The Lead Coffins of St. Mary’s

Abstract

Three unidentified lead coffins were discovered at Historic St. Mary’s City during a remote sensing and archaeological excavation of a 1660s brick chapel. Their investigation led to a re-examination of two additional lead coffins from a nearby brick vault constructed in 1694 and believed to house the bodies of Maryland’s first royal governor and his wife. These five rare coffins and their contents, examined by an interdisciplinary team including nuclear physicists, engineers, a pollen specialist, geologist, archaeologists, and forensic anthropologists, provide information on seventeenth-century identities, colonial life, and behaviours lost over time. Previously unknown aspects of diet, health, and childcare are revealed through skeletal and chemical analyses. The information from these high-status individuals serves as a contrast and comparison to other, less affluent individuals buried at St. Mary’s and throughout the Chesapeake region.