London rail tunnel project unearths ancient artefacts

A project to build a new rail tunnel in London has turned into an archaeologist's dream. Artefacts dating back thousands of years have been discovered during the construction of the line, known as Crossrail, unearthing layers of the city's history. Now, 500 of the most interesting objects are on display at the Museum of London, including a 16th century bowling ball, ice skates made of animal bones and a Roman pot, which holds cremated remains. "London really is like a layer cake of history of the city from the Roman levels through the medieval, the only modern period into the more recent centuries," Jay Carver, lead archaeologist for Crossrail, told Al Jazeera. The construction of the 42km tunnel, which began eight years ago, is Europe's largest engineering project.