A jigsaw puzzle for the ages

In an undated image provided by the Museum of London Archaeology, fragments of painted wall plaster that date to the early Roman occupation of the area around London, which began in AD 43, were found four years ago during routine excavations at a construction site. — The New York Times

THE jigsaw puzzles that Han Li assembled at the Museum of London Archaeology, or Mola, are as bewildering as a Latin riddle.

Li, a building-material specialist at the institution, has spent much of the year laying out “thousands upon thousands upon thousands” of fragments of painted wall plaster that date to the early Roman occupation of the area around London, which began in 43AD.