A mass grave from the catacomb of Saints Peter and Marcellinus in Rome, second-third century AD

Philippe Blanchard (1) , Dominique Castex (2) , Mathieu Coquerelle (2) , Raffaella Giuliani , Monica Ricciardi

1 CITERES - Cités, Territoires, Environnement et Sociétés
2 PACEA - De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel : Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie

Investigations in a catacomb revealed an early mass grave, in which the bodies were bound tightly with plaster and textile in a type of mummification. Over 100 individuals, mostly young adults, including women, were stacked in rows apparently following a communal fatal incident, perhaps an epidemic. The presence of traces of gold, silver and probably amber with many of the bodies, and their burial in an imperial property suggests a group of some status being interred in the early years of the catacomb, at the end of the second century AD or beginning of the third.

Mots clés: Funeral archeology; mass grave; catacomb of Saints Peter and Marcellinus; Rome; second-third century AD

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Philippe Blanchard, Dominique Castex, Mathieu Coquerelle, Raffaella Giuliani, Monica Ricciardi. A mass grave from the catacomb of Saints Peter and Marcellinus in Rome, second-third century AD. Antiquity, 2007, 81 (314), pp.989-998. ⟨10.1017/S0003598X0009606X⟩. ⟨halshs-00377399⟩