Practicalities of Grief and Commemoration: Accounting for Variation in Cremation Practices in Africa Proconsularis

As the practice of cremation spread throughout Africa Proconsularis, several localities developed distinctive mortuary customs. Examining three commonly-recognized stages of ritual interaction at these graves (the cremation, the burial, and post-funerary visitations) and proposing a fourth (deposits made during construction), this study seeks to identify and explain regional and sub-regional variations. Factors included the community’s cultural background, the extent of its integration into trade networks and other external influences, and the nature of local industry and crafts that could contribute to equipping the rites and graves. The size of the population that used the cemetery was also significant, since high-use necropoleis might demonstrate more habituated behaviours than cemeteries used less frequently. Cremation burials from cemeteries in Africa Proconsularis display fluency in the “global” funerary vocabulary and practices of the Mediterranean, yet also demonstrate the individualizing impact of specific socio-economic environments.