Mystery lead coffin unearthed in the whereabouts of Rome

While doing an archaeology dig-up sort of thing in an ancient abandoned city near Rome, digger-uppers discovered a lead coffin weighing in the area of one thousand pounds.

Speculation puts the inhabitant as something akin to a bishop or a gladiator, as using this much metal was extremely costly...but we all know better than this, don't we?

That's what I'm getting at...you know it.

Anyway.  The University of Michigan digging team plans on utilizing minimally invasive techniques to take peeks inside.  Lead coffins are effective for keeping things extremely well-preserved, so they want to take as much care as possible in the process.  Directly opening it up might lead to damaged goods, so other methods, such as thermography and endoscopy, are being considered primarily.

Full article: buried here