The Gallo-Roman cremation cemeteries of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg - intial findings of current research

¹ Seminaire d'Etudes Anciennes, Centre Universitaire de Luxembourg, 162 A, avenue de la Faïencerie, L-1511 Luxembourg, tel.:( 00352)-81.11.77, fax:(00352)-81.12.07.
² 11, rue Principale, L-8365 Hagen, Luxembourg.
M. Polfer michel_polfer@compuserve.com, Jos Thiel thiel@cetrel.lu

Summary

The paper will present the first results of a research project which aims at:

• the elaboration of a complete corpus of all individual Gallo-Roman graves and cemeteries, including funerary monuments and inscriptions
• the analysis of the structures and objects (typology, chronology etc.) as well as the study of the religious, cultural and social attitudes and their evolution during the Roman period.

The geographic area for the study is the modern Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, a major part of the ancient civitas treverorum. The project covers the period from the second half of the first century AD to the fifth century AD.

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

The paper is divided into three main parts:

1. a short history of Gallo-Roman funerary archaeology in Luxembourg
2. a short presentation of some of the first results of the study related to:
   • the geographic distribution of the sites
   • the relationship between rural settlements, cemeteries and funerary monuments
   • the internal organisation of rural cemeteries
   • depositional practice and social differentiation in rural cemeteries
   • cremation types and the relationship between cremation and inhumation
3. a presentation (through maps and a database) of the current state of the corpus (which currently has records of 300 different archaeological sites)

Go to article Table of Contents

Features

• This article will particularly appeal to: those interested in cremation cemeteries, the archaeology of Luxembourg.
• Key Features: Database, Interactive map.
• Keywords: Gallo-Roman graves, funerary monuments, inscriptions, Roman, Luxembourg, first century AD, fifth century AD, cemeteries, rural settlements, cremation, inhumation

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Last updated: Fri Nov 21 1997