Source/Archive record SCH8586 - The Search for Mithras in Roman Britain: A Reassessment of the Archaeological Evidence

Dissertation studying Mithraism in Roman Britain, focusing on a reassessment of the archaeological evidence for the worship of Mithras in Roman Chester during AD 43-410. Also, based on spatial analysis of known Mithraic temples in Britain, it suggests that Edgar's Field, Handbridge, could be a likely location for a Mithraeum in Chester. Edgar's Field was also the site of a Roman quarry from which many of the fortress stones were quarried, but Laverty suggests that it could have had a later, different use, when the quarrying had subsided. This potential different use is indicated by a shrine dedicated to Minerva carved into a natural rock outcrop in the centre of the area; a link between Mithras and Minerva can be found at the London Mithraeum, where a marble statue of Minerva's head was found during excavations of the Mithraeum. As with other known Mithraea in Britain, the site lies south-west of the fortress and close to a natural water source (River Dee). Additionally, a Mithraic stone depicting Cautopates (one of the two attendents of Mithras) was discovered along the banks of the River Dee at Handbridge. Laverty discusses Lidar evidence for Edgar's Field which shows potential subsidence in front of the rock outcrop into which Minerva's shrine is carved. He suggests the subsidence could have been caused by the collapse of underground structures and so a resistivity geophysical survey of a 30m by 20m area over the area of subsidence was undertaken. Interpretation of the results identified a series of three potential regular, rectangular features/structures, around 1m deep. In the smaller rectangle, in the western extent of the surveyed area, high resistivity was recorded throughout, suggesting a hard paved floor or rubble. The entire structure is orientated north-east to south-west, similar to Mithraea found at London, Housesteads and Carrawburgh, with the dimensions of the inner two rectanglular features being similar to all but the London Mithraeum.