Two thousand years ago, the roads leading out of London were lined with vast cemeteries, following the Roman taboo against burying the dead within city walls. Part of one of these sites has been excavated by MOLA (Museum of London Archeology) on Holborn Viaduct, revealing a resting place for some of Londinium’s first inhabitants preserved 6 meters below modern road level became.
The Western Cemetery is located 170 meters on the outskirts of Roman London, on either side of Watling Street, the main road north-west to important towns such as Verulamium (St Albans) and Viriconium (Wroxeter). Ta. However, the area excavated by MOLA was where the road crossed the River Fleet valley, meaning the ground was very wet, ideal conditions for preserving organic material. Sure enough, the research team found not only numerous burials and cremations, but also unusual wooden finds, including an oak coffin and what has been interpreted as a funeral bed.
Few examples of coffins are known from Roman London. In fact, to date only three examples of adult coffins have been discovered (two excavated by his MOLA at Atlantic His House near Holborn Viaduct, and one in pre-construction archeology in Southwark). (discovered by). There were several burials using wooden planks and three infant burials using coffins or recycled boxes. New excavations have added five more locations to this total.
The coffins were all rather crudely made, but various designs were preserved. Some were simple boxes made of boards nailed together. Some had vertical or horizontal support slats. One of them has a base made of several very thin slats, placed at a distance from each other and nailed to his three battens attached to thin panels on the head, feet and sides. I did. This last example was probably not strong enough to lift it high with the deceased inside, so the research team first emptied it and placed it in the grave, then It has been suggested that the body may have been lying in a burial site surrounded by trees.
Let me sleep
Another star found at this site was a wooden frame known to the Romans as a lectus (plural: lecti). These were used for a variety of purposes, including sleeping (lectus cubicularis), eating (lectus tricliniaris), and burial (lectus funebris). This last option seems to be the most appropriate interpretation on the Holborn site, but for now the MOLA team simply refers to it as a “bed”.
Depictions of beds being used as part of funeral ceremonies were common in the Roman world, and fragments of other possible examples have previously been found in London, Colchester and St Albans. These generally appear to reflect a different design, but are similar to the more intact examples known from Herculaneum, with turned wooden sections inserted into a reinforced iron frame. . The funeral bed found at Holborn was the first complete example found in Britain, allowing the research team to examine its design in detail.
The skeleton had been dismantled and stacked neatly on top of the remains of a young man, aged between 26 and 35. It has been suggested that he may have been used to transport him to his grave before being dismembered and buried. It will be used in the next life. It is made from high-quality straight-grained oak heartwood, and analysis of the material shows it was made in England rather than imported from the continent. Thanks to the humid and muddy environment, the wood is very well preserved, with tool marks left by planers and floes, as well as blind mortises and tenons that held the frames together. The joints can still be seen today. Some are secured with small wooden pegs.
The bed has solid carved legs, and decorative “beaded” moldings can still be seen on the headboard, footboard, and side rails. The researchers note that these headboards and footboards are very wide, indicating that they were cut from a tree of very large diameter. This may indicate that wild wood was used in its construction, reflecting advanced woodworking techniques not previously seen in Roman Britain. This is also a rare example of joinery and medium-sized carpentry work (as opposed to large-scale projects like buildings and seawalls), providing valuable information for understanding such industries in Britannia. add.
Although excavations are ongoing, as is burial analysis, it is believed that funerary activity flourished around the road from the mid-1st century AD, shortly after Watling Street itself was created, and continued throughout the Roman period. Some of the burial goods may be of very close date due to the grave goods they contain. One of the earliest of him ever identified is the cremation of a richly decorated bust, accompanied by faience beads of his melons and glass and ceramic vessels, including an oil lamp. . A defeated gladiator. Remains similar to this latter find are also known from other Roman burial sites in Britain, both within London (e.g. Southwark) and further afield (Colchester), including those of fallen gladiators. It has been suggested that the motif may have been deliberately chosen for use in funeral ceremonies. Because it evokes thoughts about mortality.
But despite these British similarities, the group is more in line with continental discoveries as a whole, highlighting the cultural influence the Roman conquest was already having on Britain, the researchers say. Says. Cremation is thought to date from 48-80 AD, shortly after the Claudian invasion and the founding of London itself, at a time when most of the town’s population would have been newcomers. Its contents reflect funerary traditions originating from the Mediterranean region and highlight the arrival of countless new ideas, customs, and material goods during this period, as well as the influx of new people. .
Other burial items were found to include personal items such as coins, dice, and jewelry made with expensive jet and amber beads. As post-excavation analysis begins to preserve and scrutinize these finds, scientific dating techniques, along with analysis of the stratigraphy of artefacts and sites, will reveal the age of the cemetery and perhaps determine the extent of its burial rituals. It is hoped that this will help show how this has evolved. time.
From post-Roman to the present
Evidence of Roman activity was not the only thing discovered at the ruins. The research team also discovered a well with a chalk floor and lined with recycled barrels. These are thought to represent the remains of his 13th century tannery, which is mentioned in historical documents. The area was also part of the parish of Saint-Separchel (from the 12th century onwards), and from the late 15th century to his 16th century the site seems to have regained its early funerary role and was once again used as a cemetery. Another well-preserved wooden structure reflects this period of the site’s past. Part of a ship’s pump, it was repurposed as a Tudor drainage pipe into the river.
There were also brick floors from 16th and 17th century buildings, including an inn and workshops. These seem to have survived his Great Fire of London in 1666, but were apparently destroyed during the construction of his Victorian warehouses. This location is currently being converted into office space for global law firm Hogan Lovells. Once completed, some of the archaeological finds will be displayed in the building.
sauce: Gwilym Williams is a project manager at MOLA. Alex Blanks reported on “Bed” and Michael Marshall commented on Grave Goods.
All images: MOLA