
Il progetto di bioarcheologia
In: Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma: 123, 2022
DOI: 10.48255/0392-7636.BCAR.CXXIII.2022.24
The Sovrintendenza Capitolina and the Archaeology Department of the CDL de Valencia in 2017 the Bioarcheology Research Project of Via Ostiensis Necropolis at Rome. The project consists of the excavation in situ of the cremation urns and the study and analysis of the remains which they contain, particularly the burned human bones. With a large number of undisturbed urns, the necropolis of Via Ostiensis is a privileged place for the study of the rites of death and customs of the Roman civilization. In particular, the extraordinary state of preservation of the cremations, all intact, in situ, inside the containers represents a unique opportunity, for the bio-anthropological and archaeological study. The first campaign has taken place in September 2017. The anthropologists team intervened in four small columbaries (VII, VIII, XI and XII), all dated to a chronological range from the end of I to the II century AD, excavating a total of 57 urns. In the following years, the research involved three small monuments in area IV (2018) and the Columbarium III of the freedmen of the gens Iulia (2019-2021).