Museum of London Archaeology conservator Luisa Duarte dusts a Roman sculpture of an eagle clutching a serpent, dating from the first or second century. It was dug up at a site in the City of London, the UK capital's financial center, which is known once to have been home to a Roman cemetery. The statue is 26 inches tall and made of limestone. It will be on display at the Museum of London for the next six months. 
View of excavations at Bloomberg Place, which is currently the largest commercially funded development project in the world. The site embraces the longest stretch of the Roman Walbrook left in the City. 
A complete amber Gladiator amulet. Seven meters of archaeology have been excavated, including remains covering the entire Roman occupation of Britain -- from the mid 40s AD to the early 5th century. 
A Roman bull plaque. Ten thousand accessioned finds have been discovered at the site. This is the largest assemblage of small finds to have ever been recovered on a single excavation in London. 
A Roman copper-alloy brooch. 
A Roman iron knife. 
A mystery leather item. This site has supplied the largest quantity of Roman leather to have ever been unearthed in London. 
Roman copper-alloy plate brooch with blue enameling. 
An inked Roman letter. Over 100 fragments of Roman writing tablets have been unearthed, including an affectionate letter. 
A ceramic oil lamp depicting a stag. Approximately 700 boxes of pottery fragments will be analyzed by MOLA -- Museum of London Archaeology -- specialists. 
Complete Roman ceramic beaker. 
Roman leather carbatina (a shoe.) 
Roman fist and phallus. The largest assemblage of fist and phallus good luck charms from one site was discovered. 
A bone sword handle. 
A Roman woven basket. Some 3,500 tonnes of soil have been excavated by hand. That amounts to 21,000 barrows of spoil (soil). 
A Roman tiled floor. Some 75,000 man hours have been spent excavating and recording the extraordinary archeology on site. 
Timber foundation beams from a Roman building. 
A Roman timber drain. Complex Roman drainage systems used to discharge waste from industrial buildings into the Walbrook River. 
Mithras column, part of a previously undiscovered section of the Temple of Mithras. The Temple and finds from the current excavation will become part of a publicly accessible exhibition within Bloomberg's European headquarters. 
The first excavation of the Temple of Mithras excavation in 1954 by eminent archaeologist W.F. Grimes. The discovery was perhaps the most famous excavation of the 20th century, with hundreds of thousands of people flocking to see the work unfold. 
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- Archaeologists says the statue is in an "almost unbelievable" state of preservation
- The sculpture of an eagle grasping a snake was found in a dig in the City of London
- The limestone statue may once have graced a mausoleum, archaeologists say
- It's been dated by experts to the first or second century
London (CNN) -- A Roman sculpture of an eagle with a writhing serpent firmly gripped in its hooked beak was unveiled Wednesday in London, where archaeologists found it on a site earmarked for a hotel development.
Archaeologists in London say the statue is one of the very best examples surviving from Roman Britain.
"The skill of the craftsman is apparent; with the forked tongue of the snake and the individual feathers of the eagle still clearly discernible," a news release from Museum of London Archaeology said.
The archaeologists were "at first hesitant to announce the discovery and to proclaim its Roman origins, owing to its almost unbelievable preservation," it said.
Rare Roman eagle found under London 
Archaeologists discovered the Roman sculpture of an eagle at site in the City of London which was being developed into a hotel.
The limestone statue -- which has been dated to the first or second century -- is in a remarkable state of preservation, its feathers still clearly visible.
The carving depicts an eagle clutching a snake in its beak, and is thought to symbolize the struggle of good over evil.
Roman eagle statue found in London But the limestone statue, which stands nearly 26 inches tall, has now been dated by experts to the first or second century.
It was dug up at a site in the City of London, the UK capital's financial center, which is known once to have been home to a Roman cemetery.
According to the museum, the symbolism of the statue can be understood "as the struggle of good, the eagle, against evil, the snake," a common theme in relation to funeral sites.
Archaeologists believe the sculpture may once have sat in an alcove on a fancy mausoleum whose foundations were also uncovered in the dig.
The statue will be on display at the Museum of London for the next six months.
A number of discoveries highlighting London's Roman past have been made in recent months in connection with major construction projects. They include about 20 Roman-era skulls found beneath London's Liverpool Street station by workers digging a new rail tunnel.
Read more: London dig turns up slice of Roman life
Read more: Rail excavation unearths suspected 'plague pit'
