Death and burial of Roman children: The case of the Yasmina Cemetery at Carthage—Part I, setting the stage

Abstract

Roman social structure is complex and subtly nuanced and the place of children within it is distinct from that of adults. Children in literary sources, for example, are frequently characterized as being nearer to the world of the gods (e.g. they can deliver prophecies or themselves serve as portents); they may participate at public executions and they receive special protections under the law until the age of seven. In the archaeological record, children are often buried in ways that are distinct from those for adults, either in form or location, or both. This paper focuses on the evidence for children's burials in the Yasmina cemetery at Carthage, excavated by the University of Georgia, where children are segregated in a distinct area of the necropolis, and places that evidence within a wider ritual and cultural context for Roman children. The paper also places the Yasmina material within its archaeological context by looking at evidence from some other Roman cemeteries in North Africa. Across the province the conceptualization of children is frequently reflected in the burial practices accorded them, practices that sometimes appear to allude to the Punic heritage of the region. These differences in burial ritual illuminate the general cultural distinctions that shaped the Roman concept of the child.

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