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Workmen unearthed this stone coffin in 1996 when digging foundations for new houses. The coffin contained an incomplete skeleton. Anatomical analysis suggests that it is probably a woman, who was 1.62 meters (5 feet 4 inches) tall and between twenty-five and thirty-four years old. A radiocarbon date from one of the bones indicates that she died in the latter half of the third or fourth century AD. The stone coffin suggests that she came from a wealthy family - the use of Bath stone, brought in from the other side of the River Severn, would have added to the expense. Inhumation burial like this had not always been usual in Roman society. Until the late 2nd century AD, cremation was the most common burial practice throughout the Empire. Changing attitudes, notably the spread of beliefs in bodily resurrection, led to a shift in burial practice from cremation to inhumation.

Widest at the shoulders, tapering away in both direction: a short distance to the head end and gradually all the foot end. Lid in three pieces.

LI7.5 Open