Old marble tablet found in backyard turns out to be Roman gravestone

Daniella Santoro, a PhD candidate at Tulane University, never expected to find an ancient Roman gravestone in her backyard, but that’s exactly what happened one day in March as her husband was doing yardwork.

Initially, Santoro thought the artifact might’ve signaled the burial place of a loved one or pet.

“It definitely looked different from anything we’d ever seen,” she told USA TODAY in a phone interview. “I never once really considered with any seriousness that it was actually an authentic artifact.”

Santoro immediately went to Facebook and posted a photo of the marble tablet, which had noticeable Latin etchings, hoping someone in her network might know where it came from.

One of her contacts connected her with Susann S. Lusnia, associate professor of classical studies at Tulane University. Through her own research, Lusnia determined the tablet was authentic.

“When I saw the inscription, I was floored,” Lusnia told USA TODAY. “It just kind of sent a shiver down my spine.”

How old is the tablet?

The inscription on the tablet, which dates back to the second century AD, detailed the death of a Roman sailor who served in the Imperial Navy, said Lusnia. She also discovered through documentation that the artifact had first been found as part of an excavation in Civitavecchia, a coastal town northwest of Rome, in the 1860s.

That’s when Lusnia knew she needed to contact the authorities.

“My first reaction after the shock and amazement that we had a Roman inscription here in New Orleans was to say, ‘Well, it needs to go back to Civitavecchia.’”

The piece was formerly part of the collection of the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Civitavecchia, founded in the early 20th century. The museum was heavily damaged following a bombing that occurred on May 14, 1943.

Lusnia believes the tablet ended up in the United States after the war because someone took it and either sold it or a soldier nabbed it and brought it home.

Who had the tablet before Daniella Santoro?

TV station 4WWL, a CBS affiliate, reported that the tablet had previously been in the possession of Erin Scott O’Brien’s family. O’Brien told the outlet that it belonged to her grandparents, who passed away in the 1980s. Her grandfather served in World War II and was stationed in Italy.

It’s not unheard of for artifacts like these to end up in the United States. In 2022, a woman bought a genuine Roman bust at a Goodwill store for just under $35.

“These sorts of items would wander off in the chaos of things,” said Lusnia.

For now, the artifact is in the possession of the FBI’s art crime unit as it’s in the process of being repatriated to Italy. A 1970 UNESCO treaty encourages countries to return cultural property to its country of origin when it has been removed illegally.

Though Santoro says it’s bittersweet to have to part with the rare object, she hopes to see it again one day in Italy.

“We want to have a family trip to Civitavecchia to meet the people in the museum,” she said.

Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at mdelrey@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Old marble tablet found in backyard is actually a Roman gravestone