The ruins of the Roman regional town of Caistor (or Venta Icenorum) are located just beyond the outskirts of Norwich. One of only three Roman towns in Britain not built over by later medieval or modern towns, the traces of Romano-British life from the time of Boudicca’s rebellion in AD 60 lie just beneath the surface.

Towns at the edge of empire
Caistor Roman Town (Venta Icenorum): the Roman world beneath our feet
Caistor Roman Town: key features
- Intact visible remains of the Roman town wall
- Complete town plan reconstructed from scientific mapping and excavation
- Excavated evidence for a forum, a basilica, temples, and bathhouse
- Evidence for later Anglo-Saxon occupation, allowing us to trace British life in the centuries immediately after the departure of the Romans
- Insights into Romano-British daily life, including such finds as a defixio or ‘curse tablet‘ dedicated to the water god Neptune, found in the River Tas
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CONTACTS
Principal Investigator: Dr Simon Kaner,
Sainsbury Institute, University of East Anglia
Co-Investigator: Dr Sam Nixon
Sainsbury Institute, University of East Anglia
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Towns and empires worldwide
15th – 16th Century Inca Imperial Town
Choquequirao: Peru
The interaction between imported imperial culture and pre-existing local culture seen at Caistor is also mirrored globally, as for example at the 15th-16th century Inca imperial town of Choquequirao in Peru














