Posted on 12/06/2005 1:06:37 PM PST by blam
Untouched Roman sarcophagi found
Rare burial trove dates back to Imperial times
(ANSA) - Rome, December 6 - Italian archaeologists have found a remarkable trove of five untouched Roman sarcophagi in a burial vault outside Rome .
"It's really rare to find so many sarcophagi that have never been profaned or even opened - as can be seen by the intact lead clasps on their edges," said the head of the dig, Stefano Musco .
He said the sarcophagi dated from the II century AD and probably contained the remains of the wealthy residents of a villa that once stood in the area - now a building site on Rome's north-eastern outskirts .
All the sarcophagi are marble and all decorated, leading archaeologists to suppose they could have been made for a prominent aristocratic family .
One of them is much smaller than the others and believed to contain the remains of a small child .
The largest sarcophagus is decorated with lion's head masks and a central relief showing a reclining couple - a motif that dates back to Etruscan times.
Rome anthropologist Paola Catalano said she hoped the skeletons and funerary objects would provide information on burial rites and the lifestyles and social position of the dead, "even though the acidity of the terrain and rainwater has already corroded the marble." The sarcophagi will be moved to the Museo Nazionale Romano at Diocletian's Baths, while the burial site will be preserved as a green area .
The apartment buildings that were to have gone up over the tombs will be moved to a nearby site
I hate too when somebody touches my Sarcophagi.
Man, I can barely fit the word "sarcophagi" into conversation once a year at best, and this lucky author got it in five times in one short article - six if you count the headline!
How dare you profane this place with your presence?
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Wow. That was seriously a geek's kind of joke! Loved it! :)
Neat...... I love this stuff
Naw, that was Hillary. Bill was cloned from some roving barbarian.
Perhaps there will be a follow up article or documentary. I'll lay odds that there are at least two coins in each one though.
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