Abstract
This paper deals with the botanical study of a family funerary enclosure located in the Porta Nocera necropolis in Pompeii (southwestern Italy). This study is part of a Franco-Italian programme investigating Roman funerary rituals. The choice of the context was due to the exceptional preservation of the archaeological features, which offered the opportunity to observe the remains of the proceedings which took place in a funerary enclosure in great detail. An adequate methodology had to be developed and a 3D recording of every single artefact or ecofact has been made. Both ground surfaces and graves provided botanical results. Those from the ground surfaces consisted mainly of fruit offering residues (especially fig and grape), while a much wider range of species was observed in the tombs, including cereals, pulses, other kinds of fruits, weeds and bread/pastry.
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Acknowledgments
This paper is dedicated to Corrie Bakels on the occasion of her 65th birthday. Her personal involvement as an archaeobotanist in the Aisne valley programme brought to life an entire generation of students in to northern France. Enjoying Neapolitan “holidays” we send a sunny postcard from Pompeii just to say that we are grateful to Corrie for helping us shape our vocations. The authors are very grateful to Jeanine DHOURY, Otto Brinkkemper and Mark Robinson for the language and content improvement of this paper.
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Matterne, V., Derreumaux, M. A Franco-Italian investigation of funerary rituals in the Roman world, “les rites et la mort à Pompéi”, the plant part: a preliminary report. Veget Hist Archaeobot 17, 105–112 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-007-0112-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-007-0112-z