- Archaeologists have unearthed a rare 287AD coin depicting the Roman usurper Carausius during excavations for the new East West railway line in eastern England.
- The discovery was made among 1,000 trial trenches in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, part of a larger effort to record and preserve archaeological heritage.
- Carausius commanded a Roman fleet before establishing an independent state in Britain and northern Gaul from 286AD to 293AD, after being accused of embezzlement and facing execution.
- Other significant finds include a 2nd-century Roman coin, likely from Emperor Antoninus Pius or Marcus Aurelius's reign, and a Late Iron Age jar dating between 50BC and 50AD.
- Archaeologists plan to conduct excavations at 6,000 sites along the railway route over two years, with all artefacts to be cleaned, analysed, and archived after the work concludes.
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