Plant offerings from Roman cremations in northern Italy: a review

Abstract

This paper reviews the remains of plants (cereals, pulses, fruit and vegetables) used as offerings in cremation burials in northern Italian Roman cemeteries between the 1st century b.c. and the 3rd century a.d. The custom of burning plant offerings on the funeral pyre was widespread in the Iron Age, but in the Roman Empire such offerings became more frequent and abundant, with fruit being prevalent and also the recurrent use of various prepared foods (bread, cakes and suchlike). In each cemetery this general scheme exhibits variations probably due to individual, social, ritual and economic differences, but this impression must be still confirmed. The absence of a systematic sampling strategy does not permit a statistical approach to offering data. The aim of this article is to encourage archaeologists and archaeobotanists to pay more attention to methodology in sampling. This would also permit careful comparison of the archaeobotanical data with archaeological, anthropological and historical information and that from written sources. The consistently recorded presence of fruit in cemeteries makes it possible to investigate some aspects of the introduction, cultivation and marketing of certain food plants in northern Italy.