The Boscombe Down Roman stone coffin being excavated. © Wessex Archaeology

Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum is to take delivery of a spectacular Roman stone coffin unearthed by Wessex Archaeology in 2007.

The limestone coffin, weighing three metric tonnes was discovered as part of the excavation of a Roman cemetery containing over 200 burials next to a substantial Roman settlement on Boscombe Down.

When archaeologists lifted the lid off the coffin they were surprised to discover that it had not filled with soil. Instead, they looked down on the skeleton of a woman who was cradling a young child in her arms.

A unique environment had been created inside the coffin, which had slowed down the processes of decay so that, even after 1,800 years, the woman’s deer skin slippers still survived.

The woman's deerskin slippers. © Wessex Archaeology

The slippers had cork insoles and a fur lining and are the best-preserved examples in Britain of this sort of luxury shoe, which was imported from the Mediterranean. The child was buried wearing calfskin shoes, which are unique in Britain.

The woman also wore a necklace of Whitby jet round her neck, and on her right ankle was a bronze bangle. By her head was a small lustrous pot imported from France, which would have contained drink for her journey to the next world.

“The preservation of the shoes is remarkable,” explained Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick of Wessex Archaeology. “Because the processes of decay were quite slow we also have traces of cloth that have been preserved by a chemical reaction with the metal bangle.”

“We even have traces of the puparia from which the coffin flies that infested the body hatched. Squeamish but fascinating!”

Beads from the jet necklace. © Wessex Archaeology

Everything points to the woman having been of high status. Almost 300 graves have been excavated at Boscombe Down in five separate cemeteries and although many contained wooden coffins, this is the only one with a stone coffin.

“This is a very important discovery,” said Adrian Green, Museum Director. “Of the 200 Roman burials found at the site, this was the only stone coffin found, suggesting that the woman buried within was of some importance.”

“The level of preservation inside the coffin was also unusual, although the body had deteriorated; items made from jet and animal skin do not usually survive buried in the ground for over 1,800 years.”

The stone coffin goes on display - without its fragile contents - in Salisbury Museum on Monday December 17 where the finds from the important Bronze Age burial of the Amesbury Archer, which was found a few hundred yards away in 2002, can also be seen.