Rib Reduction
Smithfield Child
AD 270-400
Found West Smithfield, City of London
This child was buried in a wooden coffin packed with chalk (perhaps used to help preserve her body). It is difficult to tell the sex of a person under the age of 18 from their skeleton but the jewellery in the grave suggests that the child was female. As the bracelets are so small, they probably belonged to the girl, rather than being special funeral offerings.
Like many skeletons from Roman London, this child has criba orbitalia (little holes inside the top of the eye sockets) suggesting that her health had suffered due to dirty living conditions, disease and/or poor diet. Lesions (signs of disease) on the surface of the bone inside her skull show she may have had an infection such as meningitis or tuberculosis. She has calculus (hardened plaque) on her teeth, a sign of poor dental health.
[Museum of London]
Part of Roman Dead (May – Oct 2018)
Spurred on by the discovery of an extremely rare sarcophagus in Harper Road, Southwark, last year, curators have assembled 250 fascinating objects to reveal the surprising similarities as well as striking differences between the original Londoner and the modern global city that 9 million people now live in today.
These items range from everyday objects, such as pots and vessels which may have held incense used in ceremonies to bury loved ones, to priceless artefacts, like a millefiori glass dish which would have cost the equivalent of a year’s salary for a Roman soldier. These precious items highlight that even from its earliest days, some of London’s population possessed immense wealth, and that the city had connections to the rest of the world.
[Museum of London]
Rib Reduction
Smithfield Child
AD 270-400
Found West Smithfield, City of London
This child was buried in a wooden coffin packed with chalk (perhaps used to help preserve her body). It is difficult to tell the sex of a person under the age of 18 from their skeleton but the jewellery in the grave suggests that the child was female. As the bracelets are so small, they probably belonged to the girl, rather than being special funeral offerings.
Like many skeletons from Roman London, this child has criba orbitalia (little holes inside the top of the eye sockets) suggesting that her health had suffered due to dirty living conditions, disease and/or poor diet. Lesions (signs of disease) on the surface of the bone inside her skull show she may have had an infection such as meningitis or tuberculosis. She has calculus (hardened plaque) on her teeth, a sign of poor dental health.
[Museum of London]
Part of Roman Dead (May – Oct 2018)
Spurred on by the discovery of an extremely rare sarcophagus in Harper Road, Southwark, last year, curators have assembled 250 fascinating objects to reveal the surprising similarities as well as striking differences between the original Londoner and the modern global city that 9 million people now live in today.
These items range from everyday objects, such as pots and vessels which may have held incense used in ceremonies to bury loved ones, to priceless artefacts, like a millefiori glass dish which would have cost the equivalent of a year’s salary for a Roman soldier. These precious items highlight that even from its earliest days, some of London’s population possessed immense wealth, and that the city had connections to the rest of the world.
[Museum of London]