April 2026 Archaeological Discoveries: Mosaics, Roman Ships, and Homeric Papyrus

In April 2026, multiple significant archaeological discoveries were reported across the world. In Bacoli, Italy, the first phase of securing the Roman maritime villa of Publio Cornelio Dolabella concluded, revealing new hypogean spaces. Bradisismo in the Campi Flegrei exposed a Roman mosaic on the bed of Lake Fusaro, part of the Villa of Quinto Ortensio Ortalo. In Switzerland, hundreds of perfectly preserved objects from a 1st-century AD Roman shipwreck were recovered from Lake Neuchâtel, including ceramics and olive oil containers from Spain, with weapons suggesting a military escort. In Egypt, a joint mission by the University of Barcelona and the Institute for the Ancient Near East found a fragment of Homer's Iliad in a Roman-era mummy at Oxyrhynchus (El-Bahnasa), the first evidence of epic poems in Egyptian funerary contexts. Mummies with gold or copper tongues were also found. At Tell Fir'awn, a fragment of an unfinished monumental sculpture depicting two male figures with cobras and a solar disk, likely Ramesses II, was unearthed. In Laos, the Plain of Jars in Xieng Khouang province yielded copper alloy bells, ceramic funerary vessels, and human remains, suggesting secondary burial practices. The site has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2019. Additionally, the Parco archeologico di Sepino in Molise, Italy, has offered free entry since March 2026, and a newly discovered lavish domus there contained a rare lead container for water heating.