Remains of Roman burial caskets found in Bourton

[Adsos Letter]

Source: Cotswold Journal UK

The richness of Bourton-on-the-Water’s contribution to archaeology was greatly enhanced by the discovery 75 years ago of what appeared to be the site of a Roman house which, in the faraway days of the of the Roman occupation of Britain, belonged to a family of considerable substance, The Journal reported: “Men were digging out a drainage course for a new bungalow being built at Lansdowne by Mr R G Lawrence, when they came across the remains of a Roman paved floor.

“Their curiosity aroused, they summoned their employer and shortly afterwards unearthed two large lead caskets, each weighing three and a half hundredweight.

“These were exquisitely marked with rope design and are stated to be Roman funerary caskets that were thrown out as not good enough for their original purpose.

“It was the custom of Romans in the old days to cremate their dead and to put the small casket containing the ashes into a larger casket.

http://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/cjnewspast/4138889.Remains_of_Roman_burial_caskets_found_in_Bourton/