Infants, Cemeteries and Communities in the Roman Provinces

A new approach to the study of Romanization in Britain: A regional perspective of cultural change in late Iron Age and Roman Dorset using the Siler and Gompertz–Makeham models of mortality

“…Infants (usually those aged 3 years) were not always placed in these cemeteries; instead they were often buried within settlements, particularly in rural areas (Scott, 1999: 110-120). Pearce's (2001) review of infant burials concludes that temporal differences exist, with the majority of cemetery inhumations occurring in the 3rd and 4th Centuries AD, and that intercemetery differences exist in the numbers of subadult internments excavated. In many Romano-British cemeteries, sex differences in the male-female ratio of burials has been identified, particularly those associated with urban centers, e.g., Cirencester (Gloucestershire) (Crowe, 2001;Davison, 2000).…”

Poundbury Camp in Context—a new Perspective on the Lives of Children from urban and ruralRomanEngland

“…It is feasible that differential burial rites reserved for the youngest impacted on the relative frequencies of infant burials between the site types. Indeed, intramural burial, exclusion from the formal cemetery, clustering in a dedicated area of the cemetery, or burial in a separate site altogether, have all been observed with infant burials in Roman Britain (Esmonde, ; Wileman, ; Gowland et al, ; Pearce ; Philpott, ; Scott, ). The observed patterns may be a reflection of cultural practices, rather than of mother and infant health, forcing us to approach infant mortality with caution.…”

Full Archives, Meaningless Data? What Artefacts Can Tell about Age and Gender at Large-Scale Cemeteries (Case Study Colonia Iulia Emona)

“…This seemingly supports the theory that Roman parents were indifferent towards their younger children as expressed also by Roman authors, who were, however, elite and male and are as such considered to have been biased to a degree in terms of expressing feelings since concealing them was considered a virtue (Harlow and Laurence 2001: 118). Despite the lack of grave goods, a certain degree of care is nevertheless expressed in these burials in terms of sheltering the bodies from the soil (Table 1), which contradicts the idea of total indifference and was also observed in other parts of the Empire (Golden 1990: 82;Pearce 2001). The varying treatment of children of different age groups was noted in Roman literary sources, and the variety of items buried with children was explained as related to tooth-growth.…”