Fig. 208.
Fig. 209.
Coffins of baked clay, and cists formed of tiles, were also used. Of these, many examples have been found at York and at Aldborough. One of peculiar form, from the latter place, is here given ([fig. 209]).
Sepulchral chambers, sometimes of considerable size, were occasionally built above ground, and these were sometimes, like the immense chambered burial-places of earlier times, covered with a gigantic mound or barrow. A remarkable example of this is Eastlow Hill, in Suffolk, where the tomb appeared like a miniature house, of strong masonry, with the roof tiled and peaked. It was built upon a mass of concrete, the size of the tomb being twelve, by six and a half, feet. The walls were two feet thick, and the extreme height of the tomb, or house, was five feet. The interior was a cylindrical vault, and in the middle stood the leaden coffin containing the skeleton. The wooden chest in which it had been encased had decayed away, but some fragments and a number of nails remained. Over this remarkable tomb the mound called Eastlow Hill had been raised.
When the burial was by incremation, the ashes were carefully placed in the cinerary urn, and interred either by themselves, or with more or less ostentatious surroundings. In many instances a hole was dug in the earth, or in a Celtic barrow, and the urn, on being placed in it, simply covered with a flat stone. At other times it was placed in a sarcophagus, or chest, and surrounded with vessels of various kinds and with other relics. At others, again, it was enclosed in a leaden, or stone, or other vessel, before being consigned to the earth. In many cases barrows were raised over these remains. There was a general belief in the minds of the Roman people that articles of various kinds buried or burnt with their dead, would add to the comfort and happiness of the spirit in another world. Thus jewels, personal ornaments, food, wine, articles for the toilet, culinary vessels, pottery, and glass of various kinds, and numberless other articles were buried or burned with the bodies. Branches of trees and garlands were also burned or buried with the dead.
Some remarkable examples of tombs and graves containing burials by cremation have been discovered at the Bartlow Hills, at Colchester, at Uriconium, at Rochester, at York, at Chester, and in other places. The grave, or chest, was formed of wood, or tiles, or of stone. In this the urn containing the ashes of the dead was placed, and around it were put smaller vessels which probably contained ointments, balsams, and other offerings; a lamp; and other articles. One example, formed by tiles, contained when discovered a few years ago, besides fragments of the cinerary urn, four earthenware bottles, six pateræ, three small urn-shaped vessels, a terra-cotta lamp, and a lachrymatory. A chest of stone ([fig. 210]) found at Avisford, Sussex, contained a large square vase of fine green glass, filled with burnt bones, and around it were placed three elegant vases with handles, several pateræ, a pair of sandals elegantly and fancifully studded with brass nails, an oval dish with handle containing a fine agate, a double-handled glass bottle, and three lamps placed on projections in the angles of the chest.
Fig. 210.
An example of a tomb formed of tiles is shown on the next engraving ([fig. 211]). It was found at York, and is composed of ten roof tiles, with a row of ridge tiles at the top. Within this the interment had taken place. The tiles were inscribed with the impress of the Sixth Legion— LEG VI VI (Legio Sexta Victrix—“the Sixth Legion victorious.”)