Compertrix “Saint-Pierre”: An Example of the Evolution of Funerary Status Markers during Roman Antiquity—abridged version

Abstract

At the end of the 1st century BC, a stone funerary monument was raised at the side of a Roman road on the outskirts of an ancient settlement, now the city of Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne). Although it may have been a cenotaph, no new grave was added and it was submerged under more than a meter of carbonated colluvium, deposited shortly after its construction. In the late 2nd century and/or early 3rd century, the stones visible above the colluvium were removed. At the end of the 3rd century and/or beginning of the 4th, although the monument was in ruins, six young children were buried above or next to it, and it was used as a receptacle for the remains of an adult’s funeral pyre. The Compertrix site thus raises questions about the longevity of a funerary space and the changes in its status. It allows us to reflect on the use as well as the evolution of funerary markers and their meanings during Antiquity.