It was in his study of late Roman cemeteries at York that Herman Ramm first raised the possibility that some distinctive burials, particularly gypsum burials, could be identified as those of early Christians. This research then highlighted Poundbury, Dorchester, Dorset as the other major findspot for such burials in Britain and prompted my initiation of the excavations of that site in 1966.

Since then the wider issue of the characterisation of religious belief from funerary remains has seen much debate, including some on the specific issue of gypsum (or plaster) burial as a Christian rite. The latter topic was covered by Philpott in his survey of Romano-British burial customs, and has most recently been touched on by Professor Martin Millett in his review of the Butt Road cemetery, Colchester.

In recent discussion, stress has been laid on aspects of burial-ritual other than religion, including the status of the deceased, the psychological reaction of the relatives and environmental factors. Interpretation also depends on methods of inquiry – the need for an interdisciplinary approach and the use of statistical, locational and graphic analysis – and these have been the subject of theoretical debate. In this paper, however, I will concentrate on the religious context of late Roman cemeteries in Britain and discuss how far it is possible to identify Christians.

In the publication of the Poundbury cemetery, Woodward compared the site to other Romano-British graveyards and pointed up the characteristics that would mark that site as a Christian cemetery without developing a full discussion of the topic; much of the most significant evidence still awaits full publication. In his wider survey of Roman burial customs Philpott saw the features of such a cemetery as no more than those of a well organised burial ground under the control of an urban authority. Bruno Barber and Dave Bowsher have now reviewed the evidence from the East London cemeteries and, following Philpott, dismissed the possibility of identifying religious belief from burial customs. On the other side of the argument Dr Dorothy Watts has set out much detailed documentary evidence for the prescribed form of Christian burial and the nature of the archaeological evidence.

This paper will attempt to summarise the documentary and archaeological evidence supporting the characterisation of Christian cemeteries and, in particular, to answer some of the objections to the feasibility of identifying such sites.