POTTERY IN FUNERARY CONTEXT – SOME ASPECTS OF CONVIVIALITY IN ROMAN DACIA
POTTERY IN FUNERARY CONTEXT – SOME ASPECTS OF CONVIVIALITY IN ROMAN DACIA

Summary/Abstract: Pottery played an important part in Roman funerary rites and rituals, being the main type of archaeological artefact used during funerals, as well as funerary inventory inside the graves. During the two main rites of the Roman era – cremation and inhumation – pottery was used in different stages of the ceremony. Due to the complexity of the topic, four case studies have been selected in order to illustrate the pottery discoveries in funerary contexts inside the province, in different environments: one of the necropolises of the Illyrian colonists in Alburnus Maior (Tăul Corna); the tumular necropolis of the Norrico-Pannonian colonists in Caşolţ (Sibiu County); the Daco-Roman necropolis in Soporu de Câmpie (Alba County); and one of the urban necropolises, i.e. the southern necropolis in Potaissa. The conclusions of the present analysis provide several specific aspects related to the presence of such artifacts in the funerary inventory of tombs in necropolises from Dacia: the conservative funerary practices of some groups of colonists (both through rites and rituals and their preservation of particular pottery shapes): the absence of luxury pottery imports (terra sigillata and other categories of tableware items); the rare presence of ceramic sets. On the other hand, due its massive presence in funerary inventories, pottery indicates the fact that colonists settled in Dacia and the autochthons adopted Roman material culture, a clear sign of the Romanization of the population in Roman Dacia.

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