The Seeing the Dead project investigates the funerary custom, attested in Roman Yorkshire in the 3rd and 4th centuries CE, of pouring liquid gypsum over the bodies of adults and children in coffins of wood, stone, or lead prior to burial.
The hardening gypsum then formed a negative cavity around the decomposing body, and in this gypsum casing the contours of the dead and the clear imprint of their clothing and shrouds are preserved. This provides precious evidence for perishable materials rarely surviving in tombs.
Various white substances in powder or paste form as a bedding or packing for bodies have been noted from the 2nd to 5th centuries CE in the Roman Empire, but bodies encased in a poured gypsum 'bath' are particularly evident in the 3rd and 4th centuries in and around York. Exact parallels for this custom have not been identified elsewhere in Britain, Europe, or the Mediterranean, highlighting the importance of exploring the Yorkshire material. Our aim is to understand the motivation for the encasing of the dead in gypsum, investigating whether it might be a rite related to status or geographic origin, an expression of religious belief, or a response to disease. The wrapped bodies in Yorkshire need to be seen against the backdrop of funerary practices from the 3rd century CE in Italy and Gaul in which elites lavishly displayed their dead clothed in layers of textiles, often treated with aromatic resins, during the lying-in-state and prior to burial.
The project aims to apply state-of-the-art research methods and scientific techniques to the investigation of both the 22 surviving gypsum casings and the 9 preserved sets of human remains. The benefits of these integrated methods will allow us to determine the age, sex, and health of the dead, their dietary biography, their genetic ancestry, and their potential geographical origins. Mass spectrometry and Raman spectrometry conducted on the casings should reveal resins, dyes, and chemicals originally used on the textiles. A particular strength of the research is the generation of new knowledge about the nature and function of the burial textiles and how they reflect the social status of the people in them. X-rays and CT-scans of the casings should reveal grave goods potentially enveloped in the shrouds.
A cutting-edge component of the project is the transformation of the body negatives in the gypsum casings into positive images through 3D digital technology, allowing highly detailed visual reconstructions of the burials and impacting the way scholars engage with the Roman burial process of the period. An example is available below:
Our research goal is to understand the cultural, ritual, and practical implications of this elaborate method of dealing with deteriorating bodies. Cooperation between specialists in a range of disciplines and collaboration with our museum and project partners will enable broad access to the material in their collections through publications, digital capture, didactic videos, and exhibitions.
Through collaboration with the museum partners, York Museums Trust, Heritage Doncaster, Wakefield Museum, and MAP Archaeological Practice, the project will make possible public access to their collections through digital capture, videos, and exhibitions in the coming years. For more information the project's collaborating organisations, see Partners and funding.
The project, generously funded by the AHRC, began in January 2025 and runs until the end of December 2027.