Mors Immatura II

To gain insight into the family’s investment in and attachment to infants, as expressed in burial rituals, cemetery data are explored in Chapter 7. In order to recognize whether infants were afforded special treatment based on their age, the various ways in which their bodies were treated and prepared for burial are examined. The chapter also seeks to detect regional and perhaps cultural differences in the deposition of an array of grave goods that accompanied infants, and to understand possible patterns and meanings in those assemblages. In addition to evidence from Argenton, Beaumont, Kempten, Marseille, Poundbury, Sétif and Tavant, material from many other sites is also discussed in this chapter.