Archaeology experts have dug the dirt on life in Roman London with new finds like ancient coffins buried nearly 2,000 years ago.
The finds, dating from around 43 to 410CE, have been unearthed at a building site at Holborn Viaduct on the banks of the old River Fleet near Clerkenwell.
Five rare oak coffins and what appears to be a funeral bed were discovered by members of the Museum of London’s archaeology team 20ft below modern street level on the site of a new office development.
“The levels of preservation we’ve uncovered has really blown us away,” archaeologist Heather Knight admits.
“We know the Romans buried their dead alongside roads, outside urban centres.
“So it was no great surprise to discover burials at this site, which would have been about 500ft west of the city walls during the Roman period and next to the major Roman highway of Watling Street.”
The timber coffins were remarkably well preserved by the damp mud of the Fleet. Only three have ever previously been found in London.
The Roman funeral bed is the first complete example ever discovered in Britain. Made from high-quality oak with carved feet and joints fixed with small wooden pegs, it may have been intended for use in the afterlife.
Skeletal remains were also found and personal objects like beads, a glass vial and a decorated lamp from around 48 to 80CE.
The Roman finds are the latest layer to be revealed at the site, uncovering 20 centuries of London’s heritage.
Archaeologists discovered chalk floors and timber-lined wells thought to be the remains of a 13th century tannery factory.
Other wooden finds included a large 15th or 16th century water pipe, which appears to have been used on a ship.
Another cemetery was also unearthed dating from the 16th Century, thought to be connected to the nearby St Sepulchre-without-Newgate Church.
The site had a new lease of life after the Great Fire in 1666 with the construction of houses, shops and a tavern, which were eventually replaced by Victorian warehouses. It is currently a building site for an office tower.
Excavations are continuing through to the spring, while work has started to conserve and analyse the finds that reveal new details about the people who lived, worked and were buried by the Fleet River over the past 2,000 years.
Some of the finds will be put on public display when the development is complete.
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