Archeological Evidence, Historicity
Boudicca has been viewed as an icon of national resistance and archeological findings show that she was also brutal. Boudicca’s mass destruction of the three towns is still evident today. Jean Tribolo grew up in St Albans (Verulamium), one of the cities Boudicca destroyed. He says that,“the evidence of her presence is still clear in the archeology around the town” (Roman News And Archeology, 2012).
Archeological evidence shows that the city of Camulodunum was burnt to the ground in a methodical way. Keeping in mind, that Camulodunum was made of framework of timber pots encased in clay that would not have caught alight easily. An expression of the extreme heat caused by the fires was that some of the clay walls were even turned to pottery to be preserved up until today. Another of the cities she destroyed, Londinium, contains a thick charred layer that can still be traced in modern London. Director of the dig, Philip Crummy explains “there were not flammable buildings, but they were leveled. It was a murderous, determined, intensive and deliberate attack” and how “there were no prisoners. Men, women and children were all killed” (BBC Knowledge, 2000). Roman historians claim that up to 70,000 Romans died, it was a brutal attack fuelled by anger and rage.
One of the archeological findings relating to Boudicca’s story was the bronze statue head of Emperor Claudius (Appendix 5) from Colchester, now kept at the British Museum. It is suggested that the head was hacked off by the Celts during the sacking of the city. Archeological digs showed that they went to enormous lengths to destroy anything touched by Romans (John Burke, 2000), judging by the way the Romans treated them it is no wonder why.
Many types of gold and silver torques (Appendix 17) were recovered from Norfolk and Suffolk where Iceni people were known to live, any of these could have belonged to Boudicca – as she was reported to wear one by Dio Cassius (The British Museum, 2013). The Torque assigned to Celtic warrior chieftain, was metal band of gold twisted strands that would go around the neck, almost like a chokee. It is suspected that the torque symbolized a warrior’s readiness to sacrifice themselves for the tribe at any moment. Further proof of her husband King Prasutagus comes from coins that were found in Suffolk, displaying his name (Appendix 18)(Natalie Kohout, 2013).
One of the major questions people ask today is where does Boudicca’s body lie now? And what of the bodies of her daughters? Is it possible that the Romans hid her body to discourage further rebellion? There are suspicions amongst archeologists and historians of her body possibly lying under Platform 9 of King’s Cross Station (Jason Burle, 2000)(The Daily Mail, 2013) (Appendix 19) and there is also speculation that she is buried under a Macdonald’s in Birmingham (Anna Edwards, 2013) (Appendix 20). Director of the Council for British Archeology, Dr Mike Heyworth says that “experts are on the hunt for her burial place” as the Independent reported.
Some suspect her body will be uncovered at the scene of her last battle, which leads to the unanswered question of where that final battle site lies. Retired geographysist, Steve Kaye, feels that “Interesting insights into the battle’s location might be gained by combining the techniques of modern terrain analysis with Tacitus’s description of the battle site.” Science and technology will help uncover its whereabouts in no time and “Only archeological finds will solve the riddle of Boudicca’s last stand” (British Archeology magazine, 2010). There are many possible places that match up with Tacitus’ key passage describing Paulinus’ choice of battle site with “wood being behind him,” “no enemy except at his front, where there was an open plain” and an “extreme border of the field.”
Boudicca’s catastrophic uprising is a certain fact in history, as supported by a range of archeological evidence. There are many gaps in her story but we ourselves can fill them in, possibly allowing us to remember her as a much more pleasant version of herself. That’s the fun of it; we can reinvent Boudicca how we like. What we do know for sure is that she was a strong leader who fought for what she believed in and went down in history for it. It is new findings that will give us further insight into Boudicca, as Dr Dudley and G. Webster write in The Rebellion of Boudicca (1962), “It is surely from archeology that we should expect new light to be thrown on the great rebellion.”
Boudicca has been viewed as an icon of national resistance and archeological findings show that she was also brutal. Boudicca’s mass destruction of the three towns is still evident today. Jean Tribolo grew up in St Albans (Verulamium), one of the cities Boudicca destroyed. He says that,“the evidence of her presence is still clear in the archeology around the town” (Roman News And Archeology, 2012).
Archeological evidence shows that the city of Camulodunum was burnt to the ground in a methodical way. Keeping in mind, that Camulodunum was made of framework of timber pots encased in clay that would not have caught alight easily. An expression of the extreme heat caused by the fires was that some of the clay walls were even turned to pottery to be preserved up until today. Another of the cities she destroyed, Londinium, contains a thick charred layer that can still be traced in modern London. Director of the dig, Philip Crummy explains “there were not flammable buildings, but they were leveled. It was a murderous, determined, intensive and deliberate attack” and how “there were no prisoners. Men, women and children were all killed” (BBC Knowledge, 2000). Roman historians claim that up to 70,000 Romans died, it was a brutal attack fuelled by anger and rage.
One of the archeological findings relating to Boudicca’s story was the bronze statue head of Emperor Claudius (Appendix 5) from Colchester, now kept at the British Museum. It is suggested that the head was hacked off by the Celts during the sacking of the city. Archeological digs showed that they went to enormous lengths to destroy anything touched by Romans (John Burke, 2000), judging by the way the Romans treated them it is no wonder why.
Many types of gold and silver torques (Appendix 17) were recovered from Norfolk and Suffolk where Iceni people were known to live, any of these could have belonged to Boudicca – as she was reported to wear one by Dio Cassius (The British Museum, 2013). The Torque assigned to Celtic warrior chieftain, was metal band of gold twisted strands that would go around the neck, almost like a chokee. It is suspected that the torque symbolized a warrior’s readiness to sacrifice themselves for the tribe at any moment. Further proof of her husband King Prasutagus comes from coins that were found in Suffolk, displaying his name (Appendix 18)(Natalie Kohout, 2013).
One of the major questions people ask today is where does Boudicca’s body lie now? And what of the bodies of her daughters? Is it possible that the Romans hid her body to discourage further rebellion? There are suspicions amongst archeologists and historians of her body possibly lying under Platform 9 of King’s Cross Station (Jason Burle, 2000)(The Daily Mail, 2013) (Appendix 19) and there is also speculation that she is buried under a Macdonald’s in Birmingham (Anna Edwards, 2013) (Appendix 20). Director of the Council for British Archeology, Dr Mike Heyworth says that “experts are on the hunt for her burial place” as the Independent reported.
Some suspect her body will be uncovered at the scene of her last battle, which leads to the unanswered question of where that final battle site lies. Retired geographysist, Steve Kaye, feels that “Interesting insights into the battle’s location might be gained by combining the techniques of modern terrain analysis with Tacitus’s description of the battle site.” Science and technology will help uncover its whereabouts in no time and “Only archeological finds will solve the riddle of Boudicca’s last stand” (British Archeology magazine, 2010). There are many possible places that match up with Tacitus’ key passage describing Paulinus’ choice of battle site with “wood being behind him,” “no enemy except at his front, where there was an open plain” and an “extreme border of the field.”
Boudicca’s catastrophic uprising is a certain fact in history, as supported by a range of archeological evidence. There are many gaps in her story but we ourselves can fill them in, possibly allowing us to remember her as a much more pleasant version of herself. That’s the fun of it; we can reinvent Boudicca how we like. What we do know for sure is that she was a strong leader who fought for what she believed in and went down in history for it. It is new findings that will give us further insight into Boudicca, as Dr Dudley and G. Webster write in The Rebellion of Boudicca (1962), “It is surely from archeology that we should expect new light to be thrown on the great rebellion.”