Contents of Roman Lead Coffin Examined in England

News April 17, 2024

England Roman Coffin
(Leeds City Council)
SHARE:
England Roman Coffin

WEST YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND—Newsweek reports that the examination of the contents of a Roman lead coffin discovered in 2022 in the city of Leeds has identified the partial remains of a child. The initial evaluation of the coffin’s poorly preserved contents found the remains of a woman between the ages of 25 and 35 at the time of her death some 1,600 years ago, a bracelet, a glass bead necklace, and a finger ring or an earring. Researchers at Leeds City Museum have now determined that the remains a child of about 10 years of age had also been placed in the coffin. “We won’t know—and probably never will—who the child was or what their relationship was to the Roman woman, but we do know that their burials took place around the same period,” explained Stuart Robinson of Leeds City Council. To read about a rare Roman gravestone uncovered in western England, go to "What's in a Name?"

  • Features May/June 2024

    Alexander the Great's Untold Story

    Excavations in northern Greece are revealing the world that shaped the future king

    Read Article
    (Veronika Pfeiffer/Alamy)
  • Letter from the Catskills May/June 2024

    Ghost Towns of the Ashokan Reservoir

    An archaeologist investigates how construction of New York City’s largest reservoir a century ago uprooted thousands of rural residents

    Read Article
    (Courtesy the New York City Department of Environmental Protection)
  • Artifacts May/June 2024

    Medieval Iron Gauntlet

    Read Article
    Switzerland Medieval Gauntlet
    (Courtesy Canton of Zurich)
  • Digs & Discoveries May/June 2024

    Ancient Egyptian Caregivers

    Read Article
    (Metropolitan Museum of Art)