Genealogy can really warp your mind sometimes. Case in Point: One of my other interests is archaeology, underwater primarily but the land version, too. I always notice and read developments in those fields and I noticed the below story right away.
But the warping took effect soon thereafter, and I thought to myself, "Wonder if she is in someone's tree?" and "Is she in Find-A-Grave?" Not many folks I know are 1,800 years back yet, but FamilySearch is probably working on it! Anyway, it's a great find and story regardless.
A
1,800-year-old tombstone was discovered at a Roman cemetery in England this
week. Because of its inscription, archaeologists know who was buried in the
grave: a 27-year-old woman named Bodica.
"It's incredibly rare," Neil Holbrook, of
Cotswold Archaeology, told Live Science.
For
the last two months, Holbrook's team has been excavating a Roman cemetery just outside the ancient city
walls of Cirencester, a town in Gloucestershire, to make way for the
construction of a new office park. They documented about 55 graves — some of
which contained wooden coffins and copper bracelets — but only one was covered
up with a toppled-over stone slab The excavators waited until yesterday (Feb.
25) to lift up the stone, discovering it was indeed a tombstone.
The
grave marker is among just nine other Roman tombstones found in Cirencester and
about 300 found in the rest of Britain.
The
grave dates to the second century, at a time when Cirencester was the
second-largest city in Britain after London. The stone has very finely carved
decorative details, Holbrook said, suggesting that Bodica
had money or was married to someone with money. Inside the pediment, there's a
sculpture of the Roman god Oceanus, perhaps to mark the "watery
journey" between life and death, Holbrook said.
The Latin text reads "D.M. BODICACIA CONIUNX VIXIT
ANNO S XXVII," or, roughly, "To the spirits of the dead, Bodica,
loyal wife, lived 27 years."
But
the inscription has some archaeologists scratching their heads. "The
lettering and the writing is very poorly done — perhaps by someone who was
illiterate," Holbrook said.
Some letters seem to be missing, and the spelling of
"Bodica" — a Celtic name that means "victory" — as
"Bodicacia" is somewhat puzzling. It might be a misspelling. Maybe
Bodica selected this skillfully made tombstone before her death, but when it
came time to actually inscribe it, the stone fell into the hands of someone who
wasn't entirely equipped to do so. Or perhaps part of the Latin word
"acacia," meaning "ax," was intentionally tacked onto her
name to deter vandals, Holbrook said.
"We've
only had it out of the ground 24 hours, but already it's created a massive
amount of interest and debate," Holbrook said. The archaeologists, who are
wrapping up their excavation this week, found a skeleton associated with the
grave. Eventually, an analysis of the woman's bones should reveal more details
about the woman's life.
By Editor Megan Gannon on Live Science
