Child graves from Brigetio

Abstract

The cemeteries of Brigetio have been excavated since the 1920s, but a significant portion of the material has never been published. The best-researched part of the site is the western cemetery of the military town. Half of the known graves, more than 750, are from this cemetery. Unfortunately, a huge part of the documentation of the various excavations is missing, which makes the evaluation of these graves problematic. The focus of my PhD dissertation has been a comprehensive study of the burials at Brigetio. The current paper presents a special group within examined burials: child burials. All 85 phenomena defined as children’s graves are inhumations, and most are quite simple in terms of burial type and grave goods, albeit the collection also includes unique infant burials amongst imbrex tiles. Examples of special child graves illustrate the characteristics of child burials in this cemetery and highlight the objects traditionally associated with them. Some graves stand out for their interesting or, at times, quite numerous grave goods; for example, some burials contain toys and gaming sets for children.