A Roman necropolis from 1st through the 3rd centuries A.D. has been uncovered in Hyères in the Var department of southeastern France. Located outside the walls of ancient Olbia along a Roman coastal road, the burial ground contains at least 160 cremation structures.
The city was founded in 325 B.C. on the site of a former Phoenician settlement as the colony of Olbia by the Greek Massiliotes (inhabitants of ancient Marseilles). It was established as a fortified port, providing shelter and military protection for Massalian shipping. It remained a sparsely populated fortress town until Julius Caesar’s capture of Massalia in 49 B.C. Under Roman control, it separated from its mother colony and grew as a port town in its own right. It was inhabited until the 7th century A.D. when its residence fled to higher ground due to severe flooding.
When the burial complex was in use, Olbia was part of the Roman colony of Arles. Typical of Roman funerary practices of the time, only cremation burials have been found there. They consisted of pyres built over rectangular pits. The deceased’s body was placed on the pyre with pottery and grave goods arranged around them. The hot fire burned the logs of the pyre, whitened and cracked the bones, melted glass bottles and bronze artifacts, and everything collapsed into the pit.
After the cremation fire stopped burning, sometimes unburned grave goods were added to the pits. Other times the pits were emptied of grave goods and the cremated remains placed inside in piles.
Unburned objects such as glass perfume bottles, vases, etc., were placed in these tombs. A distinctive feature of Olbia is that most of them are surmounted by a libation channel for liquid offerings (wine, beer, mead) to honor the deceased or ensure their protection. Indeed, perfume, coins, lamps, and libations could also be offered to the deities. These makeshift channels were mostly fashioned from amphorae, evidence of maritime trade in Olbia.
The libation channels were placed in the pit or mounted to a roof of tiles installed over the grave to protect the remains. The pit was then filled up to the head of the deceased. The soil fill doubled as structural support for the new libation conduit, keeping the semi-circular tiles vertical and facing each other.
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