Fulwell Quarries, inhumation
Fulwell Quarries, inhumation
HER Number
399
District
Sunderland
Site Name
Fulwell Quarries, inhumation
Place
Fulwell
Map Sheet
NZ35NE
Class
Religious Ritual and Funerary
Site Type: Broad
Burial
Site Type: Specific
Inhumation
General Period
ROMAN
Specific Period
Roman 43 to 410
Form of Evidence
Find
Description
In 1759, during limestone quarrying, "a ridge of limestone and rubbage" (sic) was removed. "In the middle of this bank was found the skeleton of a human body, which measured nine feet six inches in length, the shin-bone measuring two feet three inches from the knee to the ancle (sic)". The skeleton was protected by "four large flat stones", which could be interpreted as a prehistoric cist burial or a Roman grave inserted in a prehistoric mound. Two Roman coins were found on the south side of the skeleton, near the right hand. It has been argued that the description of the skeleton is detailed enough to be true, and that he was therefore one of the biggest men ever found. The coins suggest he had probably been inserted into an earlier cairn not before the beginning of the 3rd century AD.
Easting
438000
Northing
559000
Grid Reference
NZ438000559000
Sources
<< HER 399 >> P. Collinson, 1763, Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. XXXIII, p. 492 (Oct. 1763)
J. Sykes, 1866, Local Records, Vol. I, p. 221
Ordnance Survey archaeological record cards, 1952 linear mound...containing a cist burial...
H.G. Welfare, 1980, Fulwell Giant, Northern Archaeology, Vol. 1 Part 1, pp. 22-25
J. Sykes, 1866, Local Records, Vol. I, p. 221
Ordnance Survey archaeological record cards, 1952 linear mound...containing a cist burial...
H.G. Welfare, 1980, Fulwell Giant, Northern Archaeology, Vol. 1 Part 1, pp. 22-25