Image Credit: Tassadit Abdelli / Inrap

Vast Roman Cremation Cemetery Unearthed in France

Archaeologists from Inrap (the French National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research) have uncovered a vast Roman cemetery at Olbia, on the French Riviera, revealing over 160 cremation graves dating between the 1st and 3rd centuries A.D.
Originally a Greek colony founded around 350 B.C., Olbia became a Roman settlement after Julius Caesar’s conquest of Marseille in 49 B.C. Excavations show that the Romans used a complex ritual for cremation: bodies were placed on wooden pyres above square pits, where heat turned bones white and twisted metal and glass artifacts.
A unique feature at Olbia is the presence of libation channels made from reused amphorae, allowing families to pour offerings of wine, beer, or mead into the graves during festivals such as Feralia and Lemuralia, symbolically “feeding” their dead.
Some pyres became graves themselves, while others were cleared before burial. Instead of urns, many remains were simply piled or placed in perishable containers—evidence of cultural diversity among Olbia’s ancient inhabitants.
“These discoveries remind us that Roman funerary rituals were deeply symbolic and varied,” Inrap stated, emphasizing how the site sheds light on the complexity of death and remembrance in the ancient world.

Published on: 02-11-2025

Source: Live Science