Christian coffin

One week ago, archaeologists opened a Roman-era lead coffin (IMAGE ABOVE, MORE IMAGES AND VIDEO HERE) that had been discovered in a field in Warwickshire, U.K., by amateur historian Chris Wright using a metal detector. The contents were believed to be at least 1,600 years old (to be confirmed by radiocarbon testing) and included skeletal remains, 2 bracelets, and a black gemstone. Stuart Palmer of Archaeology Warwickshire remarks. "Finding the two jet bangles was a surprise. They rather suggest that the child was female although we cannot say with certainty if they were worn as bracelets, clothing adornments or were woven into long hair." The silt inside the coffin will be carefully sifted and chemically analyzed and may show evidence of flowers, oils, clothing, and even medicines the child may have been given. The burial box itself was lined with a single sheet of lead that still shows the hammer marks and lines of a sharp implement, with joints sealed with molten lead. Archaeologists believe that it was made to lay to rest the child of a wealthy Christian family. Wright sums up, “It’s a nice feeling to pick something out of the ground that hasn’t been held by another person for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.”

 

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