Editor's Summary
21 July 2005
Death in Rome
Radiocarbon dating of wood from one the Jewish Villa Torlonia catacombs (underground cemeteries) to the northeast of Rome shows that it pre-dates its Christian counterparts by 100 years or more. This suggests that burial in Roman catacombs may not have been a strictly Christian practice, as is commonly believed, and that its origin may lie in Jewish traditions.
Brief Communications: Radiocarbon dating: Jewish inspiration of Christian catacombs
A Jewish cemetery in ancient Rome harbours a secret that bears on the history of early Christianity.
Leonard V. Rutgers, Klaas van der Borg, Arie F. M. de Jong and Imogen Poole
doi: 10.1038/436339a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (174K) | Supplementary information
