Sarco turns up in Northumberland garden

Charles 4 Comments
Charles

A retired couple in Northumberland have discovered that an unregarded planter in their garden is in fact a Roman sarcophagus dating from the first or second century AD. They stand to make £100,000 by selling it at auction. Full story in the Daily Mail here

FACT: The word ‘sarcophagus’ derives from the ancient Greek word ‘sarkophagos’, meaning ‘flesh-eater’. Ancient Greeks believed that the stone consumed the flesh of the occupant. 

4 Comments

  1. Charles

    Lovely. I’m surprised it went unregarded without at least a professional valuation. Even with no inkling it was Roman, it couldn’t be mistaken for a worthless concrete moulding from a garden centre. I think I’d have guessed, wrongly, it was 18th century, and been curious to see if it was worth a few bob.

  2. Charles

    And I never knew that about ‘sarkophagoses’. Sounds like a business idea to me: ‘Karniveros Koffins, for legal sky burials.’

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