the via Triumphalis in Rome. The child, a baby who was less than a year old when they died between 50 and 150 A.D., was buried with a chicken egg in the right hand. The shell was intact but it was empty. It was probably not a food offering because at this time food offered for the deceased were usually pourable liquids like milk, honey and wine that were used in the burial ritual. Archaeologists believe it was symbolic, that the egg represented rebirth after the tragically premature death of the baby.

Researchers have recently undertaken a new examination of the Berryfields egg, subjecting it to a microCT scan at the University of Kent. The scan clearly exposed the liquid interior with an angled air bubble at the top.

The egg has also been taken to London’s Natural History Museum, where Douglas Russell, senior curator of the museum’s birds’ eggs and nests collection, and his colleague Arianna Bernucci were consulted about how to conserve the egg and remove the contents without breaking it.

Mr Russell said: “There are older eggs with contents – for example, the [museum] has a series of mummified birds’ eggs, probably excavated… from the catacombs of sacred animals at Denderah, Upper Egypt in 1898 which may be older.

“However, this is the oldest unintentionally preserved avian egg I have ever seen. That makes it fascinating. “Going forward, it will be very exciting to see if we can use any of the modern imaging and analysis techniques available here at the museum to shed further light on exactly which species laid the eggs and its potential archaeological significance.”

Mr Biddulph said: “As we found out when we visited the Natural History Museum, [it] appears to be the oldest known example in the world.”

The best-preserved Roman military diploma was dredged up from the River Sava in Slavonski Brod, Croatia, in 1997. It was issued by the emperor Vespasian on February 9th, 71 A.D., to the centurion Liccaius, veteran of the Classis Misenensis (the “Fleet of Misenum“) under the command of Sextus Lucilius Bassus.

The diploma states he was born in Marsunia (the Roman name for what is now Slavonski Brod) and was settled on land in Paestum on southern Italy’s Tyrrhenian coast after his honorable discharge. The fact that his diploma was found in the river flowing through his birthplace, however, indicates that at some point after his retirement he left his land grant in southern Italy and went home to Pannonia.

The rest of his diploma includes the standard boilerplate for these documents. He was granted citizenship for himself, his children, their descendants. He was also granted the right to marry and the citizenship extended to the spouse as well, although this was valid for one wife only, so if he remarried she would not get Roman citizenship through him.

What makes this particular diploma so extraordinary is that is so complete and well-preserved that the wax seals of the witnesses are still attached. The two tablets are tied together through perforations in the bronze. The tablet on the right feature is engraved with the names of the seven witnesses. Witnesses stamped their signatures on wax using their signet rings. Down the middle of the second tablet is a compartment with a slide-out lid where the wax seals of five of the witnesses are contained. This is a unique artifact. No other military diplomas with seals are known to survive.

Liccaius’ diploma is on display at the Brod Posavlje Museum in Slavonski Brod, but a really kickass 3D model has been made of it where the compartment slides out to reveal the seals. Explore it here:

Archaeologists have unearthed a vanishingly rare Roman wooden funerary bed in an excavation near the Holborn Viaduct in London. This is the first complete Roman funerary bed found in Britain, preserved in the muddy, waterlogged soil of the former Fleet River in excellent condition for almost 2,000 years. Five wooden coffins from the Roman period were also found at the site. Before this exceptional bonanza, only three Roman wood coffins had ever been discovered in London. Artifacts found with the burials date them to the earliest period of the Roman conquest, ca. 40-80 A.D.

Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) has been excavating the site ahead of new office construction. The Holborn Viaduct area is in central London today, but it was 500 feet west of the walls of ancient Londinium next to the major Roman artery road known as Watling Street. The Roman practice was to bury their dead along roads outside the city walls to keep disease from spreading in the close quarters of urban centers. Archaeologists therefore expected they might find Roman-era burials here, but the profusion of well-preserved wooden coffins and the unique funerary bed and were a most happy surprise.

Carved of high-quality oak, the bed frame has two long side panels, two shorter head and feet panels with sturdy feet at the four corners and cross-slats connected to the sides with pegged joinery. The long sides are just under six feet long. It was found dismantled, taken apart carefully without damaging it at the time of the burial.

It was taken apart before being placed within the grave but may have been used to carry the individual to the burial. We think it was probably intended as a grave good for use in the afterlife. Tombstones from across the Roman empire show carvings of the deceased reclining on a couch or bed and eating as if they were alive.

Skeletal remains found with the bed belonged to an adult male in his late 20s or early 30s. Skeletal remains have also been found with the wooden coffins. There were no other grave goods associated with the bed burial, but several objects have been unearthed from a cremation burial: beads, a glass vial containing a dark substance and an oil lamp decorated with the figure of a defeated gladiator.

The Roman period is not the only one represented at the site. MOLA team has uncovered objects in later layers, including chalk floors and timber wells from a 13th century tannery and an impressive wooden water pipe from the 15th or 16th century that seems to have originally pumped water on a ship. Not long after the wooden pipe was made, another cemetery was built on the site, possibly connected to the church of St Sepulchre which was nearby. Remains of homes, shops and a pub attest to the explosion of new construction after the Great Fire of London in 1666. In the Victorian era, those older structures were demolished and the warehouses built.

Excavation of the site is ongoing and expected to continue through the early part of this year. Meanwhile, the objects recovered will be cleaned, stabilized and conserved. Developers plan to put a selection of the finds on display in the new office building when it opens its doors in 2026.