WHO said our ancestors had no sauce?

Try telling that to the body of the 4th century castrated priest found in North Yorkshire, dressed in women's clothes and jewellery, whose life and times are chronicled in a new book from English Heritage.

The skull and bones of the cross-dressing eunuch are the figurehead of a new study of the garrison town of Catterick in the heyday of the Caesars.

Archaeologists believe the young man's skeleton, discovered in 1982, was probably that of a "gallus", a priest who castrated himself in honour of the eastern goddess Cybele.

The find is described in Cataractonium: A Roman Town and its Hinterland, a two-volume monograph launched at the Yorkshire Museum in York yesterday.

Senior archaeologist Dr Pete Wilson, who edited the book, said: "He is the only man wearing this array of jewellery who has ever been found from a late Roman cemetery in Britain.

"The find demonstrates how cosmopolitan the north of England was."

Dr Wilson said Cybele, a goddess imported from the east in the 3rd century BC, was a Roman state deity worshipped in public festivals.

Her priests, or "galli", castrated themselves on a "Day of Blood" in March, following the example of Cybele's lover Atys, who made himself a eunuch out of remorse for his infidelity.

Special ornamented clamps, one of which was found in the River Thames by London Bridge, were used by the galli in their castration ceremonies.

Thereafter the priests would wear jewellery, colourful female robes and turbans or tiaras, and had female hairstyles, in honour of Cybele.

The skeleton found buried in a grave at Bainesse, a farm near Catterick, wore a jet necklace and bracelet, a shale armlet and a bronze anklet.

Research at the site of the once bustling Roman town of Cataractonium began with a rescue excavation in 1958, when the A1 dual carriageway was being reconstructed.

Dr David Fraser, regional director for English Heritage Yorkshire, said: "What I find most fascinating is that today there are many different cultures and backgrounds in Yorkshire, and this man shows that has always been the case.

"Here was social inclusion, and sexual difference, but the world worked in harmony."

He said the gallus was only a "cameo" to hook people into the fascinating history of Catterick, but added: "You must agree, he's a heck of a cameo."

The monograph, published by the Council for British Archaeology, is the result of 40 years of excavations and research, funded mainly by English Heritage.

Most of the finds from the excavations are held by the Yorkshire Museum.

Some items, including a face mask and a statuette of Vulcan, the god of fire, smiths and craftsmanship, are on display for the public.

Each volume of the book costs £32, and is available from York Publishing Services on 01904 431213.

Updated: 15:00 Tuesday, May 21, 2002