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伦敦威斯敏斯特教堂（Westminster Abbey）有一具罗马时代的石灰岩石棺，棺上的拉丁文铭文属于约公元300至400年间的富人 Valerius Amandinus，里面却躺着一具晚得多的骸骨。这具石棺1820年被工人意外挖到，1869年正式发掘，骸骨的身份从此成谜。教堂顾问考古学家 Warwick Rodwell 在《英国考古协会期刊》发表的新论文中梳理了线索：棺盖被改刻成晚期盎格鲁-撒克逊风格的大十字；原以为遗失的骸骨在修复时被重新发现；骨骼分析显示死者为35至49岁男性，放射性碳测年为公元987至1052年；棺底的石灰痕迹说明石棺里曾放过一具木棺。他据此认为死者很可能是一位修道院院长，最可能是 Aelfwig，其继任者 Wulfnoth 也有可能。文章按“谜题—来历—线索—检测—推断与边界—意义”展开。阅读时可留意 probably、likely rather than certain 等词如何表达推断的把握程度，以及 However、Yet、Still 如何引出转折。

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A stone coffin at Westminster Abbey in London has puzzled experts for more than 150 years. It was made in Roman times for a rich man, but the skeleton inside belonged to someone who lived many centuries later. Now Warwick Rodwell, a consultant archaeologist at the abbey, believes he knows who that person was: probably a medieval abbot, the leader of the monks who once lived there.

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伦敦威斯敏斯特教堂的一具石棺，让专家们困惑了150多年。它是罗马时代为一位富人制作的，但里面的骸骨却属于好几个世纪之后的人。如今，该教堂的顾问考古学家 Warwick Rodwell 认为自己知道这个人是谁：很可能是一位中世纪修道院院长，也就是曾在那里生活的修士们的首领。

The limestone coffin, called a sarcophagus, was first found by workmen in 1820, who broke its lid into six pieces. It was officially dug up in 1869. A Latin inscription names Valerius Amandinus, a wealthy man who lived around A.D. 300 to 400. However, no other Roman objects were found nearby, so Rodwell thinks the coffin was moved there from somewhere else.

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这具石灰岩棺材被称为石棺（sarcophagus），1820年首次被工人发现，工人们把棺盖砸成了六块。它于1869年被正式发掘出来。棺上的拉丁文铭文写着 Valerius Amandinus 的名字，他是生活在公元300年至400年前后的一位富人。然而，附近没有发现其他罗马时期的物品，因此 Rodwell 认为这具石棺是从别处搬到那里的。

The lid offered the first clue. Someone later carved a large Latin cross across it, in a style used in England in the late Anglo-Saxon period. For a long time, written records suggested that the bones had been lost. Yet when the coffin was opened during conservation work, experts were surprised to find an almost complete skeleton inside.

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棺盖提供了第一条线索。后来有人在棺盖上刻了一个巨大的拉丁十字，其风格属于英格兰盎格鲁-撒克逊时期晚期。很长时间里，文字记录显示这些骨头已经遗失。然而，在保护修复工作中打开石棺时，专家们惊讶地发现里面有一具几乎完整的骸骨。

Modern tests added more details. A bone specialist found that the man was between 35 and 49 years old and about 1.75 metres tall. Radiocarbon dating placed his death between A.D. 987 and 1052. Cleaning also revealed a rectangle of white lime at the bottom of the coffin. Rodwell says this marks a wooden coffin that once sat inside the stone one and has completely decayed.

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现代检测补充了更多细节。一位骨骼专家发现，此人年龄在35岁至49岁之间，身高约1.75米。放射性碳测年显示他死于公元987年至1052年之间。清理还在石棺底部发现了一个由白色石灰形成的长方形痕迹。Rodwell 说，这标出了一具曾放在石棺内、现已完全腐烂的木棺。

Together, these facts point to someone of high rank. “Nobody of lower rank would have been buried in anything like that,” Rodwell told the Guardian. Two abbots who died in the right period fit the evidence: Aelfwig, who died around 1020, and Wulfnoth, who died in 1049. Rodwell slightly favours Aelfwig, because he was already a monk at Westminster before he became its leader. Still, nobody knows when either man was born, so the answer is likely rather than certain.

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这些事实合在一起，指向一位地位很高的人。Rodwell 对《卫报》说：“地位更低的人不可能被葬在那样的东西里。”有两位在相应时期去世的院长符合这些证据：约1020年去世的 Aelfwig，以及1049年去世的 Wulfnoth。Rodwell 稍微倾向于 Aelfwig，因为他在成为院长之前就已经是威斯敏斯特的修士。不过，没有人知道这两人的出生时间，所以这个答案只是很可能，而不是确定无疑。

The study, published in the Journal of the British Archaeological Association, also shows how an old object can have a second life. The Roman coffin was reused more than 600 years after it was made, perhaps an early example of recycling. Today it is on public display in the abbey’s Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries. “It’s like so much in archaeology,” Rodwell said. “There’s a lot more complication than one initially sees.”

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这项研究发表在《英国考古协会期刊》上，它也展示了一件旧物如何拥有“第二次生命”。这具罗马石棺在制成600多年后被再次使用，这或许是早期“循环利用”的一个例子。如今，它在教堂的女王钻禧画廊公开展出。Rodwell 说：“考古中的很多事情都是这样，实际情况比人们最初看到的要复杂得多。”

新闻来源

• The Guardian · Mystery of Roman sarcophagus unearthed at Westminster Abbey solved at last, expert says (21 Oct 2026)
• Phys.org / Taylor & Francis · Mystery skeleton found in Roman sarcophagus at Westminster Abbey may finally have an identity (20 Oct 2026)
• Journal of the British Archaeological Association · Westminster Abbey’s Roman Sarcophagus and its Afterlife (2026)

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