About 1800 years ago in Novel In Britain, people preparing bodies for burial created a plaster-like paste and smeared it on the corpses, leaving behind fingerprints that are still visible today, researchers said in a recent blog post.
Archaeologists say these new prints demonstrate a practical approach to burial practices of the third and fourth centuries AD.
Gypsum is a calcium-based mineral that was a key ingredient in ancient plaster and cement. When heated and mixed with water, gypsum turns into a flowing liquid, sometimes called plaster of Paris. This thick liquid when doused the corpsehardens into plaster and leaves behind a shell or imprint of the deceased, much like challenges Pompeii.
At least 45 burials made of liquid gypsum have so far been discovered in the Yorkshire area. While examining one of them, a stone sarcophagus found in the 1870s that had not been properly studied before, the team found a surprising clue to the method of applying the liquid plaster: someone had spread it on by hand.
“When we lifted the case and started cleaning and 3D scanning, we found fingerprints and were amazed.” Maureen CarrollRoman archaeologist at the University of York and principal investigator of the Seeing the Dead project, told Live Science via email. “They have never been seen before, and no one has ever removed the lining of the sarcophagus.”
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December 10 blog postCarroll explained that the team previously believed that the liquid plaster was heated to at least 300 degrees Fahrenheit (150 degrees Celsius) and poured onto the body. But the presence of fingerprints means the plaster mixture was likely a soft paste that someone smeared onto the body in the coffin. The plaster was applied very close to the edges of the coffin, so fingerprints were not visible until the team removed the lining from the coffin.
According to Carroll, fingerprints and handprints indicate close personal contact between the Romans and their dead. “This is a striking trace of human activity that is not known to be preserved on the body in the context of Roman burials,” she wrote in her blog.
These marks may contain additional information about the person or people who buried the deceased—for example, showing whether the deceased was last touched by a professional mortician or a family member.
“We hope to extract the potential DNA a handprint is left behind for examination at the Francis Crick Institute in London,” Carroll said. It's unlikely, but “at best we can infer genetic sex, which would be a huge result!”
