{"id":79161,"date":"2022-08-24T20:30:52","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T18:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/?p=79161"},"modified":"2022-09-16T15:17:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-16T13:17:28","slug":"plosonecolominas2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/actualitat\/noticies\/2022\/plosonecolominas2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Social differences in the afterlife? A new paper published in the prestigious journal PLoS ONE reveals new insights into the funeral meal rituals of the Roman Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"
A new study published in PLOS ONE compares biomolecular, anthropological, and archaeozoological data from the Roman necropolis of Vila de Madrid (Barcelona, Catalonia).<\/h6>\n

Researchers from the University of Valencia<\/a> (UV), the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology<\/a> (ICAC), and the Vic University<\/a> (UVic) reconstruct the composition of funerary meals in a necropolis from the Western fringe of the Roman <\/span>Empire and<\/span> discover more information about the rituals that accompanied the deceased to the <\/span>otherworld<\/span>.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite <\/span>being the transit to the afterlife<\/span> a key social milestone in Ancient Rome, researchers identified that foods consumed during funerary meals were mainly day-to-day staple foodstuffs<\/strong>. The team discovered<\/span> a <\/span>high<\/span> degree<\/span> of <\/span>similarity<\/span> between<\/span> types<\/span> of meat <\/span>consumed<\/span> regularly<\/span> and<\/span> those<\/span> offered<\/span> at<\/span> funerary<\/span> banquets, <\/span>suggesting<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> importance<\/span> of <\/span>the<\/span> afterlife<\/span> journey<\/span> was<\/span> not<\/span> enough<\/span> to <\/span>compensate<\/span> for <\/span>the<\/span> use<\/span> of <\/span>more<\/span> expensive<\/span> foods<\/span> in <\/span>them<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Afterlife rituals in the Ancient Rome<\/span><\/h6>\n
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One of the ways in Roman society to express economic and social differences between individuals was through funerary meal rituals<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The<\/span> afterlife<\/span> in Roman <\/span>religion<\/span> was<\/span> the<\/span> milestone<\/span> that<\/span> had<\/span> to be <\/span>reached<\/span> after<\/span> death<\/span> upon<\/span> complying<\/span> with<\/span> several<\/span> funerary<\/span> rituals. Part of <\/span>these<\/span> rituals <\/span>consisted<\/span> of <\/span>funerary<\/span> offerings<\/span>, banquets, <\/span>and<\/span> sacrifices<\/span> of animals, <\/span>performed<\/span> to <\/span>ensure<\/span> the<\/span> protection<\/span> of <\/span>deities<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> memory<\/span> of <\/span>the<\/span> deceased<\/span>.<\/span> However, little is known about their composition, other than what is shown in written sources.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE<\/em><\/a><\/span><\/span>, a multidisciplinary research team investigates these funerary banquets through a direct approach by <\/strong><\/span>analysing<\/span><\/strong> the isotopes of human and animal collagen, as well as by studying the human skeletal remains and the <\/strong><\/span>archaeozoological<\/span><\/strong> assemblage present in the necropolis<\/strong>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The isotope analyses, from almost 100 human and faunal specimens, combined with the osteological study of the human <\/span>remains<\/span> (age, <\/span>sex,<\/span> and health status) from the burials and faunal <\/span>remains<\/span> from funerary meals and offerings, have revealed novel insights into the actual \u201csplendour\u201d of the banquets, and a possible differential treatment of the deceased that would perpetuate social differences into the afterlife. <\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Researchers Domingo C. Salazar-Garc\u00eda<\/a>, from the <\/span><\/span>University of Valencia, L\u00eddia Colominas<\/strong><\/a>, from the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology, and Xavier Jordana<\/a>, from the <\/span><\/span>Vic University and the Central University of Catalonia, contributed to the study. The research <\/span>received funding from<\/span> the <\/span>Investigaci\u00f3n Agencia Estatal de Investigaci\u00f3n<\/a> <\/span>(<\/span><\/span>EUR2020-112213<\/span><\/span> & <\/span>RYC-2019-026732-I<\/span>) <\/span>and from<\/span><\/span> the Generalitat Valenciana<\/a> <\/span>(CIDEGENT\/2019\/061).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The authors of the new paper published in PLoS ONE<\/em> are, from left to right, Domingo C. Salazar (UV), L\u00eddia Colominas (ICAC), and Xavier Jordana (UVic-UCC).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A not-so-exciting funerary meal, if a meal at all<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n

For this study<\/a>, researchers had to combine traditional <\/strong><\/span>archaeozoological<\/span><\/strong> and anthropological techniques with biomolecular archaeology<\/strong>, studying carbon and nitrogen stable isotope composition of animal foods and of human bones. Using this multiproxy approach, researchers reconstructed the composition of meal funerary banquets and the actual foods that the deceased had consumed regularly during life.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Contrary to what is expected from pompous Roman funerary meals, it seems that the common population did not throw a big <\/strong><\/span>feast, and<\/span><\/strong> used the same common foods as during daily life for the banquets<\/strong>. Amongst those foods, mainly pork and beef, followed by <\/span>caprines<\/span> and chicken. Not many exotic foods, wild animals, nor aquatic foods, were present. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, most of the burials did not even present food offerings, nor did their families perform banquets of any type, <\/span>despite the fact that<\/span> these rituals were stipulated by law. \u201cWe were able to show that common people didn\u2019t always comply law regarding funerary feasts, and even if following it, spent a low <\/strong><\/span>amount<\/span><\/strong> of economic resources on the funerary meals<\/strong>\u201d, said Domingo C. Salazar Garc\u00eda, lead author and CIDEGENT researcher from the <\/span>Universitat<\/span> de <\/span>Val\u00e8ncia<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Money is money, and whatever the importance of the afterlife in Ancient Roman Society, clearly the priority was the living people. <\/span>Micro-resistances<\/span> to established unreasonable rules were clearly already present at the time, Domingo C. Salazar.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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An adult and an infantile burial from Vila de Madrid. Photo: Xavier Jordana (UVic-UCC).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Social differences in the <\/span>afterlife<\/span>?<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n

It is well known that different social strata existed in Ancient Rome, being wealth and political status of key importance in the social hierarchy.<\/span> At the Vila de Madrid necropolis, humans interred were mainly people<\/span><\/strong><\/span> of limited purchasing power<\/strong>. “We know this both from the simple typology of the burials, and from the anthropological study that indicated a very low life expectancy in this population,” says Xavier <\/span>Jordana<\/span>, physical anthropologist, and associate professor at UVIC-UCC, who <\/span>analysed<\/span> the <\/span>human<\/span> skeletal remains.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To extrapolate at the site<\/span><\/span> if<\/span> social hierarchy was translated to the symbolic afterlife world to which the deceased was transported once dead <\/span>is<\/span> difficult. However, the study documents a high consumption of meat by adult males during their lives and a higher presence of offerings in adult male burials. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Therefore, \u201cthese ritual and diet differences likely show sex inequalities during life that could be extrapolated to the afterlife through the funerary rituals<\/strong>. Clearly, one of the ways in Roman society to express economic and social differences between individuals was through funerary meal rituals\u201d, says senior author L\u00eddia Colominas<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, Ram\u00f3n y <\/span>Cajal<\/span> researcher at the Catalan <\/span>Institute<\/span> of Classical Archaeology.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Moving forward<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n

Further analysis of strontium isotopes<\/strong> could inform on individual provenance, <\/span>proteomics,<\/span> and <\/span>micro-<\/span>remains<\/span> on dental calculus will tell us more detailed information on non-regular and plant foods<\/span>\u00a0consumed by the deceased in life, and <\/span>aDNA<\/span> will give us information on ancestry. Furthermore, studies like this one should be performed in necropolis from around the entire Ancient Rome, including the earlier Republican times.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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“Food for the soul and food for the body. Studying dietary patterns and funerary meals in the Western Roman Empire: an anthropological and archaeozoological approach”<\/a>, PLoS ONE<\/em> 17(8): e0271296<\/span><\/p>\n

Authors:<\/span><\/b> Domingo C. Salazar-Garc\u00eda<\/a><\/span><\/span>, L\u00eddia Colominas<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/span>, Xavier Jordana<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

DOI: <\/span><\/b>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0271296<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new study published in PLOS ONE compares biomolecular, anthropological, and archaeozoological data from the Roman necropolis of Vila de Madrid (Barcelona, Catalonia). Researchers from the University of Valencia (UV), the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICAC), and the Vic University (UVic) reconstruct the composition of funerary meals in a necropolis from the Western fringe […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":79149,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[328,342,334,333],"tags":[960,902,903,839],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79161"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79161"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79198,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79161\/revisions\/79198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

This first study<\/a> is only a first insight into the plethora of information that the combination of biomolecular analysis and traditional archaeozoology and anthropology can reveal about social structure, symbolic <\/span>behaviour,<\/span> and the afterlife linked to dietary practices and funerary banquets. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n