Pals stumble on rare Roman ‘souvenir’

A RARE bronze vessel found by a group of metal detecting pals may have been a Roman soldier’s souvenir of army service at Hadrian’s Wall, experts say.

The pan, made in the second century AD, is decorated with Celtic style motifs in blue, red, turquoise and yellow. It has an unusual inscription listing four forts at the Western end of Hadrian's Wall Bowes, Drumburgh, Stanwix and Castlesteads and even bears a name, Aelius Draco.

Kevin Blackburn, 47, from Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, stumbled on the find while out walking with three fellow enthusiasts in the Staffordshire hills on June 29.