AUXERRE, FRANCE—Newsweek reports that a Roman necropolis dedicated to infant burials has been unearthed in the historic center of Auxerre, a city in central France, by scientists led by archaeologist Carole Fossurier and her colleague Loïc Gaëtan of the French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP). The remains of more than 250 babies have been found in the cemetery, which is thought to have been used between the first and third centuries A.D., when the site was on the edge of the Roman town of Autessioduro. Most of the babies were under one year of age at the time of death, but the remains of stillborn babies and miscarried babies were also identified. Most of the infants had been buried in the fetal position, although some had been placed on their backs. A pearl, a coin, a spindle, and a miniature ceramic cup were among the few grave goods recovered. “In particular, [the necropolis] shows a great variety of body containers, which seem to illustrate individual and family choices,” Fossurier said. The containers include wooden coffins, ceramic vessels, textiles, and amphora fragments. “Some tombs also show great complexity in the way they were built,” she added, and some of them may have destroyed earlier ones, which is abnormal according to Roman customs. The researchers explained that necropolises in ancient Gaul usually set aside an area where young children were buried, and so this burial site was probably located on the edge of a larger necropolis. For more on the Roman period in France, go to "Gaul's University Town."
