A rare Roman funerary bed discovered in London

London
CNN
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Archaeologists Workers in central London discovered a burial site containing a wooden bed used for… Romanian Funeral.

A team from the Museum of London Antiquities (MOLA) made the discovery near Holborn Bridge, in the heart of central London, six meters (20 feet) below modern street level.

Family portraits used as part of funerals are common in Roman art. However, the bed found at this site, preserved by the wet clay of the underground river fleet, is the first complete example ever discovered in Britain.

The bed is made of high quality oak, has carved feet and joints secured with small wooden pegs. Reminiscent of modern-day flat furniture, it was dismantled before being placed inside the tomb.

Heather Knight, a project officer at MOLA, said in a statement that the level of preservation of the wooden finds “truly astounded us.”

Michael Marshall, a MOLA find specialist, told CNN that “Roman wooden furniture only survives under exceptional circumstances” and that the bed is unique “in that it was completely dismantled and placed in the ground.”

These Roman finds are just the latest layers to be uncovered in the site's slice through London's history. According to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, their excavations also revealed the presence of another cemetery at the site during the 16th century.

After the devastation of the Great Fire of London in 1666, the site saw new life, with the construction of houses, shops and a pub, which were eventually replaced by Victorian warehouses.

In its final chapter, the site is being converted into office space for global law firm Hogan Lovells, which intends to showcase some of the archaeological finds.

Besides the skeletal remains, archaeologists also unearthed personal items at the Roman site, such as beads, a glass bottle and a decorated lamp.

Marshall said the discovery of such artefacts at the final resting place of some of London's early Roman residents allows archaeologists to further “explore how furniture played a role” in Roman funerals and “sheds new light” on such rituals.

The latest discoveries follow the discovery of an “extremely rare” object last year Roman shrine Under a building site in south London, near the south bank of the River Thames.