The World's Hardest Puzzle: Unusual Roman Images Found

Archaeologists have put together the "world's most complex jigsaw puzzle" to reveal huge frescoes that once adorned a luxurious villa in Roman times in what is now London.

Fragments of crumbling plaster uncovered during excavations by experts from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) have been painstakingly pieced together to reveal frescoes that covered around 20 internal walls of the building.

As CNN notes, the significance of the plaster fragments was not immediately apparent when they were first discovered at a site in Southwark. Thousands of fragments were found in a large pit, likely the result of demolition work carried out by the Romans before 200 AD, the museum says.

Han Li, a senior building materials specialist at the Museum of London Archaeology, spent three months carefully arranging the fragments to reconstruct the massive work of art, which has not been seen for more than 1,800 years. It depicts fruit, flowers, birds, candelabra and stringed instruments popular at the time. Another fragment shows a woman weeping, wearing a hairstyle from the Flavian period (69-96 AD).

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime moment, so I felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness when I started applying the plaster,” Han Li said in a MOLA press release sent to CNN. “Many of the pieces were very thin, and pieces from different walls had been mixed together when the building was demolished, so it was like putting together the most difficult jigsaw puzzle in the world.”

Archaeologists, who continue to conduct in-depth analysis of the plaster, believe that the paintings were inspired by examples from other parts of the Roman world.

“Some of the fragments imitate high-quality wall tiles, such as red Egyptian porphyry (a volcanic stone with crystal inclusions) framing intricate veining of African giallo antico (yellow marble). Similar examples have been found north of the river at Londinium, Colchester and Pompeii,” the press release said.

The identity of one of the artists is also hinted at by a “tabula ansata,” which is a carved decorative plaque that was then used to sign works of art. One piece of plaster is engraved with the Latin word “fecit,” meaning “who did this.” Unfortunately, the mystery of who this person was remains a mystery, as the piece where his name would have been is missing, CNN reports.

Elsewhere, the team found an engraving with almost complete Greek script that appeared to have been “skilfully typeset” by a “skilled scribe,” according to a press release. It’s the only known example of its kind from Roman Britain, but similar examples have been found in Italy.

The Romans invaded Britain in 43 AD and founded Londinium, the foundation of modern London, shortly after. The Roman occupation lasted for almost 400 years, ending in 410 AD, CNN recalls.

It is not the first discovery at the site, which is being redeveloped into a complex of offices, homes and shops. Well-preserved mosaics that once decorated the floor of a large room were found there in 2022, and a rare Roman mausoleum was discovered the following year.