Archaeologists discover the oldest texts ever found in Britain

(Image credit: MOLA)

Thanks to wooden tablets buried deep underground, we now know what life was like in London some 2,000 years ago. On Wednesday morning — after two years of transcribing and translating — researchers released the texts from Roman writing tablets that were discovered about 400 meters east of St. Paul's Cathedral in the center of London. The documents, all of which were written between 43 A.D. and 80 A.D. — right around the time when the city was founded by Romans — are thought to be the oldest texts ever found in Britain.

The wooden tablets contain everything from the earliest use of the name London to the city's earliest financial document, and have already helped clarify London's history. One text indicates that the city was run directly by the emperor of Rome as opposed to an elected municipal council or local magistrates. Others prove that, even in London's first 40 years in existence, it was already a "major commercial and financial" center, The Independent reports. The manuscripts discuss transport and trading, and about half of the documents concern loans or debts.