![]() ![]() The archaeologists discovered typical funeral items - fragments of a woven basket, remains of food, a coin, and ceramic and glass vessels. ![]() ![]() (Image credit: Sagalassos Archaeological Research Project (KU Leuven))Įven more unusual was the contrast between the grave goods and the closure of the tomb. Although each of these practices is known from Roman-era cemeteries - cremation in place, coverings of tiles or plaster, and the occasional bent nail - the combination of the three has not been seen before and implies a fear of the "restless dead," he said.Ī photo of the cremation grave with bricks in place (right) next to two later tombs (left). "The burial was closed off with not one, not two, but three different ways that can be understood as attempts to shield the living from the dead - or the other way around," study first author Johan Claeys (opens in new tab), an archaeologist at Catholic University Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium, told Live Science in an email. 21 in the journal Antiquity (opens in new tab). The individual - an adult male - was cremated and buried in the same place, an unusual practice in Roman times, according to the study, published Feb. 100-150, had 41 bent and twisted nails scattered along the edges of its cremation pyre, 24 bricks that had been meticulously placed on the still-smoldering pyre, and a layer of lime plaster on top of that. The unusual grave, found at the site of Sagalassos (opens in new tab) in southwestern Turkey and dating to A.D. ![]()
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