BOADICEA'S COFFIN?

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 62, 14 March 1930, Page 7

BOADICEA'S COFFIN?

Discovery at Beddington, in Surrey. COMPLETE FEMALE SKELETON. (Keceived 10 a.m.) LONDON, March 13. There is considerable speculation in connection with the discovery of a sevenfoot long stone coffin at Beddington (Surrey), buried at a depth of four feet. It is reputed to be more than 2000 years old. When opened the coffin was found to contain the bones of a complete, female skeleton, the jawbone and teeth being in a wonderful state of preservation. There were in the coffin fragments of tinted shell glass similar to Samian ware. It is suggested in one quarter there is the possibility that the remains are those of Boadicea.

Boadicea, a queen of the Iceni in Britain, died in 62 A.D. Her husband, Prasutagus, ruled the Iceni tribe, which inhabited portions of Norfolk and Suffolk, and upon his death his dominions ■were seized by the "Romans. Roused by the indignities she and her people had suffered, Boadicea raised an army and seized in turn Colchester, St. Albans and London, killing 70,000 Romans and their allies. The Britons were eventually defeated by the Romans under the governor Suetonius, and the queen put an end to her life by taking poison.