Roman trading town unearthed on dig for U.K.'s HS2 rail project

SectionstvFeaturedMore From NBCFollow NBC NewsA vast dig to lay the foundations for Britain’s new high-speed train network is helping to unearth rich new details about ancient Roman life.Archaeologists on Thursday hailed the discovery of an “extremely rare” and well-preserved humanlike wooden carving at a site in Buckinghamshire, England — the latest find from the digging that is being conducted as part of the country’s HS2 rail link.The infrastructure project is intended to connect London with the country’s north, but has been criticized as expensive and unnecessary. Buried in a water-logged ditch for centuries, the carving was discovered in July 2021 by archaeologists from Infra Archeology working for HS2’s contractor Fusion JV, before being made public Thursday.“The amazing discovery of this wooden figure was totally unexpected, and the team did a great job of recovering it intact,” Iain Williamson, an archaeologist for Fusion JV, said.