Roman period (AD43 – AD450)
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The only law concerning funerary practices which appears to have been rigidly imposed was that relating to location: this followed traditional Roman law where burial was strictly prohibited within the boundaries of towns and cities (Barber and Bowsher, 2000; Watson, 2003).
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Consequently, burials and cemeteries tended to be situated either just outside settlements and/or along the roads and trackways leading to them. Higher status seems to have been accorded to those located closer to the roadside and nearer to the associated settlement’s walls (Taylor, 2001).
Following their arrival, the Romans did not impose their own funerary customs on the locals, indeed local funerary behaviour appears to have remained largely unchanged particularly in the rural areas and to the north and west of Britain (Watson, 2003).
On the whole, the majority of burials involved cremation, inhumation or a combination of both, though the pattern is somewhat complicated by the influences and amalgamations of both local and imported religious beliefs and funerary customs (Taylor, 2001). Mackinder (2000) also reports evidence of funerary architecture including mausolea in the southern Roman cemetery.
During the earlier Roman period, following the conquest in AD 43, cremation was generally preferred with bodies being ritually burned and the ashes placed in receptacles. These were then often interred in a grave, along with grave goods.
During the mid-second century, inhumation began to be utilised without prior cremation. Though this custom appears to have remained rare in the 3rd century, it became universal during the 4th century and directly or indirectly, was probably a result of the spread of Christianity with it eventually being taken up as the official state religion by Rome (Taylor, 2001).
Many, but by no means all, Roman inhumations were aligned along an east-west axis. This behaviour, while attributed to Christian rites, is thought to be derived from some confusion with sun-worship. There are also substantial numbers of Roman inhumations aligned along a north-south axis. While these may or may not indicate pagan beliefs, Barber and Bowsher (2000) suggest an alternative perspective, stating that topographical features may have had more influence upon grave alignment than individual beliefs.
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Cemeteries dated to the Roman period
Data available
Pending
- Iron age/Roman-Paternoster
- Post-Roman Intra mural
- Roman East
- Roman Intramural
- Roman North