Earlier today, archaeologists working on a massive dig on the southern banks of the River Thames uncovered the oldest known plaque inscribed with the city's Roman name, Londinium. While the exact date of the plaque is unknown, it is believed to date from between 50 and 150 AD, and would most likely have been placed on some type of building or in a shrine. Equally important, the plaque offers some initial concrete evidence that there was an emerging merchant class in London during this period. The actual location of the plaque's discovery is near the junction of what were three key roads in Roman Britain, and the finding represents only a small portion of what may be unearthed in this 40-week archaeology project.

The first link is to a recent news story about the recent find in London. The second site leads to the Council for British Archaeology, which features numerous links to ongoing research projects within Britain and frequent updates about new findings from the field. The third site offers some perspective on the historical notion of Roman Britain, and particularly how scholars understand that epoch. The fourth site is a link to the complete work "Roman Roads in Britain," a historical study that seeks to describe and delineate the exact location of these very important Roman pathways. Information about the Museum of London, which is working jointly on this project, is provided by the fifth link. The last link, Britannia, is a nice omnibus listing of sites dealing with various aspects of Roman Britain history and archaeology, provided by the Dalton School in New York.