Sarcophagi in Roman Britain - Bollettino di archeologia on line

XVII International Congress of Classical Archaeology, Roma 22-26 Sept. 2008Session: <strong>Roman</strong> and Barbarianrelatively low, several examples recently excavated<strong>in</strong> Newcastle show that not all sarcophagiconta<strong>in</strong>ed rich burials. The first ofthese, with an unsealed lid, conta<strong>in</strong>ed the skeletonof a child and a possible secondary burialbut no grave goods. The second, this time withan unopened lead-sealed lid, conta<strong>in</strong>ed theburial of an adult, probably female with a jethairp<strong>in</strong> be<strong>in</strong>g the only surviv<strong>in</strong>g grave good 35 .These sarcophagi <strong>di</strong>d not, therefore, protectvaluable grave goods. Instead, they were placedclose to and well above the level of a <strong>Roman</strong>road, possibly that runn<strong>in</strong>g out of the nearbytown of Pons Aelius; they were obviously<strong>in</strong>tended to be highly visible. These examplesshow that these undecorated pieces were notmerely protective. Although certa<strong>in</strong>ly functional<strong>in</strong> this regard, there is suggestive evidence thatthey could have an ad<strong>di</strong>tional symbolicmean<strong>in</strong>g.The overwhelm<strong>in</strong>g majority of sarcophagiused <strong>in</strong> Brita<strong>in</strong> were locally carved fromnative materials. These are listed <strong>in</strong> Table 2.Abb. 2 – Distribution map of <strong>Roman</strong>o-British sarcophagi.The <strong>di</strong>stribution of the known examples ismapped <strong>in</strong> Figure 2 even though documentationexists for only a small portion of the total 36 . Though the stone type has been analysed <strong>in</strong> only a handful ofcases some <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g results emerge. Where suitable local stone was available sarcophagi were carvedfrom it, as one would expect: this is the case with oolitic limestone <strong>in</strong> Gloucestershire and Somerset andMillstone grit at York 37 . At Cirencester, the Bath Gate cemetery is imme<strong>di</strong>ately adjacent to the city’s ma<strong>in</strong>quarries so transport costs were kept to an absolute m<strong>in</strong>imum 38 . However, the fact that value was attachedto stone as a me<strong>di</strong>um <strong>in</strong> itself is illustrated by the examples from the south-east of the prov<strong>in</strong>ce 39 . Here,limestone had to be imported. Stone from the quarries at Barnack and Ancaster, <strong>in</strong> northern Cambridgeshireand L<strong>in</strong>colnshire respectively, is used <strong>in</strong> London, southern Cambridgeshire and Essex, <strong>in</strong> the last casealongside oolitic limestone, the closest source of which is <strong>in</strong> Oxfordshire 40 . Some <strong>in</strong><strong>di</strong>cation of the cost ofmov<strong>in</strong>g this material can be ga<strong>in</strong>ed from later sources. The stone used for the porch of Corpus ChristiCollege, Cambridge, <strong>in</strong> 1583–1584, for example, which came from quarries <strong>in</strong> the vic<strong>in</strong>ity of Barnack andnearby Weldon, cost 75% of its orig<strong>in</strong>al value to be moved 16km overland 41 . When one considers that35 This <strong>in</strong>formation comes from the prelim<strong>in</strong>ary report on the excavation <strong>in</strong> summer 2008 of the sarcophagi at the BEMCO site, Claver<strong>in</strong>gPlaces, Newcastle upon Tyne, prepared by the Archaeological Services of the University of Durham.36 S<strong>in</strong>ce so many of these pieces were recorded <strong>in</strong> the 18 th , 19 th and early 20 th centuries details of their <strong>di</strong>scovery are often patchy.37 See GRAY 1922, 371–375, WILLMORE 1939, 158–161, and VINER, LEECH 1982, 88–92; on the Millstone grit examples seen RAMM1958, 402–403 and 412–413, DICKINSON, WENHAM 1958, 291–292, WENHAM 1960, 317–318 and 327 (Appen<strong>di</strong>x 3), and WENHAM 1968,40–42.38 VINER, LEECH 1982, 88–90; see VANHAVERBEKE, WAELKENS 2002 for a similar situation at Hierapolis <strong>in</strong> Phrygia where over 1474sarcophagi have been identified to date, 89.9% of them carved from travert<strong>in</strong>e quarried on the edge of the north-western necropolis.39 Contrary to the view of Esmonde Cleary (1987, 12), I th<strong>in</strong>k that even <strong>in</strong> areas well-supplied with stone resources, stone coff<strong>in</strong>s wouldbe more expensive than wooden ones.40 On London, see RCHM England 1928, 157 and 163, and TOYNBEE 1964, 210–211; on Cambridgeshire, WALKER 1908, 273–284, FELL1955, 13–23, RUDD, DAINES 1971, 1–8, LIVERSIDGE 1977, 15 and 23, and TAYLOR 1984, 15; and on Essex, POWELL 1963, 146–147, andJONES 1979, 26–30.41 ALEXANDER 1995, 127.Bollett<strong>in</strong>o <strong>di</strong> Archeologia on l<strong>in</strong>e I 2010/ Volume speciale E / E10 / 2 Reg. 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