Fascinating details discovered about Ancient Roman artefacts found in Stoke Mandeville

Ancient Roman busts were found by L-P Archaeology experts while they were inspecting the site on behalf of HS2 Ltd.

Now, after conducting a thorough and careful clean of the three Roman busts further details on the ornaments can be revealed.

A spokesman for HS2 noted that you can now identify the curvature of the lips on the female carved head.

Before the soil and dust covering the ancient findings meant identifying the way these objects were put together was nearly impossible.

A HS2 spokesman said: “Specialists have done some analysis on the statues and believe that due to the level of detail and excellent preservation, they would have been housed in a building, rather than being exposed to the elements.

"Other preliminary information offered includes the suggestion that the set of statues would represent a family and could have been housed within a mausoleum. Analysis also shows that the busts were made from high quality Cotswold bibury type stone.

“The intricate carvings can be dated as early as the end of the first century although parallels to the hairstyles can be made with items from the early second century.

"A near contemporary comparison can be made to a stone oversized female head which is on display at the Roman Baths in Bath.”

HS2 has released a video where Brooke a member of the L-P Archaeology team explains how these precious pieces of history were cleaned and where they likely came from.