Taphonomy and the Reconstruction of Tomb Architecture and Mortuary Practices at Protohistoric Crustumerium (Rome)

Abstract

This paper takes into account all factors that affected the preservation of tombs and their inventories in the burial grounds of ancient Crustumerium, a Latin settlement 13 km north of Rome, inhabited between the 9th and 5th c. BC. Its aim is to highlight the combined effect of two main processes;a) the severe erosion of the topsoil and the underlying soft volcanic bedrock caused by centuries of ploughing that has profoundly affected the preservation of tomb architecture, i.e. landscape processes;b) post-depositional processes affecting organic materials (wood, textiles, human bone) and inorganic materials (pottery, metal) in the tombs as a result of flooding, collapse and the acidity of the soil, i.e. taphonomy