Women and Children in Funerary Practices in the Cemetery of Vaste (Fourth-Sixth Centuries AD). A Visible Care for Invisible People

Near the modern town of Vaste, in the last thirty years the excavations led by the University have brought to light an Early-Christian and Byzantine religious complex (fourth-ninth century AD), which included a wide cemetery used from the second half of the fourth to the first half of the sixth century. The overall study of the archaeological and anthropological data can shed some light on the relevant community, with particular regards to the social milieus and to the funerary rituals. This paper aims at analysing the burials of women and non-adults, discussing the way in which these dead persons were treated and perceived as active members of the community.