A Roman Lead Coffin with Pipeclay Figurines from Arrington, Cambridgeshire

Abstract

By ALISON TAYLOR I n November 1990 a new sewage pipe was being laid at Wraggs Farm, Arrington, when a JCB bucket struck the coffin (FIG. I). The Archaeology Section of Cambridgeshire County Council was alerted immediately and, after a visit to the site to assess the problem, the burial was excavated on the following day under the difficult conditions imposed by a deep narrow construction trench (PL. VII). Excavation was made more awkward by the need to remove heavy lead in reasonable condition from very sticky and intransigent clay in a confined space. Surviving bones were extremely fragile and fragmentary, which also posed problems. Figurine fragments had already been collected by workmen and soil containing them had been removed, so no more could be found. THE EXCAVATION Setting The burial was located in a pasture field containing medieval settlement earthworks, 38 m west of the A1198, which overlies or follows closely the route of Roman Ermine Street (TL 32695049). Two kilometres south of the burial lies the Roman posting-station of Arrington Bridge and an adjacent settlement at Wimpole, excavated by Cambridgeshire County Council in 1988. 1 Close by is the junction of a Roman road leading northeast to Cambridge and a likely, but unverified, Roman road leading southwest to Sandy, both of these being Roman towns. The underlying geology is gault clay, though it is very close to Lower Chalk, noticeable as flecks of chalk in the gault. The nearest river is the Cam, two kilometres to the south. It is a small stream at this point and is unlikely to have been navigable. Lead was, therefore, transported to the site by road rather than water. Description The coffin was laid due west-east and buried 2.50 m deep (measured at the base of the coffin). There was no sign of a grave cut, although the sewer trench gave a clean, straight section where such a cut could have been visible. No other structures or features were found either during this excavation or the rest of the trench construction. Substantial, but very soft, rotted wood survived on the outside and underside of the coffin and there were slight traces on the lid in spite of displacement by a JCB bucket. The wood has been identified as oak. 2 1 G. Wait, Archaeological Assessment at the Junction of the A14/A604 Codmanchester, Combs. (1990). 2 Peter Murphy, pers. comm.

Indications of embalming in Roman Greece by physical, chemical and histological analysis

“…Exceptions in terms of soft tissue preservation have been recorded in France (Harrington, 1998), in Germany (Pfä ffgen, 1992, and in England (Taylor et al, 1993;Morris, 1986;Collignon, 1772). These reports exhibit similarities with the case presented in this article; however, since no information exists concerning the preservation and the biochemical analysis of the bodies, the textiles, or the resins, no further correlations can be established.…”

Bone diagenesis in Via XVII inhumations (Bracara Augusta): Identification of taphonomic and environmental factors in differential skeletal preservation

“…In this Braga sample, even the existence of a lead coffin did not prevent the dissolution of the majority of the inhumed skeleton. Lead coffins sometimes even promote soft tissue preservation (CELORIA 1966;ZIGAROVICH 2009), but when these coffins are not sealed, bone dissolution is likely to occur (TAYLOR 1993;POKINES & BAKER 2014). This was the case in Via XVII, since the lead coffin never had a lid and the massive granite box around it allowed water flow, as testified by the slight accumulation of low caliber sediment and by the bones floated out of anatomical connection.…”

Infants, Cemeteries and Communities in the Roman Provinces

“…The t.ransition from inhumation to cremation inferred from Pliny as occurring at c. six months can be documented in several early Roman provincial cem eteries (M ackensen 1978). Certain typ es of burial container and grave goo d seem to be associated with infa nt burials, some cemetery specific, some more gen eral , such as pip e-clay figurines (e .g., Allain et al 1992;Planson 1982 ;Taylor 1993). Discussion has also concentrated on a single age limit, one year old, but other age categori es may be equally (if not more) signifi cant, for example six months, the threshold between crema tion and inhumation.…”