Dig season was coming to a close when amateur archaeologists in southeast England made one of their most important discoveries to date: a Roman mosaic, dating back more than 1,000 years.

Since 2015, the dig led by the Boxford History Project and the Berkshire Archaeology Research Group has brought together local archaeology enthusiasts and professional archaeologists. The team's work has focused on three Roman sites near the small village of Boxford.

But when the first, vibrant colors of the mosaic poked through the broken dirt of the excavation site, "I was stunned into silence," said the leader of the Boxford History Project, Joy Appleton, in an interview with the New York Times.

Anthony Beeson, a member of the