Level 3 - Life in Roman Sussex

Burial

Burial practice

The cremation burial rite that had been introduced into parts of southern Britain during the late Iron Age spread rapidly in the early Roman period. Extensive cremation cemeteries have been found alongside the roads leading from Chichester (see The Towns), while individual cremations, sometimes placed within stone cists, have been found across the region, in places such as Densworth and Sompting. During the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, the cremation rite was gradually replaced by inhumation (burial of uncremated bodies) across Britain. However, aside from the inhumation cemeteries around Chichester itself, there is relatively little evidence for this burial rite in Sussex, and it seems that cremations were still quite popular to the end of the Romano-British period.

Throughout the Roman period, it was common for both cremation and inhumation burials to be accompanied by a range of grave goods. Glass and ceramic vessels are especially common, and organic remains such as fruit, oyster shells and animal bones were found with the Avisford burial. Lamps and lamp-holders were also found in a number of graves such as at Donnington and East Dean Park.

The purpose of these objects was presumably to accompany the individuals through into the afterlife. Evidence for grave markers such as tombstones is slight, but presumably they existed, at least within the larger cemeteries, or more graves would cut into each other. A few inscribed gravestones have been found in Chichester, and doubtless others were taken away for re-use as building material.

Burial location

The only substantial (i.e. over 100 burials) Romano-British cemeteries to have been found in Sussex are those associated with the settlements at Chichester and Hassocks. All of the remaining cemeteries in the database were much smaller, with some such as Herstmonceux Castle, consisting of just five burials, probably belonging a single family group.

The majority of rural settlements in Sussex have little or no evidence for associated adult burials. Elsewhere in the south-east such as at Lullingstone in Kent, there are occasional mausolea attached to villa estates, but the only possible example so far in Sussex is in the Pulborough region, and this is quite speculative. Infant graves have been found at a number of villas including Bignor and Beddingham, and it may have been that babies' burials were subject to different regulations. It remains somewhat of a mystery how the majority of the rural population in Sussex was disposed of, although it is possible that there was a continuation of the rite of exposure from the Iron Age.