Object Details
From:NHerts
Name/TitleThe Woman and Three Babies
About this objectThe skeleton of an adult woman (aged about 40) with three foetuses aged about eight months: one stillborn, one in the birth canal and one in the womb. They were found in a grave aligned north-north-west to south-south-east at Stane Street, Baldock; the woman was laid on her right side with her head to the south-south-east and the lower body twisted so that the legs were parallel and facing down, with a slight angle at the knees. The right arm lay beneath the body and the hand lay beneath the left hip, while the left arm was bent 90° at the elbow, the hand pointing away from the body. The foetus in the south-western corner of the grave appeared to have been laid in a supine position, with head to the south-south-east, with the legs flexed towards the west. The remaining foetuses were less well preserved, making an assessment of their positions difficult.
This unusual burial suggests that it contained a mother and her three stillborn infants. Multiple births were frequently difficult in the ancient world (the Classical Roman name Gemellus recording a successfully born twin) and it is likely that there were considerable complications with the birth of these three premature babies, the second of which may have been in a breach position. This is the earliest known case of triplets in the world and was the subject of a BBC television programme in the series History Cold Case. Stable isotope analysis carried out for the programme showed that she had a mixed diet of terrestrial, grain and a small amount of marine and a chemical origin of around the Baldock area.
During the first Coronavirus lockdown of 2020 North Hertfordshire Museum Visitor Services Assistant Nicola Viiniika researched and gave her opinion on the woman and three babies
What is the most interesting thing about this object?
This is the earliest known case of triplets in the world. At around 40 years old, she would also have been a relatively old mother at the time.
Further information
The skeleton of an adult woman (aged about 40) with three foetuses aged about eight months: one stillborn, one in the birth canal and one in the womb. They were found in a grave aligned north-north-west to south-south-east at Stane Street, Baldock; the woman was laid on her right side with her head to the south-south-east and the lower body twisted so that the legs were parallel and facing down, with a slight angle at the knees. The right arm lay beneath the body and the hand lay beneath the left hip, while the left arm was bent 90° at the elbow, the hand pointing away from the body. The foetus in the south-western corner of the grave appeared to have been laid in a supine position, with head to the south-south-east, with the legs flexed towards the west. The remaining foetuses were less well preserved, making an assessment of their positions difficult.
This unusual burial suggests that it contained a mother and her three stillborn infants. Multiple births were frequently difficult in the ancient world (the Classical Roman name Gemellus recording a successfully born twin) and it is likely that there were considerable complications with the birth of these three premature babies, the second of which may have been in a breach position. This is the earliest known case of triplets in the world and was the subject of a 2011 BBC television programme in the series History Cold Case.
The woman and three babies were excavated in 1989. The grave was at the edge of the burial ground and her burial position has been described as ‘deviant’, in the sense that for some reason she could have been seen as an outsider. In the first century AD, Baldock was a volatile place, full of religious superstition.
Initially, the archaeologists thought it was the grave of a man. However, they then discovered that underneath the head and shoulders of the man, were the head and shoulders of the woman, her body at right angles to the man. Not only that, there were also the bones of three babies; one at her right shoulder, one in the birth canal and one still in the womb. It was apparently quite common in Romano-British burials to place a dead baby at the right shoulder. It is assumed that the woman was lying on her side, because this would have been the most comfortable position for a heavily pregnant woman.
The History Cold Case team, from the University of Dundee, were led by Professor Sue Black, a forensic anthropologist and world authority on juvenile anthropology.
Their extensive research came to a number of conclusions;
- That she was a local woman in her late ‘30s, in good enough health to carry triplets to term;
- That she was only 4’ 11” tall!
- That, given birth control techniques which existed at the time, the pregnancy was likely to have been planned and possibly from a second marriage, as these were quite common;
- They were not able to extract DNA from the man to prove that he was the father of the children, but we would assume that to be the case;
- As a local woman she did not have access to Roman medicine, or any assistance with the birth; there were Roman birthing techniques which could have saved her life. There was no evidence of any outside intervention, or indeed any trauma;
- DNA analysis proved that she was the mother of babies two and three, so highly likely that she was the mother of baby one.
The History Cold Case team also produced the facial reconstruction which is on display at North Herts Museum.
The circumstances of the first baby are not entirely clear; if it had been born alive it would not have survived anyway.
The evidence strongly points to her having died trying to give birth to the second of the triplets. Professor Black suggests that the reason the baby was found in the birth canal and not the womb, is because as her body started to decompose, it would have given off gases which could have expelled the baby, at the same time as the baby started to decompose itself, thus needing less space to get out. This is known as a “coffin birth”.
In conclusion, there was nothing to indicate why she was buried where she was and no evidence to suggest that it was anything but a terribly sad death in childbirth, which ultimately led to 4 deaths.
In a subsequent book, All that Remains: A life in Death (2018) Professor Sue Black says that of all the cases they examined (8 in total) this was the one which generated the largest post bag.
Date MadeAD 70-100
PeriodRoman (AD 43-411)
Medium and MaterialsEcofacts | Human bone
Named CollectionLetchworth Museum
Credit LineExcavated from land belonging originally to Hertfordshire County Council but at the time of excavation by Barratt Homes (Luton) Ltd.
Object TypeHuman remains
Object number1989.178.2
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved