Ancient Roman Jewelry Unearthed in England
About 50 miles outside of London a shocking discovery was made during a reconstruction of a department store. Ancient Roman jewelry dating back from 61 A.D. was unearthed on site alongside with human remains, and food fossils. During the renovation archaeologists were investigating the scene and realized it was much more than some jewelry that had been left on scene.
In Colchester, England during the renovation of a local department store on one of the high streets ancient Roman jewelry was discovered including three gold armlets, silver chain necklace, a jewelry box with two gold earrings, rings, and more.
According to one of the main Archaeologists on the project, Philip Crummy, during the excavation he estimated the woman was fairly wealthy and was slaughtered during a big revolution. “It seems likely that the owner or perhaps one of her slaves buried the jewelry inside her house for safe-keeping during the early stages of the Boudican Revolt, when prospects looked bleak,” Crummy said.
There was a revolt against Roman rule in 60-61 A.D. led by Queen Boudicca of Iceni (a British tribe). Also known as Boadicea, the female warrior was unable to defeat the Roman rule, but she did take down three towns prior. The first town hit was Colchester.
“The inhabitants knew a large British army was marching towards them and they knew that they were practically defenseless with only a small force of soldiers on hand and no town defenses,” said Crummy. “Imagine their panic and desperation when they learned for the massacre of a large part of the Roman Ninth Legion on its way to relieve them,” he added on.
The Roman woman hid all of her jewels, but after being under siege for two days fate was not in her favor.
Another thing Crummy and his team discovered during the revolt was human remains. There was a human shin bone and jaw bone. The pieces looked as though they had been cut with a sword. “These remains suggest that at least one person fought and died in the building during the revolt,” Crummy said.
Everything is speculation about the owner of the jewelry, but one thing that the Roman revolters did to the wealthier women is take them and brutally kill them in groves. “The quality of the jewelry suggests that the owner would have been in this category, although there is no direct evidence to indicate that she ended up in a sacred grove,” a statement given said.
The archaeologists are still hard at work and a lot of unanswered questions are up in the air.
