Metal detector pair find Roman Briton skeleton
Pastor Dale Morgan
Metal detector pair find Roman Briton skeleton*
By Gary Cleland
Last Updated: 2:37am GMT 23/11/2007
The 1,800-year-old skeleton of one of Roman Britain's "social elite" has
been discovered by two men with metal detectors who had already
unearthed a £1 million Viking treasure.
Mags Felter examines the skeleton of a Roman Briton unearthed in north Yorks
Mags Felter of the York Archaeological Trust examines the skeleton
The father and son team, David and Andrew Whelan discovered the skeleton
buried in a six-foot lead-lined coffin near the Roman town of Aldborough
in north Yorks.
The find has excited archaeologists who believe the skeleton is probably
that of a woman of British descent and that the style of coffin
indicates that she was probably a wealthy landowner.
Andrew Whelan, 35, picked up a strong signal in the Aldborough field
that he and his father searched in August after studying old maps of the
area.
After digging they uncovered part of the lead coffin only a foot below
the surface and decided to call in professional archaeologists.
The coffin, which was publicly unveiled yesterday and weighs half a ton,
was carefully removed over the course of a week from a stone chamber
under the field.
The lid was carefully prised off by a team from York Archaeological
Trust and English Heritage, which funded the £16,000 excavation.
Ian Panter, the trust's principal conservator, said: "It was an exciting
one - you never know what you are going to find when you take the lid off."
They uncovered an intact Romano-British skeleton, around five feet six
long. It had been buried without decorations or jewellery between the
second and fourth centuries. The Roman empire lasted until the fifth
century.
Mr Panter said the skeleton was in such good condition possibly because
the combination of the coffin and chamber prevented ground water seeping
through.
He added: "We've not been able to sex or age the remains yet although we
are confident it is a female."
English Heritage is to survey the area to see if there are any other
similar bodies to be found.
Dr Patrick Ottaway, an expert in Roman Yorkshire, said the skeleton was
probably that of a wealthy landowner, "a member of the social elite who
owned very good farmland in that area, someone whose wealth derived from
land".
The person would probably be of British descent, rather than a Roman,
and would probably have played some role in the political hierarchy of
the region, he said.
Trusts members at the site of the archeological discovery
The skeleton appears to be that of a wealthy woman
Over the centuries, the roof of the chamber housing the coffin
collapsed, damaging part of the coffin and cracking the skeleton's
skull. However, the jaw bone and teeth remain intact and archaeologists
will be able to determine the person's age, sex, diet and travel movements.
In January the Whelans uncovered a mass of Viking coins, known as the
"Harrogate Horde".
Last night Andrew Whelan said: "We don't go out expecting to find big
things, but it seems that this year big things keep finding us."