AN URN discovered during the excavation of a large Roman site in Cullompton used to contain human remains for burial.

The 2,000-year-old vessel, which is whole and unbroken, was dug up during construction work on the Millwood Homes site in the centre of the town.

It was x-rayed at Exeter Airport because it was too large for the machines at the city’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum.

Pictures showed it contains soil, dense material thought to be ash from the cremation and several mysterious curved object, which may be bone fragments or possibly metal items.

The urn is one of many finds at the Cullompton site that prove the Roman occupation lasted from the 1st Century until the 4th Century – a fort on St Andrews Hill discovered in 1984 suggested they left in the mid-70s AD.

The new find, which includes a large quantity of pottery, holds evidence of a Romanised building with under floor heating and stone floors nearby.