1,600-Year-Old Roman Man May Offer New Clues to London's Past

The remains of a wealthy Roman man, buried 1,600 years ago near London's St. Martin-in-the-Fields church, is providing clues for archaeologists trying to understand a little-known period in the city's history.

The remains of the man, who was in his early 40s when he died about A.D. 410, went on display yesterday at the Museum of London. The museum also is showing items found in tombs nearby that date from a period when the Saxons of northern Germany ruled the city.

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``It's very, very unusual to find a Roman burial here,'' said Francis Grew, senior curator at the Museum of London, in an interview. Archeologists in Britain haven't previously found remains so late in the Roman era, he said. Carbon dating shows the man died between 390 and 430.