Thousand-Pound Lead Coffin Unearthed in Italy

American archaeologists working on the largest dig site in Italy ever opened for the past 50 years are currently trembling with excitement. They have recently unearthed a very intricate and weird artifact, that was buried until last summer in what was once a city neighboring the capital of the Roman Empire. The artifact in question is a massive, 1,000-pound coffin, which tightly encloses its still-unknown contents. The object is now scheduled to be delivered to the American University in Rome, where scientists will use a variety of techniques to get a clue of what's inside, PhysOrg reports.

It is currently unknown whether the large container will reveal a person or other, smaller objects, but University of Michigan professor of classical studies Nicola Terrenato, the leader of the dig site, says that the sarcophagus' inside could surprise archaeologists. In fact, this is every dig team's dream, to find something they don't expect. And the recent discovery is weird enough to promise that. Once delivered to the University, the group plans to use heating techniques and very small video cameras to gain access to the interior of the coffin without actually having to open it.

“We're very excited about this find. Romans as a rule were not buried in coffins to begin with and when they did use coffins, they were mostly wooden. There are only a handful of other examples from Italy of lead coffins from this age – the second, third or fourth century AD. We know of virtually no others in this region,” says Terrenato. Speaking about the coffin itself, the expert added, “It's a sheet of lead folded onto itself an inch thick. A thousand pounds of metal is an enormous amount of wealth in this era. To waste so much of it in a burial is pretty unusual.”

There are many possibilities as to who may be buried inside, if indeed it turns out to be a person. The team says that it could be a famous gladiator, a politician, or maybe even a bishop. “It's hard to predict what's inside, because it's the only example of its kind in the area. I'm trying to keep my hopes within reason,” the scientist adds. Terrenato concludes by saying that, if the imaging techniques the team has planned do not work, experts will have to deliver the half-a-ton gasket to a hospital, to get an expensive MRI done. It all depends on how much dust has made its way inside over the centuries.