Roman plaster tomb inside sarcophagus found on highway

A late Roman-era limestone coffin containing a rare plaster burial was discovered during the expansion of the A47 motorway outside Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, southeast England. The coffin was cut from a huge block of limestone. The deceased was clothed and wrapped in a shroud, placed in a coffin, and his body was poured with liquid plaster. The capstone is then placed on the coffin. The entire sarcophagus, weighing 1,650 pounds, was lifted and transported to the laboratory so that its contents could be exhumed under controlled conditions.

The section of the A47 where the sarcophagus was found was once a Roman road and a team from Headland Archeology were hired to excavate the site. They discovered a small cemetery with 14 graves surrounding limestone coffins. Seven more tombs were discovered outside the boundary ditch. Small rural cemeteries are not uncommon, especially along the roadside, but the diversity of grave types (burials, cremations, possibly iron-nailed wooden coffins, beheadings) is surprising for a cemetery with so few, And the cemetery’s plaster tombs are also surprising. The center makes this one unique.

Gypsum burial is a poorly understood practice. In some cases, the Romans would pour liquid plaster over the clothed body of the deceased in a lead or limestone coffin. There is no mention of its meaning or purpose in ancient sources, and there does not appear to be any consistent through-line among the deceased other than the deceased’s high status (the family must have been able to afford expensive lead and limestone sarcophagi). its instance. This was done on men and women, adults and children. They are found across Europe and North Africa, and although the UK has the highest numbers, they are concentrated in major urban centers such as York. It is highly unusual to find a plaster tomb in such a rural area and it is the only plaster tomb ever found in Cambridgeshire.

Interestingly, this practice is actually a negative space version of the plaster casting technique invented in Pompeii to capture the impression left by organic residues in volcanic rocks. In Pompeii, decaying bodies and objects hardened around them after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, leaving cavities that archaeologists filled with plaster. The plaster cast takes on the shape of the cavity. Bodies, clothing, furniture, bedding, were permanently etched into the stone that enveloped them 2,000 years ago, and then into the freshly poured plaster.

The Romans poured plaster over their dead, thus eliminating the volcano’s role as the middleman. It hardened around the bodies, leaving their outlines in the plaster and the imprints of their clothing and shrouds. The exterior of the plaster is wrapped around the sides of the coffin. The rich inner life of plaster shells has been revealed in a groundbreaking 2023 study in York, which used 3D imaging scans to reveal how three bodies buried in one coffin were prepared for burial, right down to the shrouds being tied Laces around the head and body. Warp and weft count of woven textiles.

The A47’s plaster shell was not as intact as the one scanned at York, but the shrouded wreckage still left its mark.

The specialist excavations took two full days to be carried out by conservator Morgan Creed of the Museum of Archeology in York and osteologist Don Walker of the Museum of Archeology in London. Although the plaster is in fragments, traces of the burial shroud are clearly visible, and a small piece of the cloth itself is preserved in the plaster. The coffin contained no grave goods, but a glass vessel and fragments of leather, pottery and animal bones were found in the fillings of the surrounding graves. This glass vessel may have been used to host toasts or libations to the deceased before being placed into the incision.

Although there were few grave goods, whether it was a beautifully carved sarcophagus or a plaster tomb, they all showed a person’s high status. The cost of gypsum for burial is high, and the sarcophagus is not only beautifully carved, but also made of stone quarried 50 kilometers away, increasing transportation costs. These factors, combined with the central location of the cemetery, suggest that the person buried was an important figure, perhaps the head of a prominent family.

The plaster tomb is not the only high-status person buried in this small rural cemetery. A large amount of jewelry was found in the grave of a young woman aged 16-20 when she died, including a pair of silver earrings, nine bronze bracelets, three bronze rings and the remains of what looked like a silver signet ring. When she was buried, she was not wearing any of these treasures. They were at her feet, perhaps because they were part of a dowry she had left too young to use when she died. Another grave contained the remains of an even younger child, which also contained a rich collection of jewelry: ten bronze bracelets, four worked bone bracelets, a worked bone comb and a pair of silver earrings, all associated with the young Very similar to what was found in the lady’s grave.

Archaeologists hope that analysis of the human remains and grave goods will give them a fuller understanding of how long the cemetery was in use, the relationships between those buried there and the connections between the small community and the surrounding area.