Posted on 11/23/2007 7:32:17 AM PST by blam
Found in a farmer's field: The 2,000-year-old skeleton of the lost lady of Rome
By CHRIS BROOKE
Last updated at 09:14am on 23rd November 2007
In her lifetime she was a member of a wealthy family based in a bustling British outpost of the world's mightiest empire.
The imperial glory has long faded. But, almost 2,000 years on, archaeologists have discovered a corner of an English field that is forever Rome. They have unearthed a coffin containing a remarkably well-preserved skeleton in the village of Aldborough, near Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire - once the site of a major Roman town, Isurium Brigantium.
The archaeologists, conducting a two-week excavation project, were searching for Roman artefacts with a metal detector when they found the 6ft lead coffin inside a stone chamber only 12in below the surface of a barley field.
'Exciting find': the 2,000-year-old lead coffin and skeleton are examined by Mags Felter of the York Archaeological Trust
The skeleton is believed to date from between the 2nd and 4th centuries, and is largely intact. It is over 5ft long and even has a full set of teeth. Experts have yet to scientifically age or sex the remains, but are confident it is a woman from a well-to-do family - her status reflected in the expensive coffin.
Analysis of the skeleton may yield fascinating information about her lifestyle and diet.
The expensive lead coffin signifies the person buried was of high status
Isurium was an important garrison which evolved into a prosperous imperial outpost complete with baths and a temple. The excavation was carried out by the York Archaeological Trust with funding from English Heritage.
A JCB digger was used to extract the half-ton coffin from the field.
Ian Panter, the trust's principal conservator, said:
"I've only ever worked on one other Roman lead coffin burial and that was from the South of England 20 years ago, so this is a really exciting find."
Yesterday, the British Museum revealed an extraordinary 58,290 archaeological objects had been unearthed by members of the public in the last year.
More than three quarters of them were found using metal detectors.
An Iron Age comb was recently discovered using this method by Russell Peach, a groundsman from Worcestershire.
Groundsman Russell Peach discovered this Iron Age comb using a metal detector
The copper alloy comb, which dates from AD25 to AD75 is thought to have been used for horses and has been described by the British Museum as a "phenomenal thing".
The museum encourages the portable antiquities scheme, a voluntary code to encourage metal detector owners in England and Wales to report finds to local museums.
The scheme is so successful that as many 300,000 finds were reported in its first decade.
A Roman horse and rider, discovered in Cambridgeshire
But I'm glad she wasn't! AMAZING!
(I'll leave my combs and other stuff.)
Grave robbing and desecration of human remains is sick.
A Roman horse and rider, discovered in Cambridgeshire
Must be authentic. No stirrups. Not introduced in Europe until around 700 AD.
I was disappointed to find stirrups in Beuwolf.
Was any barley injured?
Camilla?
Where does this unusual ethic come from? Haven’t you ever read that you could be breathing the remains of Julius Cesar right now?
There’s nothing unusual about knowing better than to dig up dead bodies and desecrate them. Even you must have made the acquaintance of someone in your lifetime who would resist digging up the local cemetery to frolic in the remains. Is it possible that you’ve never met anyone who showed an ounce of respect to the dead? Surely you jest.
How did you come to the belief that the scientific study of ancient life is the moral equivalent of “frolicking with the dead?” No, I don’t know anyone who finds archeology “sick”.
You can’t tell the difference between human remains and toys, but anyone who shows respect for the dead has issues with death?
Not if you live in England & Wales. The Treasure Act of 1996 defines what must be done if you believe you have discovered "treasure."
Here's a link that gives info on it if anyone is interested:
If someone discovers what can be deemed as "treasure," and they don't report it, they can be fined up to $5,000 pounds ($10,306.50 US). They take their heritage very seriously in England.
Bill Clinton would hit on her!
Frolic with the dead was good for a laugh this Saturday morning though, thanks.
And riders.
As I was to see kilts in Braveheart.
Why won’t you share with us the source of your veneration of the dead? You take it to an extreme that is not normal in our Judeo-Christian society.
For the third time, I find the idea of playing with dead bodies distasteful also. But that is not what we are talking about is it.
Why won’t you share with us the source of your veneration of the dead? You take it to an extreme that is not normal in our Judeo-Christian society.
For the third time, I find the idea of playing with dead bodies distasteful also. But that is not what we are talking about is it.
Naturally, in GB as in all socialist countries everything belongs to the state.
They do pay the finders the value of the “treasure” they turn over. Some folks have gotten rich by their finds. If they find the “treasure” on another person’s property, they are required to pay part of their award to the owner, which is only fair. The process has seen a larger number of people turning over their historical finds so everyone eventually gets to see them, instead of them wallowing away in someone’s private collection. It’s also given archaeologist’s, etc., an opportunity to add to the history of the country and the people who inhabited it at one time.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.