The Roman necropolis of Algarve (Portugal). About the spaces of death in the South of Lusitania

Abstract

We intend to disclose some of the results of the analysis of the spaces of death from Roman times that were excavated in Algarve for over a century. The conclusions obtained do not fit, as it is understandable, in a summary article on the topic. However, it is important to disclose some that denounce the status and religion of the people who inhabited the South of the Roman province of Lusitania. We have particularly emphasised the problems related to the transition from the cremation rite to the rite of inhumation of the corpse and the possible visibility of the first signs of Christianity in the tombs of these necropoleis. Arguments that favour and refute either situation were weighed, which cannot be fully expressed here, but are better exposed in the doctoral thesis of the author.