Necropolis: London & it's Dead Read Free

barrows, the Romans buried their dead in purpose-built cemeteries.
    The remains of three major Roman cemeteries have been found on roads leading west, north and east out of London. 10 Recent excavations at Prescot Street, near Aldgate, have uncovered over 670 burials and 134 cremations. The original site, which lies on either side of the Colchester Road, covered fifty-one acres and containedover 100,000 dead from the 400 years during which it was used. Burial took place in a series of plots, divided by ditches. As well as the major road which dissected the cemetery and formed a route for funeral processions, a number of smaller roads were created and a quarry dug nearby for producing brick. Many of the plots had been used several times during the life of the cemetery, and the remains of lead coffins were found, along with traces of mausolea. Overlapping graves indicate that overcrowding was a problem, even in those days.
    Grave goods included jars of food and wine (one motto beaker, now at the Museum of London, bears the inscription utere : use me), chickens, always buried to the left of the body, and coins for Charon, the ferryman, to row the deceased across the Styx. Hobnailed boots, for the long walk to the Underworld, were provided for both adults and children. Many grave goods offer clues to their owner’s personality. The Harper Road Woman, who died around AD 70, was buried with her bronze torc necklace, a mirror and a jug of wine, suggesting a pleasure-loving character. At West Tenter Street, near Aldgate, another woman was sent on her way with two Medusa amulets to ward off the evil eye, a gaming set, to prevent boredom in the Netherworld, and a jet pendant. The Romans believed jet possessed magical properties to ward off evil spirits.
    The Romans practised cremation up until AD 200, when it began to fall out of favour. Under the influence of Christianity, which emphasized the physical resurrection of the body, the first wooden coffins were introduced. Christian burial rites, derived from Judaic law, included washing the corpse before burial and anointing it with oils. Once the corpse had been washed, and the orifices plugged to prevent leakage, it was wrapped in a shroud. The belief persisted that a body must be entire for resurrection on Judgement Day, so, when possible, items such as missing teeth and even amputated limbs were carefully preserved and buried with the corpse.
    Traditionally, bodies went on display for at least two days before burial, so that mourners could pay their last respects, and the important practice of ‘watching’, also derived from ancient Jewish ritual, might be observed. ‘Watching’ also seemed to develop from a natural reluctance to leave the dead person to whom so much care had been devoted during their final hours.
    Roman coffins ranged from the simple wooden box to the elaborately decorated sarcophagus, placed in a marble mausoleum large enough to accommodate an entire family. The concept of the mausoleum was inspired by the monument to King Mausolus of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Raised by the King’s devoted wife, Artemisia, it consisted of a massive marble tomb, surmounted by an Ionic colonnade supporting a roof-like pyramid. At its foot stood a four-horse chariot containing statues of the King and Queen. Since then, the term ‘mausoleum’ has been applied to any massive tomb containing shelves upon which the dead could be laid in lead coffins.
    The most remarkable discovery of recent years is that of the Spitalfields Woman. 11 In 1999, archaeologists were working on the excavation of a site earmarked for a new office block. They were expecting to find the remains of one of the largest hospitals in England (Spitalfields derives from ‘St Mary’s Hospital Fields’), but a greater discovery lay beneath. Under a layer of 8,000 mediaeval burials, they uncovered a cemetery, situated on Ermine Street, the major route north out of London. There were