28
May
May
In 2024, the richly furnished burial of a high-status Roman woman was discovered in Lexden, Colchester. No expense was spared in preserving and protecting her body for safe passage into the afterlife. Buried within a beautifully decorated lead coffin, both frankincense and gypsum were found inside, along with jet hairpins. Even more remarkable were the remains of bronze fittings from a bespoke basketry casket which held seven rarely found glass flasks. The Lexden Lady’s burial reveals that Colchester remained a desirable place to live for social elites in the late Roman period, when many of the wealthy were moving to country villas.
