Highway workers found ancient roman cemetery, including a tomb filled with an unusual substance during a recent highway construction project in England.
The announcement was made last week by National Highways, England’s national transport agency. The unusual coffin was discovered along the A47 road that connects the West Midlands city of Birmingham with Suffolk.
According to officials, the coffin, made of stone and hand-carved, was “untouched since burial in Roman times more than 1,500 years ago.” Another 23 graves were found nearby, which probably indicate a family or community cemetery.
The discovery is part of a “small Roman roadside cemetery”, which was discovered while highway workers were working on a highway upgrade.
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Construction workers in England recently stumbled upon an ancient Roman cemetery, officials say. (National Highways (UK))
“The section of the A47 between Wansford and Sutton near Peterborough follows the line of an old Roman road,” National Highways said.
Authorities called the coffin, which weighs approximately 1,600 pounds and measures 6½ feet, a “rare find.”
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“Stone coffins are not common,” explained the statement. “Only about 50 have been discovered around Roman Britain.”
Archaeologists discovered that the coffin was so heavy in part because it was filled with a substance called white gypsum, which is a mineral used in making plaster. Experts believe that the coffin is between the years 43 and 410, but they have not determined the exact year when it was made, nor the reason why the plaster was in the coffin.
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“It could be the coffin of an individual of high status in the local community,” National Highways noted.
One coffin contained white plaster, which is used to make plaster. (National Highways (UK))
“We don’t know exactly why the bodies were encased in plaster. It may also indicate a rich person’s burial.”
The press release states that the archaeologists “delicately” began the process of removing the bones from the plaster and that some fragments “carried the imprints of the fabric in which the body was buried.”
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It is interesting that the plaster took the shape of the body itself. Experts found other oddities in the surrounding graves, including what may have been a young woman’s dowry.
“One grave of a young woman contained a collection of valuables, all laid at the feet of the body,” the organization said. “This could be the young woman’s dowry that accompanies her to the afterlife.
“The tomb also contained glass and ceramic drinking vessels, probably for a final toast at the grave or for a commemorative anniversary.”
A depiction of the ancient Romans in England around the year 77 (iStock)
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Ancient Roman finds are not uncommon in the UK.
Last fall, the 2,000-year-old road, built shortly after the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43, was discovered in London.
Fox News Digital’s Ashlyn Messier contributed to this report.
