London Indymedia

Mithraic Temple Discovered under Terminal 5

Worldreviewer | 01.04.2008 14:31 | Climate Chaos | Culture | London | World

Worldreviewer archeological expert Professor Avril Buffon from the Institute of Classical Archaeology at the University of Nantes announced today that formal excavations will start next month on a Mithraic Temple complex discovered during the construction of Heathrow’s Terminal Five.

The remains include a number of funerary monuments, as well as a likeness of the Roman God Valigia, a little known deity who was worshipped by the messenger corp of the Roman Army.
These messengers customarily carried their dispatches in sturdy leather pouches called Valigie, which gave us the modern French word ‘valise’, meaning suitcase.

A large number were unearthed during preliminary construction work, which led directly to the discovery of the temple.
The site was secured pending completion of the terminal, and kept under wraps until now.

The remains were discovered in the path of the 11 mile underground baggage conveyor complex, which had to be re-routed by several hundred yards as a result.
BAA have denied that the resulting kink in the path of the conveyor belts – as well as an unusual zig-zag section to skirt a series of massive marble columns - contributed to the recent baggage problems at the new Terminal.

During the planned excavations a number of flights are expected to be
re-routed to a sixth, temporary Terminal, on the far perimeter of the airport.
When asked about the impact on planning for a possible third runway, Professor Buffon said:
"Mithraic Temples are seldom found in isolation.
"We would not be surprised if there was a whole town under there.
"We're also expecting to find a whole lot more structures under Heathrow - so don't hold your breath for a third runway anytime soon!"

Professor Avril Buffon is an archeology fellow of the Institute of Classical Archaeology at the University of Nantes.
She has been working in the archeology field for over 15 years, and recently came to the public's attention with her discovery of a roman villa under Highbury Football Stadium.
Her current work at Heathrow Airport Terminal began in early 2007.

Worldreviewer
- Homepage: http://www.worldreviewer.com/blog.

Comments

Hide the following 17 comments

Third Runway in Doubt?

01.04.2008 15:07

Does this mean that the third runway will have to be delayed?

Interested


Terminal Five could be closed for digging

01.04.2008 15:44

If there really are ancient temples under Heathrow Airport then there would be a good case for digging them up and even delaying work on the third runway while qualified people examine their findings.
A recent example is at the Hill of Tara in Ireland where historic sites have been discovered along the route of the motorway and European rulings have stopped the company that owns Heathrow Airport from continuing with their work there.

Student


april fool

01.04.2008 15:57

surely "avril buffon" should have posted before mid-day or the joke is on "her"

myk


Ancient artifacts could stop the third runway

01.04.2008 16:38

I've checked the Worldreviewer website and it is published by a reputable organisation that does archaeological work all over the world.
The three villages near Heathrow Airport that are threatened with being demolished to make way for the third runway are steeped in history, and there could well be some exciting finds to be found there.
BAA is apparently concerned enough about this historic discovery to have taken steps to protect what has so far been found.
Let's hope that this latest twist to the story could stop the third runway permanently.

Professor Buffon says on her website:
"Next time you check in to Terminal Five, please be patient, and try to understand that the fact your bag zig-zags half way out across the runway and back is so as to avoid damaging these precious classical artefacts!
"We're planning to start a more detailed excavation in April, during which - sorry folks! - a number of flights are expected to be re-routed to a sixth, temporary Terminal, on the far perimeter of the airport.
"Still, it's all in the cause of archeology".

Interested


History and tradition won't stop progress

01.04.2008 17:26

Don't hold your breath waiting for the government to stop the plans to build the third runway at heathrow.
The owners of BAA have taken no notice of the archaeological discoveries at Tara or the court rulings against continuing with the motorway in Ireland.
The most likely outcome would be an attempt to conceal any ancient artifacts found on the site of the third runway to prevent any efforts to slow down the destruction of the villages.

Realist


The bats and otters could stop the runway

01.04.2008 17:52

There are a lot of endangered species of rare wildlife and plants on the site of the third runway which are protected by law.
Surely the archaeologists and the botanists and the animal experts could all work together to stop the planned destruction?

Naturist


Objective archaeologists

01.04.2008 21:07

"The most likely outcome would be an attempt to conceal any ancient artifacts found on the site of the third runway to prevent any efforts to slow down the destruction of the villages."

Although BAA will be forced to pay for the archaeological investigations, the actual archaeologists will be independant and in no way influenced by BAA. All developers are required under planning law to foot the bill for surveys and subsequent excavations on any possible archaeological site, particularly one as interesting as this. Clearly no archaeologist would allow the finds from here to go unpublicised, infact it seems extremely likely that the majority, myself included, would be completely against the building of a third runway (over a site of historic interest)

Peat


Oh Please...

01.04.2008 23:40

As a clown we are trained in many skills, including the disarming of practical jokes. This is not a real posting. Avril Buffon? Like the line about the suitcase goddess. Not bad! Are you avin a laugh, cos the person who posted this certainly is! happy Clown Day!

Sgt Sideshow


But seriously folks...

02.04.2008 12:50

In my opinion BAA will definitely try to suppress any information about ancient artifacts or historic monuments on or under their property which could be why we haven't heard about this earlier.
As far as the wildlife is concerned the developers in Ireland have made no effort to protect anything and at Heathrow they will probably just kill everything that is on the site of the third runway.

The Worldreviewer website shows famous archaeological sites in many countries and their claim that there may be an entire pre-historic town under Heathrow Airport is certainly not a joke.
It's time the clowns started taking all this destruction of the environment a lot more seriously otherwise we will all end up looking as silly as they do.

Realist


Fishy Smell

02.04.2008 14:14

You can close the entire airport by dumping tonnes of old fish around the perimeter. That would attract so many seabirds that planes couldn't risk flying through them in case they were sucked into the jet engines. They would never take that risk, especially if there were any of those rare flying penguins in the vicinity.

Masai


Oh Please...

02.04.2008 14:54

Two points:

1. Have a look at the reports on here about Fossil Fools Day to find out how seriously we and others like us take cllimate change.

2. The Avril Buffon name is french for April Fool. How clear does it have to be? The websaut may be real, but the posting is a joke!

Sgt Sideshow


Quel Surprise

02.04.2008 14:55

Oh, and now the link is gone. NOW will you admit you've been had?

Sgt Sideshow


No time for jesting I'm afraid...

02.04.2008 15:41

The problem with dumping lots of fish at Heathrow Airport would be the ethical question of whether it would be right to deprive the poor of all that food and whether it would be fair to the birds that could get injured by the aeroplanes.

As far as those silly clowns are concerned there may have been lots of funny stories about them on Indymedia but there wasn't anything on television, so it does make you wonder how serious they really are about their clowning about doesn't it?
They don't seem to be able to tell the difference between a real archaeological discovery and an April Fool's joke.
The fact is that there are hundreds of ancient historic sites all along the route of the new motorway at Tara in Ireland and there are also priceless treasures under Heathrow Airport and the developers are the same company.

The clowns don't seem to be able to do anything to stop the destruction of the environment so what are they actually good for?
If they can't stop the third runway at least they should try to do something to save the endangered animals which the local people have known about for a long time but have been reluctant to draw attention to because they don't want them to be disturbed any more than they have been already.

Naturist


Oh Dear...

02.04.2008 15:58

Evidently not... Oh, and by the way, so now you think that actions are only effective if they get on the television eh? As Martin said to his man, "who's the fool now?" Finally, are you aware that a naturist is defined as "

Naturism, sometimes called nudism in some parts of the world (especially the United States), is:

a lifestyle in harmony with nature, expressed through social nudity, and characterised by self-respect of people with different opinions and of the environment.[1][2]
Naturism can also be:

a cultural and political movement practising, advocating and defending social nudity in private and public spaces

Just wondering..

Sgt Sideshow


Giggling won't save the world...

02.04.2008 16:30

The point I was making about no television coverage for the Fossil Fools was that it looks a bit as if the joke was that nothing actually happened except the posting of funny stories on Indymedia and what was the point of that?
I have never heard of Martin but I did read something about how the Martians were supposed to be coming to save the world, but I suppose that was just another of the clowns' jokes.

Naturism is the worship of nature or natural objects and it is only in Britain that people giggle about nudity as if it is something to laugh about.
I am actually a birthright Naturist which means I was born into it and didn't have any choice in the matter, but I don't see what that has got to do with this question of what should be done about the threat to the ancient heritage that has just been discovered in the Heathrow area.

Naturist


Naked Clowns Could Show Respect...

02.04.2008 19:59

Maybe the clowns should demonstrate their respect for the environment by running naked around Heathrow Airport?

Realist


Great Idea!

03.04.2008 06:25

Oh yes, I for one will be showing my great and enduring respect for my fellow creatures by promising NOT to get my tackle out in public, not now, nor at any point in the future...

Sgt Sideshow


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