The social value of funerary art. Burial practices and tomb owners in the provinces of the Roman empire

The use of coloured stone tureens is recorded in Rome and Italy from the early Augustan period in tombs of powerful magistrates, members of the imperial family and wealthy freedmen. What is more, as early as the Claudian period these urns began to appear in funerary contexts belonging to local benefactors and senatorial élite of some important provinces (Southern France, Southern England, Dalmatia). This seems to suggest that the consumption of such urns embodied the aspirations of prominent provincial individuals who wished to advocate their social connections and position within local communities through the choice of exclusive funerary items. This paper, which focuses on the people behind the urns, discusses the dynamics of consumption and geographic distribution of this Roman artistic production particularly in provincial contexts. The aim is to show the social value of these funerary objects which represented the artistic response to specific socio-political and ritual dynamics within society across the Roman empire.