Medieval abbot may be the skeleton in Westminster Abbey's Roman sarcophagus, expert suggests

A skeleton found inside a Roman stone coffin at Westminster Abbey is most likely that of a medieval abbot, the head of a monastery, according to Prof Warwick Rodwell, a consultant archaeologist at the abbey. Rodwell published his findings in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association.

The sarcophagus is a limestone coffin with a Latin inscription to a man named Valerius Amandinus and Roman decoration on one side. It was discovered in 1820 and officially excavated in 1869 from an area of grass along the north side of the nave, the long central section of the church. Later excavations of the area found no Roman artefacts.

Rodwell says the coffin was probably originally housed in a wall recess of a mausoleum, a tomb building, rather than buried where it was found. The lid bears a large carved cross that was added to the original lid later, and it matches a late Anglo-Saxon cross type, he said. He suggests the reused stone was first placed in the eastern arm of the abbey church, with its lid serving as a floor slab, before being moved during construction work under Henry III.

The coffin's contents were examined in 2018, as part of plans to display it in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries. After the lid was removed in a laboratory, investigators found a skeleton. The bones belonged to a man about 5ft 9in tall, aged between 35 and 49, and matched 19th-century drawings of the remains.

Radiocarbon dating, a method that estimates age from the carbon left in organic material, suggested the bones date from the late 10th or early 11th century. A rectangular outline in white powdered lime was also found in the bottom of the sarcophagus. That pattern suggests the body had been covered in lime before being placed in a wooden coffin inside the stone one.

Rodwell proposes two candidates from the abbey's medieval leadership, both of whom held the post of abbot of Westminster, which was then a Benedictine monastery, a community of monks following the rule of St Benedict. The first is Ælfwig, who died around 1020 and reportedly served about 27 years in the role. The second is Wulfnoth, who died around 1049. Rodwell favours Ælfwig.

Researchers have said the skeleton appears to belong to a medieval man, potentially one of those two abbots. One study cited as evidence has pointed to the occupant being honoured with a "fine sarcophagus", which it treats as a clue pointing to an abbot.

The abbey itself describes the limestone sarcophagus, dug up on its north green, as the heaviest object on display in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries.