Babies weren't supposed to be mourned in the Roman Empire, but new research reveals a shocking truth. The rare liquid-gypsum burials in York, northern England, challenge previous beliefs. These burials, which involve pouring liquid gypsum over the dead, were not limited to elite adults. Researchers have discovered that they were also performed on children, including babies as young as 1 month old. This finding contradicts Roman-era legal sources that stated infants under 12 months old were not to be mourned at all.
Maureen Carroll, a Roman archaeologist at the University of York, explains that infants were the most vulnerable members of Roman society, with a high infant mortality rate of around 30%. However, the restrictions on mourning applied only to public displays. In private, surviving family members could express their grief and sense of loss freely.
Among the over 70 gypsum burials studied, at least seven belonged to children, with three infants under 4 months old. The practice of liquid-gypsum burial was typically reserved for the Roman elite and usually applied to adults. Infants were more commonly buried in large jars, ceramic tile boxes, or small wooden coffins.
One remarkable infant burial was found in 1892 during the construction of the York Railway. The newborn, just 1 or 2 months old, was covered with a purple-dyed wool cloak adorned with gold thread and tassels. It was then placed in a lead sarcophagus and covered in liquid gypsum. Despite the lack of remaining bones, impressions of the brilliant purple-and-gold cloak are still visible, making it the only gypsum burial with dyed fabric ever discovered.
Chemists on the project team are analyzing the hardened gypsum covering to uncover more information about Romano-British burial practices. They are testing for evidence of aromatic substances like frankincense and mastic, as well as the purple dye and gold threads to determine their origins.
Other liquid-gypsum burials in York include a child of about 4 months old found wrapped between the legs of two adults, and a 7-9-year-old girl buried with an array of jewelry, including gold, silver, copper, jet, glass, and coral. These lavish burials challenge the notion that Roman legal texts accurately reflected the reality of life and death in Roman Britain, suggesting that young children were valued and cared for.
