Science Archaeology How a hobbyist's hunch uncovered hidden Roman military camps The finds are forcing historians to reconsider the extent of the Roman military's advance in Germany. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. An amateur archaeologist armed only with satellite imagery and a hunch helped uncover evidence that's reshaping how historians understand the Roman Empire's advance into present-day Germany in the third century CE. In 2020, hobbyist Michael Barkowski was combing through aerial imagery available online, when he spotted an unusual formation near the town of Aken, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in northwestern Germany. Barkowski suspected that the large rectangular outlines and apparent ditches he was seeing could be signs of marching camps that were commonly deployed by Roman legions .

Archaeologists also located English Civil War cannonballs and a Tudor-era shoe near a Newcastle river. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. At the height of its power, the Roman Empire extended as far away as Britain . Based on a new trove of archaeological artifacts discovered in northeast England, Britain hosted critical sites that supplied the empire's vast military complex. Over six months in 2025, researchers from the United Kingdom's Durham University excavated the new evidence on the banks of the River Wear not far from Newcastle, England.