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Roman lead canister from pipe burial
Lead canister decorated with three rings of bead and reel pattern and three applied vertical strips. From the lid a narrow leaden pipe had evidently at one time communicated with the surface. The cylinder contained cremated bones of a person aged at least 35 years, originally wrapped in a linen cloth within a roughly walled cist built into a grave pit. The pipe burial cremated remains were re-examined in August 2001 by Dr Alice Roberts of Bristol University and modern analysis could not confirm the sex of the individual. Found at the foot of the hillside to the south-east of the fortress. Analysis of organic residues found on the linen textile using a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) revealed frankincense was involved in the funeral rites associated with the pipe burial. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) also determined tin and sulfur is present in the deposits found within the lead cannister.
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Site Name: Ultra Pontem, Caerleon
Notes: Found during building operations in Ultra Pontem, the suburb of Caerleon on the southern bank of the Usk, some 60 yards east of Yew Tree House and 550 yards east-south-east of the south-east end of the bridge.
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