Highway workers found an ancient Roman cemetery, including a grave filled with a curious substance, during a recent highway construction project in England.
The announcement was made last week by National Highways, a government-owned transport authority in England. The unusual coffin was discovered along the A47 road, which links the West Midlands city of Birmingham with Suffolk.
According to officials, the coffin, made of stone and carved by hand, was “undisturbed since its burial in Roman times over 1,500 years ago.” Twenty-three other graves, possibly indicating a family or community burial site, were found nearby.
The discovery was part of a “small Roman roadside cemetery” which was discovered while highway workers were working to improve the highway.
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Construction workers in England recently stumbled upon an ancient Roman cemetery, officials say. (National Highway (UK))
“Part of the A47 between Wansford and Sutton near Peterborough follows the line of an old Roman road,” National Highways said.
Authorities called the casket, which weighs approximately 1,600 pounds and measures 6½ feet, “a rare find.”
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“Stone coffins are unusual,” the statement explained. “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 place the coffin between 43 AD and 410 AD, but have not determined the exact year of manufacture, nor why the plaster was inside the coffin.
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“It may be the coffin of an individual of high status in the local community,” National Highways noted.
One coffin contained white gypsum, which is used to make plaster. (National Highway (UK))
“We don’t know exactly why the bodies were wrapped in plaster. It could also indicate the burial of a wealthy person.”
The press release noted that archaeologists “delicately” began the process of removing the bones from the plaster and that some fragments “bear traces of the clothes 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.
“A grave of a young woman contained a collection of valuables, all placed at the feet of the body,” the organization said. “This may be the dowry of a young woman who accompanies him in the afterlife.
“The tomb also contained glass and ceramic drinking vessels, perhaps for a final graveside toast or commemorative anniversary.”
A description of the ancient Romans in England about AD 77 (iStock)
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Ancient Roman finds are not uncommon in the UK.
Last fall, a 2,000-year-old road, built shortly after the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, was discovered in London.
Fox News Digital’s Ashlyn Messier contributed to this report.
