Mystery of Westminster Abbey skeleton 'solved'

A longstanding mystery over the identity of a skeleton discovered inside a Roman sarcophagus in Westminster Abbey may have been settled at last.

For generations, historians have hotly debated the identity of the remains found inside the limestone tomb, which was first unearthed more than 200 years ago.

The sarcophagus bore an inscription for ‘Valerius Amandinus’, a wealthy Briton who lived in Roman London in around 300AD to 400AD, leading some to think this could be one of the earliest Londoners.

However, the Roman theory was thrown into doubt by a Latin cross carved into the lid of the sarcophagus. Experts dated the cross to the 10th or 11th centuries - some 700 years after the tomb was constructed.

Now, carbon dating of a bone sample seems to have finally cracked the case.

The skeleton was discovered inside a Roman sarcophagus in Westminster Abbey

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Archaeologists now believe the remains belong to a high-ranking medieval monk, possibly an abbot, who lived around 1,000 years ago - in line with the dating of the cross.

An excavation of the sacristy was completed last year by Pre-Construct Archaeology (PCA), and analysis of the skeleton found it to have belonged to a man who was 5ft 9in tall and aged between 35 and 49.

And it turns out we may even have a name for this ancient monk.

Professor Warwick Rodwell, a consultant archaeologist at Westminster Abbey, concludes that the most likely occupant is Aelfwig, an abbot who served from 993 to around 1020.

The other potential occupant is his successor Wulfnoth, who died in about 1049.

Prof Rodwell said: "We have two viable contenders for the occupant of the sarcophagus. We do not know the date of birth of either.

"But either would fit equally well if we assume the Abbot was in his early twenties when the appointment was made and close to 50 when he died.

"The fact Aelfwig was already a monk of Westminster might favour him."

The sarcophagus is on public display at Westminster Abbey

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Prof Rodwell published his verdict in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association, and noted that the identity cannot be answered with certainty, as any identifying jewellery or artefacts that may once have adorned the tomb were probably stolen.

However, he goes on to say: “The fact that he was honoured with a fine sarcophagus, topped with a lid displaying a 1.8m high Latin cross, should imply that he was almost certainly an abbot.”

“Nobody of lower rank would have been buried in anything like that. The Latin cross again points to a major ecclesiastic.”

A bone sample sent to the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre for carbon dating found the date of death to have been between 987 and 1052 AD.

Prof Rodwell added: "This confirms that the reuse of the sarcophagus, and the associated remodelling of its cover, occurred in the late Saxon period."

The remains were almost certainly those of a medieval abbot of Westminster

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The sarcophagus and skeleton itself have long been the subject of study and debate.

The sarcophagus was first uncovered by workmen in 1820, who researchers believe accidentally smashed the lid while looking for precious artefacts.

It was rediscovered in 1869, and the attempts were made to repair the broken lid and to glue back together fragments of the skull.

When the inside of the sarcophagus was cleaned in 2016, experts identified a rectangular outline inside the sarcophagus, marked by a white lime residue, once used in traditional burials.

Prof Rodwell said: "Although no physical traces of that feature remained, it can only have been a timber coffin, which has completely decayed over the course of the seven centuries that the sarcophagus was buried in the sacristy courtyard."

The sarcophagus is now on public display in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries at Westminster Abbey.