A richly furnished pyre burial from the High Roman Empire period (early 2nd century) has been unearthed at Lamonzie-Saint-Martin in southwestern France. It contains unusually valuable furnishings, including coins, gold sheets and an intaglio ring with a pendant engraved with Greek lettering.
The site at a ford on the Dordogne River was known to contain remains of a Neolithic settlement, but the discovery of a sole Roman grave was unexpected. It consists of a rectangular pit with edges clearly defined by burn material. A small terra sigillata vessel and a clear class vial were found in one corner, and cremated human remains emerged just under them. A bronze coin confirmed that this was pyre burial from the High Empire period.
This type of burial is known as a bustum, a cremation grave where the remains of the burned body are left in place at the pyre, as opposed to the more typical cremation burial where one pyre was used multiple times and the burned bones collected for burial elsewhere. The pyre would be built over a shallow pit that captured the bones and ash as the fire burned. Once the fire died out (or was doused), the pit would be covered with soil.
A meticulous excavation of the fill of the pit ensued. Just six inches deep, the fill consists of ash and charcoal with cremated bone fragments and grave goods. Any find, bones and artifacts, were left in situ for photogrammetry recording so that a 3D model of the burial can be created for later analysis.
The terra sigillata beaker, which may have been manufactured in the local workshops of Montans at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries, was removed in a soil clump. A long iron object, heavily corroded with what looks like a wooden handle, was also removed in soil so it can X-rayed and fully excavated in laboratory conditions.
Towards the south end of the pit, a concentration of valuable grave goods were found, including a group of about 10 coins, sestertii and asses, interspersed with small gold sheets that may have decorated a purse or case that once held the coins. A group of crystals, likely originally mounted on an organic base like leather, were found among the bone remains.
Among the 22 gold objects (sheets, wires and droplets), three stand out in particular: a bracelet made of a twisted band ending with a loop clasp; a probable bulla (a bubble-shaped pendant that was given to the young men of wealthy Roman families) and an intaglio ring.
This ring, deformed by the heat and its fall into the collapsed pyre, is adorned with a claw-shaped bezel that once held a small intaglio. Made of a material yet to be identified (rock crystal?), it is very small and bears seven letters engraved in the Greek alphabet: Allallé. The epigraphic study of this object will focus in particular on determining whether this could be the surname of the deceased.
The recovered remains and the structure will be now studied by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers. In addition to examining the funerary practice itself, researchers will consider its place in the wider landscape, where the necropolis associated with the bustum may be, where the Roman-era settlement was, and whether there was a Greek population located here as evidenced by the engraved jewel.
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