'Incredibly rare' Roman tombstone found complete with remains of a woman

[Neil]

 By Victoria Woollaston
 
Published: 11:27, 26 February 2015

Archaeologists have uncovered what is believed to be the only inscribed tomb and matching remains ever found from Roman Britain.
 
The discovery of the limestone tombstone and skull was found while excavating a car park in Cirencester and they are believed to date back to between the 1st and 3rd centuries.
 
And based on inscriptions the grave is believed to have belonged to a 27-year-old female called Bodica.
 
Archaeologists have uncovered what is believed to be the only inscribed tomb and matching remains ever found from Roman Britain. The inscription on the stone reads: 'DM [Dis Manibus, in the hands of God], Bodica, the wife lived years: 27' and it was found under a car park in Cirencester
 
The experts said it is also rare to find a stone with such an ornate inscription in the UK.
 
Archaeologists from Cotswold Archaeology are excavating the former Bridges Garage site on Tetbury Road in Cirencester ahead of planned building work in the area.
 
The location would have been known as Corinium at the time of the burial and it was the second largest town in Roman Britain. 
 
The inscription on the stone reads: 'DM [Dis Manibus, in the hands of God], Bodica, the wife lived years: 27.'
 
Archaeologist Neil Holbrook said: 'As an archaeologist, I always get asked what is the best thing I have ever found; well now I have the answer to that.

The 4ft-tall (1.2 metre) and 2ft-wide (0.6 metre) tomb was first spotted on Tuesday night. It was lying face down and its ornate triangle-shaped top suggested to the team that it may be a tombstone. When they lifted it from the ground they found it resting on an adult skull (pictured) said to be the person inscribed on the stone
 
The stone is thought to date from between the 1st and 3rd centuries and has Roman letters and lines of Latin. Archaeologist Neil Holbrook said he believes it is the only example in Roman Britain of a tombstone that has someone's name on it with their remains underneath
 
'We think it is the only example in Roman Britain of a tombstone that has someone's name on it, and then their remains underneath.
 
'We think this because it seems to have fallen on top of their body. The stone was on top of the skull. This is a really, really rare discovery.
 
'When we lifted it out, you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife.'

Archaeologists from Cotswold Archaeology are excavating the former Bridges Garage site on Tetbury Road in Cirencester (pictured) ahead of planned building work in the area. The location would have been known as Corinium at the time of the burial and it was the second largest town in Roman Britain
 
The team were called in to investigate the area ahead of work to build a new office block by a wealth management company just after Christmas.
 
They previously uncovered 75 burial sites, as well as a bronze cockerel being cradled by a young boy at the site in 2011, and think the plot was a burial ground for the Roman elite of Cirencester.
 
The 4ft-tall (1.2 metre) and 2ft-wide (0.6 metre) tomb was first spotted on Tuesday night.
 
It was lying face down and its ornate triangle-shaped top suggested to the team that it may be a tombstone.
 

The archaeologists have previously uncovered 75 burial sites, as well as a bronze cockerel being cradled by a young girl at the site in 2011
 
Archaeologists from Cotswold Archaeology are excavating the former Bridges Garage site on Tetbury Road in Cirencester ahead of planned building work in the area.
 
They previously uncovered 75 burial sites, as well as a bronze cockerel being cradled by a young girl at the site in 2011, and think the plot was a burial ground for the Roman elite of Cirencester.
 
The child was buried wearing hobnailed shoes and was accompanied by a pottery feeding vessel, and the remarkable enamelled bronze figurine of a cockerel.
 
The cockerel is 5-inches tall (12.5cm) and the breast, wings, eyes and ‘comb’ are inlaid with enamel, which now appears blue and green.
 
When they lifted it from the ground they discovered it was resting on an adult skull though to be the woman inscribed on the stone.
 
Around 100 tombstones have been found from Roman Britain but this is the best preserved and is the only one thought to mark the person found beneath.
 
Mr Holbrook added: 'We saw the back of the tombstone, but we didn't know of the significance.
 
'We thought it was something, because of the shape of it, but we couldn't be sure.
 
Experts said the stone is lucky to have survived because Roman tombstones were often taken away and re-purposed in buildings during the Medieval period. A garage was also built on the site (excavation plans shown) in the 1960s and the stone survived being destroyed by a beam laid during construction
 
'But [Wednesday] was the amazing moment - that's when we knew it really was something, but it surpassed all our expectations.
 
'We have the potential to be uncovering one of the biggest finds of archaeology this year.'
 
The stone is thought to date from between the 1st and 3rd centuries and has Roman letters and lines of Latin.
 
The team said it is lucky to have survived intact because Roman tombstones were often taken away and re-purposed in buildings in Cirencester during the the Medieval period.
 
A garage was also built on the site in the 1960s and the stone survived being destroyed by a beam which was laid during construction just a few inches above.
 
'This stone might have fallen over quite quickly, and was covered over, and that's why it escaped the stone robbers,' Mr Holbrook added.
 
The tombstone and the remains will now be taken away to be analysed and dated by experts.

[midastouch]

That is so interesting.

Thanks for posting 

[marknewbury1]

That is so interesting.

Thanks for posting 

what an amazing story

[Chef Geoff]

Great find and I think that clears up the spelling up once and for all

[Neil]

Had a feeling you may like it Geoff.

I wonder if they will sell replicas? Make a great garden feature!!!

[Dryland]

Thats a gred read, but why do these bl**dy famous people insist on being buried in our car parks ?? and I bet it was in a disabled
or parents and children parking bay

[dingdong]

Yes mate,but it was in the "LONG STAY" bit!!!

[Jeff The Wizard]

By the look of her carved image at the top of the stone, she wasn't much of a looker, even with those sexy pig tails 

[BugbrookeBen]

That's an incredible find, well done to the finders

[probono]

Excellent find - it's nice to see

[Dale]

Wow what a great find, cheers for showing Neil

 As the cockerels mentioned in the article, I thought id show a photo I took after I scrubbed it down