For someone so important in Britain’s ancient history and its battle against invaders, there is still much archaeologists yearn to know about Queen Boudicca.
She was the queen of the Iceni people inhabiting East Anglia, what is now largely referred to as the East of England and was married to Prasutagus, the king and ruler of the Icenis.
After the Romans conquered southern England in AD 43, they allowed Prasutagus to continue to rule. But, upon his death in AD 60, the Romans took over and plundered the property of the leading tribes people. It is also said that stripped and flogged Queen Boudicca and raped her daughters, fuelling further resentment at the Roman rule.
In the year of his death or 61 AD, under Boudicca, the Iceni people rebelled, while the Roman governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus was focussed on activities in North Wales.
Other tribes from across the UK strengthened their numbers.
Their army defeated the Roman Ninth Legion, destroying the capital of Roman Britain, at Colchester before retaking London and Verulamium (St Albans).
Thousands of people were killed on both sides, and despite the early wins, Boudicca was ultimately defeated by a Roman army led by Paulinus.
According to the legends that have followed, Boudicca and her daughters drank from a poisoned chalice and killed themselves to avoid capture.
Greek historian Cassius Dio believed that she actually died from illness.
However, historians do not agree on where the final battle took place, where she was killed, or buried.
One site that has the backing of many for the battle and death, is Ambresbury Banks, an ancient earthwork in Epping Forest, in Essex.
According to legend, it is here that the battle ended and Boudicca took poison.
Some historians prefer a site along a former Roman road known as Watling Street, possibly near High Cross, Leicestershire, on the junction of Watling Street and the Fosse Way.
Manduessedum, near Atherstone, Warwickshire, has been suggested, as has Arbury Banks in Hertfordshire, and Church Stowe, Northamptonshire.
Theories about her burial site range from Stonehenge to beneath a McDonald’s or platform nine or ten of King’s Cross train station.
The King’s Cross theory is based on a book written in 1937 by Lewis Spence that argued she fought her last battle against the Romans at what is now the site of the station.
He never suggested she was buried at the site, but it became a popular suggestion in post-war Britain. No archaeological evidence have been found to suggest she was buried there.
In 2006, a team of archaeologists were digging next to a McDonald’s in Birmingham and found Roman remains, leading to a historian to suggest it could be the famous battle site and her resting place, although this theory did not get much backing.
In 1624, historian Edmund Bolton suggested Stonehenge was built as an ornate tomb for Boudicca.
But, Radiocarbon dating shows it is far too old for this to be the case.
There is a theory she is buried in London in Hampstead Heath in a 36-metre diameter and three-metre high circular mound called “Boudicca’s Grave”.
Archaeological digs there found no evidence to support the naming.
Another possible is the Birdlip graves in Gloucestershire, found in 1879 by a team of workers.
Inside was some of the finest Celtic artwork ever found in Britain, including bronze bowls, and ornate jewelry and a handmade mirror.
Archaeologists also unearthed the skeletal remains of an individual dated to the middle part of the first century, with the artefacts indicating she was a woman of high status.
But, there is nothing further to show it was her.
Despite the difficulties in ever conclusively proving Boudicca had been found, scientists and archaeologists are unlikely to ever give up their quest for answers until more is known.
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