The hypocaust system is revealing itself beautifully! Box flue tiles channeled hot air through walls — those geometric patterns helped adhesion, not decoration. A tiny Roman minim coin (just 4mm!) turned up in the spoil heap. Near an apsidal room tentatively called a cold plunge pool, more tiles and a mysterious copper alloy object emerged. Several building phases suggest this may actually be the caldarium! 🔥
Excavation finds include box flue tiles, minim coin, and hypocaust evidence
EnglandExcavation
Site mentioned
Key facts
- Box flue tiles were recovered; these formed part of the Roman hypocaust central heating system by circulating hot air beneath raised floors and channeling heat through walls
- The geometric designs on the tiles are functional, aiding adhesion to the wall rather than being decorative
- An iron bolt, possibly from ceiling support, and a nail were found along the veranda wall
- A metal detectorist found a Roman minim coin in the spoil heap, measuring approximately 4 mm in diameter, made of bronze or copper alloy, dating to the late Roman period
- In Trench 1, additional box tiles were found near an area called the niche, a deliberate cut in the wall leading to an apsidal room tentatively called a cold plunge pool
- A copper alloy object of uncertain function was recovered from the niche area
- Several building phases were identified during the season, including waterproof lining and a tile stack base for a hypocaust, suggesting the area may instead be the caldarium (hot room)
Sources
digventures.com
Linked in video description
Roman box-flue tiles - The Novium Museumthenovium.org
Box-flues are hollow box-like tiles set into walls to allow hot air from an under floor hypocaust to heat the room walls.
Roman Box Flue Tilepotted-history.co.uk
Box flue tiles were a vital component of the hypocaust system, the Roman underfloor heating method that turned bathhouses and villas into warm, comfortable ...
Roman Box Flue Tiles AD 43- 410mudlarking.blogspot.com
They were placed one on top of the other in the walls and carried hot air from the under floor hypocaust system into the roof and then outside, ...
What can we learn from Roman flue tiles?cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk
Flue tiles were a specialist type of tile that allowed the circulation of hot air through the walls of a hypocaust system and were used in bath ...
Hypocaust box flue tile from Tripontiumragm.co.uk
Smaller stacked square tiles were used in the hypocaust pilae – to suspend the floor of heated rooms, particularly in the tepidarium (warm room) and caldarium ( ...
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