The University of York and York Museums Trust hosted an international workshop Seeing the Dead. New Insights into Roman Gypsum Burials in Yorkshire, focusing on the latest results of research on the human remains, funerary textiles, and rituals performed for the dead in and around York in the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D. The workshop took place on 16th-17th April in the Hospitium in the Museum Gardens. This came mid-way through our major 3-year research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
The workshop featured presentations from key researchers from the University of York and its partner universities and museums, as well as international specialists from Italy and France. Topics covered included:
- new research on Roman funerary customs in Britain and Europe,
- the life history and geographic origins of the people buried in gypsum,
- the source of gypsum used in the burials,
- the textiles and exotic aromatic resins used in wrapping and clothing the dead,
- the digital capture of the burials with 3D imagery, CT scanning, and x-rays.
Brand new results, such as the discovery of luxury textiles dyed with Tyrian purple and enhanced with gold threads, was also presented.
The event brought together specialists in archaeology, bioarchaeology, digital technology, and chemistry who have been working on the surviving burials in York, Pollington, Malton, Sherburn in Elmet, Hovingham, and Castleford. Project lead Maureen Carroll said:
“The workshop was a unique and important opportunity for specialists to share the results of archaeological and scientific research, providing insight into why and for whom this very special and unusual burial rite was performed”.
The research presented at the workshop and further investigations taking place will be accessible to the public in planned exhibitions at the Yorkshire Museum, the Doncaster Gallery, Library, and Museum, and the Wakefield Museum in 2027-2028. An illustrated monograph on all aspects of the investigations will be available in 2028.