THE 1,600-year-old remains of a middle-aged man buried alongside an ornate belt decorated with images of dolphins and dogs have been found in a grave in Leicester, England, archaeologists report.

    The belt’s style suggests that its owner worked as a solider or civil servant during the Late Roman period, during the second half of the fourth century or the early fifth century, the archaeologists, from the University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS), said July 7.

    The team made the discovery during an excavation in which they dug up 83 skeletons from a Late Roman cemetery in Leicester’s West End. One of the graves, a simple one dug into mudstone by the bank of the River Soar, held the middle-age man’s remains, as well as the extraordinary belt.

    The cemetery is located southwest of an ancient Roman town and close to what was once a major Roman road known as Fosse Way. But despite Rome’s extensive settlements in England, it’s rare to find such an ornate belt that has most of its parts, including the buckle, belt plate and strap end, ULAS researchers said.

    “The survival of the delicate thin-sheet bronze belt plate is remarkable,” Nick Cooper, the post-excavation manager at ULAS, said in a statement.

    (SD-Agencies)