A Roman Coffin Reused for a Saxon Abbot at Westminster

Warwick Rodwell, consultant archaeologist at Westminster Abbey, has proposed who occupied a reused Roman sarcophagus at the abbey. Both reports say the stone coffin bears a Roman inscription naming Valerius Amandinus and a later Latin cross on its lid. Radiocarbon dating of the bones gave a death between 987 and 1052. That places the occupant in the late Saxon period, centuries after the coffin was made.

Rodwell argues the man was a Westminster abbot. Live Science quotes his phrase "almost certainly an abbot." No grave goods survive. Live Science says they may have been stolen when the burial was looted in the early nineteenth century. Bone analysis by James Langthorne of Pre-Construct Archaeology points to a middle-aged man of ordinary height. Archaeology Magazine gives an age of 35 to 49 and a height near five feet nine. Live Science adds osteoarthritis, gout and two healed rib injuries.

Both outlets name two candidates. Archaeology Magazine gives Aelfwig, who died around 1020, and Wulnoth, who died in 1049. Live Science gives tenures of 993 to 1020 for Ælfwig and 1020 to 1049 for Wulfnoth. It says a third abbot, Wulfsige, probably was not buried here because he left to become a bishop. Live Science adds that Ælfwig's earlier years as a Westminster monk may favor him. Archaeology Magazine does not pick between the two. The spellings of the names also differ between the reports.

The sources disagree on when the burial came to light. Archaeology Magazine says the remains were found in 1820. Live Science says the chief mason unearthed the sarcophagus in 1869, that the grave had been looted earlier in that century, and that the skeleton was only recognized when the coffin was opened in 2016. The texts do not settle this. Only Archaeology Magazine reports a white residue outlining a rectangle inside the coffin. It is read as lime from a timber coffin that has decayed.

Some questions remain open. Live Science says Rodwell calls the reuse of a Roman coffin extremely unusual. It reports that the word "memoriae" in the inscription may mean Valerius Amandinus was an early Christian. That could be one reason for the reuse. The limestone came from Oxfordshire, and Rodwell raises the chance of an undiscovered villa cemetery near the abbey.

For readers of the biblical text, the link is thin. Neither source connects the find to the biblical text or to the Second Temple period. The useful lesson is about method. The identification rests on radiocarbon dates, abbot lists and elimination. It is a strong probability, not a proof.

Compiled from the reports below. Read the originals.