Buried in York under ivory and gold, she had grown up in Africa.
She was buried in Roman York around 350 CE with the possessions of a wealthy woman: ivory bangles, jet bracelets, glass beads, a mirror, a blue glass jug.
The grave marks high status, placing her among the most prosperous residents of Eboracum at a time when the city served as a northern capital of the Roman world. Isotope analysis of her bones shows she grew up in Roman Africa before settling in Britain, one life moving along the long roads of a single empire that reached from the African coast to Hadrian’s Wall.
Her remains rest today in the Yorkshire Museum. Her name is not known, yet her burial speaks plainly.
Roman Britain was a meeting of peoples drawn from across the Empire, African and British presence sharing the same streets and the same ground.
Her record is in the Yorkshire Museum, York. Her card is in the deck.
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Timeline
- c. 350 CEA high-status woman in her late teens or twenties, living in Roman York (Eboracum), among the wealthiest residents of the city.
- 1901Her burial excavated near Sycamore Terrace, York. Grave goods included ivory bangles, jet bracelets, glass beads, a mirror, and a blue glass jug.
- 2010Scientific analysis of her remains, led by Dr Hella Eckardt at the University of Reading, indicated African ancestry and a childhood spent in a warmer climate.
0 salutes
I salute the Ivory Bangle Lady, who lived in wealth and standing in Roman York.
Lived alongside
