Abstract
Several different types of burial were identified during the excavation of the Roman military cemetery associated with the fort at Birdoswald, on Hadrian’s Wall (UK). Fragments of glass vessels and glass beads were recovered from many of the cremation deposits, as they were commonly used during cremation rituals, and many of these had been affected by heat. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy were used to investigate the raw materials, colorants and opacifiers employed to produce the glass assemblage. Most of the large fragments are transparent with a blue-green colour, with a composition typical of recycled glass. The smaller fragments are from beads and are coloured and sometimes opaque. Colourants and opacifiers characteristic of Roman glass were added in this glass formulation, including cobalt-based compounds (blue glass), copper alloys (green glass), white calcium antimonate, and yellow lead antimonate. The multianalytical approach of this research has allowed for the distinguishing of the extreme depletion of sodium on the surface of the melted glass fragments due to the exposure to high temperatures during the cremation process, followed by surface weathering in a burial environment. Based on the chemical composition of the bulk of the samples, a model of high temperature viscosity of glass was applied in order to assess the cremation temperature in the pyre, providing relevant information about funerary rituals and cremation technology in Roman Britain.
Highlights
IntroductionCremation was the main funerary rite in the Early Romano-British period (AD 43–150), and it was gradually replaced by inhumation burial in the mid-second century and throughout the Late Romano-British period (AD 250–410)
The glass assemblage from cremation deposits at Birdoswald Roman cemetery comprises glass fragments and beads which are representative of three compositional groups: antimony colourless, low-manganese, and mixed antimony and manganese
Different colourants were added in the formulation of the coloured, sometimes opaque, beads to impart characteristic hues: cobalt-based compounds for blue glass, while oxidised copper alloys were used in green glass
Summary
Cremation was the main funerary rite in the Early Romano-British period (AD 43–150), and it was gradually replaced by inhumation burial in the mid-second century and throughout the Late Romano-British period (AD 250–410). In the Roman empire, there was a great variation, both geographically and chronologically, in funerary practices. In Britain cremation was retained long after it had been abandoned and substituted with inhumation on the continent. Especially in the cemeteries in the Northern frontier close to Hadrian’s Wall, cremation was the predominant practice [1]. In bustum-type burials, the ashes, bones and debris from the cremation were collected in the pit below the pyre
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