The Greggs menu as objects from our archaeology collections: a thread

A vegan sausage roll, and a tasty 12th century colonette from the ruins of Reading Abbey.

Chicken bake and Reading Abbey clay tile.

Note the grey markings. While adding a delightful aesthetic quality, they signify incomplete oxidisation; the tile wasn't fired for long enough to turn red, and so may not be fully cooked.

You may ask to speak to the manager but unfortunately they uhh [checks historical record] died eight hundred years ago.

Slice of three cheese pizza and section of mosaic from Calleva Atrebatum (modern day Silchester/one of Roman Britain's most important settlements).

Pain au chocolat and deliciously buttery rhinocerous jaw.

These bone fragments were excavated from Pleistocene cave deposits at Kent's Cavern, Torquay. Because yes: rhinocerouses did once roam the plains of Kent. Unlike the less impressive pain au chocolat.

Jammy heart biscuit and a very *limited edition* tile excavated at Calleva bearing the stamp of Emperor Nero.

A café Nero speciale.

This tile was made in an imperial tilery located 3km to the south, at Little London, near Pamber. No other site in Britain has produced tiles with this stamp.

Also, a dog's paw mark can be seen on the right side of the tile. A very old floof's.

And to wash it all down: a smooth Americano, and an even smoother Roman pot replete with Roman coins.

Keep the change!

The coins and pot (in which they were found) were discovered, like many great finds, by a group of Reading children playing on ice.

This happened in February, 1895, at a disused gravel pit on Bob's Mount (between Milman Road and Swainstone Road).

The coins represent Roman emperors ranging from Julian II to Arcadius (so, dating from about 355AD to 395AD).

The fact that they belong to the later Empire implies that they were buried around the time of the Roman evacuation of Britain!

Discover delicious fake bakes and many more archaeological treats over on the Museum's website: https://bit.ly/2NdGJdE