Series of 'curse-amulets' found in burials at Romano-Gaulish cemetery in Orléans, France.

Archaeologists from Le Service Archaeologie Orléans have discovered a series of  'curse-amulets' in burials at a Romano-Gaulish cemetery beneath an eighteenth century hospital in the city of Orléans in north-central France, according to a press release issued on 7 January 2025. The cemetery, which was discovered in 2022, was already considered unusual, in that it comprises a single row of about 60 graves along a wall, and that all of those buried here appear to have been adult males, contrary to typical Roman practice. The burials are thought to date from the first-to-third centuries AD. All of the dead were buried in painted wooden coffins, with no sign of any cremations. Curiously, 21 of the graves also contained 'curse-amulets'.

Location of the 'curse-amulet', labelled as 'Tablette de défixion' within burial F2199 at the Orléans Romano-Gaulish cemetery. Le Service Archaeologie Orléans.

'Curse-amulets' (properly called 'defixion tablets') are sheets of lead upon which an inscription calling for supernatural intervention has been written. The use of lead was not just practical (although it was practical, since the soft nature of lead made it easy to inscribe and fold or roll up) but also served a symbolic purpose, lead being associated with the underworld and the gods who dwelt there in the Greek and Roman worlds. Thus, the invocations on these amulets were typically calling on these gods to cause harm to someone, with more benign prayers written on different materials. Curse amulets were often hidden somewhere on their intended victims property, or buried deep in the ground where they might better reach the chthonic deities.

The curse amulet recovered from grave F2199 in its folded state. Le Service Archaeologie Orléans.

To date, one of the curse amulets from Orléans has been partially deciphered. This amulet, from grave F2199, was carefully unrolled and then chemically treated to remove patches of corrosion and protect its surface from further degradation. The inscription thus revealed was to faint to be read by the Human eye, but has been largely revealed using Reflectance Transformation Imaging, a method which involves taking photographs from a large number of different angles, then using software to create a three-dimensional model of the surface. An online tool showing Reflectance Transformation Imaging of the amulet can be found here. 

The text revealed on the amulet from grave F2199 by Reflectance Transformation Imaging. Le Service Archaeologie Orléans.

The inscription revealed appears to be in the ancient Gallic language, written in Latin cursive, with some borrowed words from Greek and Latin. This has been interpreted as 'ib r…mi [m]arte rigisamu | a]nmantigIu, Se uiron bnanon uanderonado brixton sod-esti, Cisin…piSSlon atlon atemiston, Etic se-uiron banon canti piSSiantas, Sollebne(m), Marulliam, Sulpici(i), Claudia(m), Marulliam g., Curiatiu(m), Mat|(e)rno(n), Tiberium, Cantognati, Sulpici(i), (B)regesia, Regina Italica pri(uata) Sulpici(i), Regina Regina, Regina dona Tibe(rius), [..]ix, Ateporigis, Lecti, (Se)gouisu(m)'. 

Gallic is not a well-understood language, but can be deciphered to some extent by comparison to other ancient Celtic languages, such as Old Irish, Old Breton, and Old Welsh. The inscription  has been translated by the linguist Pierre-Yves Lambert as reading 'To Mars the Royal, who pierces names, It is the bewitchment of these men and women below (named) who accomplished the unfortunate and unjust feat, and also all those who were accomplices of these men and women', followed by a list of Latin names, then an invocation to 'Regina' (presumably a reference to a deity), then some more names in Gallic.

See also...

Archaeologists uncover grave of fourth century Alammani tribesman in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany.

Archaeologists from the consultancy firm ArchaeoBW carrying out survey work at Gerstetten in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany, for Stuttgart Regional Council ahead of a housing construction project have uncovered a wood-lined grave, according to a press release issued by the council on 27 August 2024. The grave, which was first discovered in May, contained a partial skeleton as well as some trade goods.

A partial skeleton uncovered in a grave site in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany. Gizem Dakmaz/Stuttgart Regional Council.

Wooden graves of this type are associated with the Alammani, an ancient Germanic tribe first mentioned in Roman records by Lucius Cassius Dio in 213 AD. Such graves are typically date to the fourth century AD and are found in groups of five-to-twelve, and it is possible that other undiscovered graves lie close to the one discovered in Gerstetten. 

The skeleton and other items from the grave were taken to the laboratory of the State Office for Monument Preservation of Stuttgart Regional Council in Esslingen, where examination of the skeletal remains determined that they came from a man aged about 60. A radiocarbon date obtained from a rib suggest that the man died between 263 and 342 AD.

As well as the skeleton, a number of items interpreted as grave goods were also found, including a Roman-style glass cup, which may have come from the Roman fort of Guntia (modern Günzburg in Bavaria), two ceramic pots, similar in style to other pots known from the Middle Elbe-Saale region, and a bone comb.

Two ceramic pots from a fourth century grave site in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany. Gizem Dakmaz/Stuttgart Regional Council.

See also...

Roman silver ingots recovered from black market in Ukraine.

Three Roman silver ingots, each stamped with a coin issued by Constantine the Great, have been recovered by authorities in Zakarpattia Oblast (Transcarpathia), following an attempt to sell one of them via the internet, according to a press release issued by the National Museum of the History of Ukraine on 13 August 2024. The seller, who has been arrested and is likely to face trial, claimed that the ingots were found in a garden in the Khust area by his grandmother, and that he found them in her basement after she died. 

The Roman silver ingots recovered in Ukraine. National Museum of the History of Ukraine.

The ingots each been bear a coin stamp which would have otherwise have been used to stamp golden coins at Augusta Treverorum (the modern city of Trier in Germany) between 310 and 313 AD, following Constantine's victory over the Franks. Ingots stamped in this way are known to have been given as gifts be Roman emperors following important events, although no such items associated with Constantine's victory over the Franks have previously been found. Constantine returned to Rome shortly after his victory, to face his rival, Emperor Maximillian, notably converting to Christianity before that battle, and promising to make the whole Roman Empire Christian should he win, which he subsequently did. 

The style of the ingots, a double axe-labrys, is consistent with manufacture in the late third or early fourth century AD, and the ingots each weigh 342 g, equivalent to the weight of 100 siliqua, a silver coin introduced by the Emperor Diocletian in 294 AD during his reform of imperial currency; prior to this Roman ingots would typically have weighed 328.9 g, one Roman Libra (Pound). It is likely that the three ingots would have been bound together with a silver ribon when given as a gift.

Quite who the gift was given to is unclear. Ukraine was outside the Roman Empire, and in the early fourth century would have been inhabited by a mixture of Dacians and Germanic tribes. The Romans are known to have made extensive use of mercenaries from outside the Empire during this period, and it is possible that the gift was given to a king or nobleman from the region who had served in the Roman Army, although a gift of this size would have been significant, and it is surprising that the name of a person important enough to receive it would not have been recorded.

While metal ingots from the Roman Empire are not unusual, ingots stamped with coin impressions in this way are very rare, with only eleven examples known to have survived, including the three from Khust, making their discovery highly significant.

See also...

Greco-Roman tombs uncovered near Aswan, Egypt.

A group of Egyptian and Italian archaeologists have uncovered a series of tombs dating to the Greco-Roman period near Aswan in southern Egypt, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The archaeologists, from the Egyptian-Italian Mission At West Aswan uncovered the tombs on a series of terraces on a rocky hillside close to the Aga Khan Mausoleum, during a series of excavations in the area following reports of illegal excavation in the area. To date 33 of the tombs have been excavated, with an estimated total of about 300, scattered over an area of about 20 000 m².

A team of Egyptian and Italian archaeologists surveyed the area around the Mausoleum of Aga Khan to map out 300 ancient tombs. Egyptian-Italian Mission At West Aswan/Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Significantly, the tombs did not belong to pharaahs or other high ranking individuals, but to ordinary Egyptian families, and were in use between about 900 BC and 300 AD, a period which covers the occupation of Egypt by first the Persian Empire, then the Ptolemaic Greeks, and finally the Romans. Piacentini Patrizia, of the University of Milan, who has been leading the investigations, suggests that during this interval Aswan would have been a prosperous trading centre, connecting Egypt and the Mediterranean world to Nubia and the kingdoms of the African interior.

The interior of one of the newly discovered tombs near Aswan. Egyptian-Italian Mission At West Aswan/Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

The tombs reveal much about the lives, and particularly the health, of ordinary Egyptians during the period. Between 30% and 40% of the Human remains uncovered so far belong to children and infants, suggesting a fairly high infant-mortality rate. Many of the bodies have pathologies indicative of diseases, including malnutrition, anaemia, tuberculosis and osteoarthritis. Several adult women had undergone limb amputations.

Remains of mummies from the late Greek and Roman period discovered in tombs near Aswan, Egypt. Egyptian-Italian Mission At West Aswan/Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Some of the dead from the tombs were buried within coffins or sarcophagi, but many more were preserved as mummies wrapped in linen and covered by painted cartonnages (a kind of papier-mâché made of linen or papyrus and plaster). The tombs have also yielded a wide range of other artefacts, including offering tables, painted statuettes, figurines, and terracotta lamps.

A cartonnage mask, which would have once covered a mummy, from the Aswan Necropolis. Egyptian-Italian Mission At West Aswan/Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

See also...

Archeologists uncover Roman cemetery at Giugliano in Campania, Naples.

Archaeologists carrying out survey work for the Italian water company Acqua Campania, ahead of construction work associated with a new water supply system, have unearthed a Roman cemetery at Giugliano in Campania on the northern outskirts of Naples, according to a press release issued by the Soprintendenza Archaeologia Belle Arti e Paessagio par l'Area di Napoli on 6 October 2023. The site is thought to date from the late Roman Republic and early Imperial Period, with a necropolis deliminated by an opus incerta wall, within which are a range of burials in different styles. 

View of the cemetery uncovered at Giugliano in Campania. Soprintendenza Archaeologia Belle Arti e Paessagio par l'Area di Napoli.

To date a single monumental tomb has been opened. This had a tiled roof and was sealed slab of tuff (volcanic rock), which when moved revealed a plastered room with a number of spectacularly preserved frescoes, depicting subjects such as Ichthyocentaurs (being with Human heads and torsos, the forelegs of Horses, and the tails of Fish), and the three-headed Dog, Ceberus, believed to have guarded the gates to the underorld, which has earned the tomb the name 'Tomb of Ceberus'. The occupants of the tomb, who has not yet been investigated, were found lying on funerary beds surrounded by rich grave goods, and several libation vessels were placed upon an alter. 

Fresco depicting two Ichthyocentaurs holding a clipeus (large shield) from the Tomb of Ceberus at Giugliano in Campania, Naples. Soprintendenza Archaeologia Belle Arti e Paessagio par l'Area di Napoli.

The cemetery was located between two Roman roads, the Via Cumis-Capuam and the Via Per Liternum, which would have made it easy to access for funerary ceremonies, which appear to have been carried out there for at least four centuries. 

The image of Cerebus from the 'Tomb of Ceberus'. The figure on the left is probably Herculese, who captured Ceberus as his twelth task. Soprintendenza Archaeologia Belle Arti e Paessagio par l'Area di Napoli.

See also...

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.

Follow Sciency Thoughts on Twitter.