New proposals about the function of lead coffins in the Western Roman Empire

Abstract

Lead sarcophagi are widespread in the whole Roman Empire and their employment is mainly linked to wealthy people in a perspective of status display. In other cases such coffins are related to religious beliefs or, later, directly referred to Christians and their eschatology. New discoveries, which could be linked to the new research field of deviant burials, seem to make these two interpretations insufficient to fully understand this inhumation habit. This paper aims to present the problem with new sight, trying to reach a synthesis between the various explanations provided hitherto and to analize some findings of the past decades. In order to make new interpretative proposals for the use of lead coffins in Roman time, this research moves through the analysis of literary sources and archaeological records using anthropological evidences.