University of British Columbia archeologists have discovered an ancient tomb inside a Sicilian house dating from the sixth century. The find is unusual not only because the burial took place inside of a house instead of a public space, but also because the burial ceremony appears to have had an interesting mix of pagan and Christian elements:
Combing through the sand-buried site, the fifteen-member team made a series of startling discoveries. Central to the mystery was finding a tomb inside a room in a house dating from the sixth century a.d.Wilson explains that tombs during this period are normally found only in cemeteries outside the built-up area of a town, or around the apse of a church. And since the building was substantial with mortared walls and internal plaster, this would have been likely a tomb for the wealthy.
Once the cover was lifted off the tomb, one team member spent ten days sieving the contents with great care. Two skeletons were found. One was of a woman between the ages of twenty-five and thirty, with teeth in excellent condition and no signs of arthritis . . . .
The other skeleton was a child of indeterminate sex between the ages of five and seven. The position of their bones showed that the woman had been laid to rest first. The tomb was then re-opened to bury the child and the woman’s spinal column was pushed to one side. A hole in the stone slab covering the tomb allowed visitors to pour libations for the dead.
“This shows that the long-established, originally pagan, rite of offering libations to the dead clearly continued into early Byzantine times,” observes Wilson.
Yet, the presence of a Christian cross on a lamp found in the room and on the underside of a grave slab suggests that the deceased were Christian. As well, the skeletons were wrapped in plaster, a practice believed to be Christian for preserving the body for resurrection.
“It is the first plaster burial recorded in Sicily, although the practice is known from Christian communities in North Africa,” says Wilson.
