Archaeologists in southwestern France have uncovered a Roman pyre burial containing an assemblage of high-status grave goods, offering rare insights on the region’s Imperial-era elite.
The burial was found near the Dordogne River at Lamonzie-Saint-Martin, located in the Dordogne department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France.
Excavations by the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) were conducted to uncover traces of a previously documented Neolithic settlement.
Instead, archaeologists found a single Roman grave containing cremated remains and an assemblage of valuable grave goods, including coins, gold elements, crystals, and a striking intaglio ring engraved with Greek lettering.
The grave is a bustum-type burial – a cremation practice where the funeral pyre is constructed directly over a shallow pit. As the body and pyre burn, the structure collapses into the pit below, after which the deposits are sealed beneath a layer of soil.
Excavations of the pit fill found ash, charcoal, cremated bones, and the various grave goods which were documented using photogrammetry, allowing archaeologists to create a 3D reconstruction of the burial before removal.
Also found is a terra sigillata beaker, a reddish type of high-status tableware likely produced in the workshops of Montans around the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.
The southern section of the pit yielded the most remarkable finds: around 10 Roman coins consisting of sestertii and asses, intermixed with delicate gold sheets that may once have decorated a purse or wooden container.
Crystals mounted on a now-decayed organic backing were also found among the bone fragments. In total, 22 gold objects were recovered, including wires, droplets, and a twisted gold bracelet with a loop clasp that is likely a protective bulla pedant worn by elite Roman youths.
Header Image Credit : Anne Viero
Sources : INRAP
