Excavations in Taunton have revealed one of the largest prehistoric roundhouses in Britain and a number of Roman burials. The house dates from the Iron Age 400-100BC and was constructed from wooden posts with a thatched roof and had a diameter of 17m or 56ft. Archaeologists also found three Iron Age spearheads, a pair of Roman shears, loom weights, Roman brooches, and large amounts of pottery. According to experts there were originally four houses on the site that were next to fields where mixed agriculture of cereal crop and sheep farming were practised. It appears that after the roundhouses went out of use the site was used to bury the dead. A number of Roman graves have been excavated including some very unusual burials. The finds unearthed from the site since December 2008 will be displayed by the Museum of Somerset.

Information about this announcement and a dig in the heart of Gloucester in search of the city's old Roman wall are on the BBC History Archaeology website.