LONDON -- Archaeologists who found a 2,000-year-old grave of a Celtic ruler near ancient Roman ruins hope to learn whether the remains may be those of Cunobelin, also known as Cymbeline or Old King Cole.
The grave was found at historic St. Albans, 20 miles north of London. The site, which was covered over shortly after the Roman conquest in 43 A.D., lies near the ruins of the Roman city Verulamium, which was burned by Boadicea, the Celtic woman warrior, about 60 A.D.
Tests were under way to determine whether the remains are those of Cunobelin, believed to be the nursery rhyme's 'merry old soul' who is also believed to be the ruler known as Cymbeline in Shakespeare's play, a Verulamium Museum spokeswoman said.
The grave, which overlooked the vanquished Celtic town of Verlamio, dates to between 20 A.D. and 40 A.D., about the time Cunobelin died.
The burial site may have been dedicated to Cunobelin's father, ruler of the Catuvellauni tribe, or another chieftan, dig director Roslind Niblett said.
'The candidates include Androcus, an early first-century ruler of the Catuvellauni, and his co-ruler, Tasciobanus, who was the father of Cunobelin, Shakespeare's Cymbeline and the Old King Cole of nursery- rhyme fame,' Niblett told The Times.
But archaeologists suspect the grave may actually be that of Cunobelin, who made his capital farther north at Colchester on the Colne River, about 50 miles north of London.
'It seems more likely to be a contemporary of Cunobelin, whom one would expect to find buried at Colchester, but it is possible that Old King Cole himself was brought back to St. Albans for burial,' Niblett said.
The cremated remains of the king were clad in a chain-mail shirt and surrounded by treasures, some made of silver and ivory, and placed in the largest Iron Age tomb found in Britain, The Daily Telegraph said Saturday.
The royal tomb, which was found this month on a hospital's grounds a week before the site was to be turned over to a housing development, was at the center of a wooden funerary complex that covered almost 4 acres.
The remains of the king were found on a wooden bier within a deep pit enclosed by a wooden building piled with ritually smashed plates, cups and wine containers.
Appropriately for Old King Cole, who, so children recite, called for his pipes, wives and 'fiddlers three,' the grave was reached by an entryway strewn with what appear to be sacrificial burials -- including three human skeletons.
