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Roman Sarcophagus Dig - Q&A Submission (Patreon)

Published:
2023-01-20 15:20:32
Edited:
2023-01-20 15:34:15
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

Ever wished you could ask the team a question after watching a Time Team dig? Well now's your chance...

Post any questions about the Sarcophagus Dig in the comments below, or like your favourite, by the end of January to be answered in our upcoming Q&A session!

We'll be shortlisting the best ones for some of the Expedition Crew to answer and we'll share their responses to you here on Patreon. So stay tuned!

Let's recap...

Last year we sent our Expedition Crew back to the Brought Roman Villa in Oxfordshire to investigate the mysterious stone sarcophagus that originally led to the site's discovery. If you haven't done so already, or just to refresh your memory, watch the full 2022 Roman Sarcophagus dig here:

Part 1 

Part 2

Catch up on Time Team's original 3-day dig in 2021 at Broughton here.

Access this interactive 3D model of the day 2 dig site here.

Files

Comments

stuart sutcliffe

How rare is it to find a Roman Sarcophagus Sri

Jennifer Barr Dougherty

Would she have been buried alone or in a family plot? Could there be other burials nearby but in less splendid internments?

stuart sutcliffe

How rare is it to find a Roman Sarcophagus still in situ

Elizabeth Nicholson

Lead lined coffins are still used today for body preservation, usually for rich, influential or royal people. How rare or expensive were they in Roman Britain? Were they limited to certain classes? How long does the improved preservation effect last? One year, one millennium? What effect does lead lining have for modern archaeological digs, other than possibly making the coffin easier to find with metal detectors.

JanD

What precautions need to be taken during analysis of lead contaminated findings?

Paul Burgess

Considering it appears to be a very important lady that was buried there in such a large well tooled and without doubt very expensive sarcophagus. I was wondering why she was not layed to rest in a mausoleum instead of just a grave ? Considering the site of the villa was very high status a mausoleum would seem to fit in with that.

Robert Boudreau

I'm always interested in the post-dig analysis. During a dig the archaeologist often make inferences and theories based on experience and knowledge from previous digs. These are usually corroborated or refuted in the post. I would guess it's not finished yet, but has there been any surprises yet in the post analysis?

H Harding

This may be outside the intended scope of the Q&A as it goes back to when the sarcophagus was first discovered and the information may not have been collected, but if - as reported - it was located because it had been hit by a plough and the lid was removed in case it should damage ploughs in the future, what was unusual about that day’s ploughing? Was the farmer using a new plough? a deeper plough? Had the field been ploughed in the recent past (something that might have shown up when excavating the area around the sarcophagus itself)? Regarding the sarcophagus itself, has it been possible to analyse the rock it is carved from and say how close to the site it may have been quarried? Or where the lead was sourced?

Lynn Edwards

A soil sample was taken from under the sarcophagus. What did it reveal? What more might be revealed later in post excavation work?

Ann H

1) Is that the normal shape for a Roman stone sarcophagus in Britain in that time period of Roman occupation or other periods of the occupation?; 2) What was the source for the lead in Britain (newly acquired and/or melted from roof tiles as it seemed a lot of it)?; 3) What did Naomi find that was floral, vegetative, or animal?

Elessa Wylde

Questions: The stone sarcophagus is deeper than the lead liner. What is beneath the lead liner? As it was not shown in the skeletal layout by Naomi, was the head of the skeleton found in 1963? If the cover of the stone sarcophagus was broken up and disposed of in another location in the 1960s to reduce likelihood of damaging farm equipment, what are the stones that were reassembled from around the stone sarcophagus from?

Stitch

Given the weight of the sarcophagus lid, in and of itself, what is the purpose of the brackets? Roman “belt-and-suspenders” or some form of ornamentation?

Andrew Calderwood

Is it unusual for a burial, from this time period, to be so isolated and not have the "company" of other family members or loved ones nearby as would be seen in a family plot? What does this suggest about the customs or circumstances of the death? Thanks!

Richard Yoast

Given the size and weight of the sarcophagus, is it possible that it was formed from something already on site, possibly created for some other use? Seems like getting it to that particular place required an extraordinary amount of labor when another sarcophagus could have been easier to create and more conveniently located.

Mike Darby

There don't seem to be many bones? Do you know why? For instance, the scull, where analysis of the teeth would provide useful information - wouldn't they?

Donna Holt

Is there any DNA evidence that can be discovered from the bones? Would you be able to trace any ancestors using any of the DNA "tools" that seem to be popping up online these days?

Tom Redmayne

Did you ever go to find the missing lid pieces at the farm dump or are they gone forever?

Margie Lewis

is there any DNA that you could trace to any living soul ? That would be so cool , I just Found my mother father where he came from through DNA his mom died in a workhouse , he cane to the USA when he was 12yo, to make a new life here, I thing??? I was going to ask you guys to do some work in Durham Sunderland Bishop wearmouth Durham, Sunderland England. to see if you could find any thing on a William Renton (Jackson,) Wrightson?

Stephen Robinson

I would like to learn more about the person who was buried. What else has been learnt from the bones etc?

Alan Murdock

Is there any other burials, Roman features close by the grave? If not, then what would prompt them to choose, what is today, an empty hillside?

Matt Bear Clark

How old was the lady in the sarcophagus?

JUDITH COOKE

Since most of the lid of the sarcophagus appears to be present, is it possible that the slab of rock that was broken up and taken away, described by Farmer John as flat and only a few cms thick, was a commemorative marker for the entire site, the reason it was close to the surface? Could it be inscribed “Here lies . . . .” (in Roman) and is it possible to locate its current whereabouts?

Connie L Merchant

During the program it was mentioned that the sarcophagus may have been a water trough. Doesn't the shape indicate it was formed for a human shape rather than a water trough?

Anne

This was a large villa, with a relatively large population of varying degrees of status. Our burial is of one high status individual and in this sense something of an anomaly. What about the rest? Do we have any idea of how and in what kind of location their remains would have been deposited?

Colton Lee

Is preserving the sarcophagus in-situ the best option? The top soil looks very low, is it at risk of the plough / farmer, just like the lid itself?

Mike Tedham

Was it the original lid that Helen painstakingly pieced back together or had the farmer removed and destroyed it as he claimed? It seemed uncertain.

Clare goreau

I support this idea of looking to see if she was a Briton, Roman or other? What year???

Philip Christiansen

Would this have been the only burial on the site? And if it was, is that a common Roman practice to have single burials by themselves?

Elizabeth Neill

I'm still struggling to understand about Roman soil. The first thing I wonder is, what is the significance of Roman soil under the sarcophagus? What did Naomi hope to find? How far down would Roman soil go? Would it be fair to say it was whatever new soil had accumulated in 300 years? Finally, how would Roman soil likely differ from Iron Age soil? Or Anglo-Saxon soil?

Helen L Robinson

Excellent presentation & thoroughly fascinating to watch. I have a couple of suggestions, - 1) I wonder considering the size of the sarcophagus whether it was a huge block of stone brought to the site of the burial and then hollowed out on-site & lined in lead rather than made elsewhere & brought to the site for the burial?

Helen L Robinson

My second thought is where the occupant was buried may have been a favoured view from the Roman Villa. Over the years I have seen people make all sorts of requests regarding their death, like being buried overlooking their favourite view of the ocean and if this is not possible for their ashes to be scattered on the ocean waves so they can travel the oceans currents.

Ann Wagner

How do archaeologists decide which remains should remain interred where they were found and which should be housed in museums? What are the British laws about the treatment of historic remains? Are remains from British museums ever repatriated as so often happens now with native Americans?

Larissa Spiker

Do you think there may be something or someone else inside the sarcophagus given the depth at which the woman was buried compared to the size of the thing?

Christopher Samuel

If I'm thinking about the right part what I think what they were saying is that sometimes sarcophagi are found reused as water troughs.

Christopher Samuel

I thought during the original dig they mentioned that the sarcophagus may have been above ground originally so as to be visible from the villa, but in the follow up it sounded like they were talking about it possibly being buried originally. Which is more likely given what was found?