Cremated human skeletal remains from three Roman Glass urns from Italy in the National Museum of Denmark

Although a small number of Roman glass urns used as cinerary containers are known, no study has ever been conducted of the human bones that they contain. This pilot study presents information regarding age and gender of the individuals found in three of these urns at the Danish National Museum as well as basic data regarding the urns themselves. This information, when compared with data that may be secured from the collections of the British Museum and elsewhere, may provide evidence for cultural, temporal or regional variations in the use of glass containers as urns for the bones of the dead.     

An approach to funerary rituals in the Roman provinces: plant remains from a Gallo-Roman cemetery at Faulquemont (Moselle, France)

Archaeobotanical studies of funerary offerings allow important insights into beliefs in the afterlife and rituals in the past. Although the number of such investigations has increased in recent years, there are still only a very few systematic investigations of Gallo-Roman cremation graves, especially in northern France. The archaeobotanical study presented here concerns the cemetery (necropolis) of Faulquemont, located in the Département of Moselle. 70 cremation graves, dated from the 1st up to the beginning of the 3rd century A.D. have been sampled for the study of the botanical remains. The graveyard belongs to a rural site. The structures, mainly pits, contained secondary deposits of cremations, characterised by ashy fillings, broken archaeological burned material, bones and carbonised plant remains. 18 plant species have been identified including cereals, pulses, tubers and fruits plus bread/pastry. The most important ones were Triticum (hulled wheat), Hordeum (hulled barley), Lens (lentil) and Pisum (pea). There were also more “exotic” finds like Olea (olive), Phoenix (date) and Lupinus (lupin). The preservation of the cereals suggests possible cooking before cremation, or a long exposure to the fire. Some other plants like hazelnut and olive were maybe consumed as a component of funerary meals. In addition, there were also complete fruits burned as funerary offerings. Only the wealthy deceased received luxurious products such as date. Altogether, the spectrum of Faulquemont fits very well with the known picture of plant offerings during Gallo-Roman times. Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available for this article at