Unique bone box found in Roman-era grave

A unique box carved out of bone has been discovered in a Late Roman grave in Broadway, Worcestershire. There is no comparable example of such a box known on the archaeological record.

The Milestone Ground site in Broadway in England’s north Cotswolds is being excavated by a team from Worcestershire Archaeology ahead of planned development. Archaeological remains indicate human occupation in the area going back 8,000 years, from the Mesolithic era through the Anglo-Saxon Middle Ages.

The box was found in the grave of a young woman. It is petite at 2.7 inches long, 1.3 inches wide and 1.2 inches deep and is intact in excellent condition. It has a sliding lid and is decorated with the ring and dot pattern like the marks on Roman playing dice. It was crafted from the bone of a Roe deer. The style of decoration suggested a late Roman date, and this was confirmed by radiocarbon dating of the human remains found in the grave.

It was carefully placed in the grave, clearly a prized object of its owner’s. Archaeologists believe it may have been used to hold ointment or a similar cosmetic product.

Jamie Wilkins, who led the excavation, described the discovery as, “extraordinary, not only because of the box’s craftsmanship and condition, but because of the story it tells about the community that lived here. I had never seen anything like this object before, and it immediately became clear that we had uncovered something truly special.”

* This article was originally published here