Bioarchaeological investigations of the Roman cemetery in Marof at Ig (Slovenia): anthropological, archaeozoological and archaeobotanical evidence

The contribution brings the results of bioarchaeological, more precisely anthropological, archaeozoological and archaeobotanical investigations conducted in the cemetery in Marof at Ig, in the south-eastern Alpine area, where 28 burials were unearthed that span from the second half of the 1st to the late 3rd or early 4th century. The results illuminate several population parameters and the mortuary customs of the people living in the Ig area in Roman times. The anthropological analysis shed light on the age and sex structure of the deceased, as well as the cremation process. The analysis of the animal remains examined the supposed examples of ritually sacrificed and/or offered (parts) of animals both in the sense of provisions/ grave goods and as possible building offerings. As for the results of the archaeobotanical study, they could not provide clear evidence of ritual practices ( this is only plausible for the fig remains), but did offer a glimpse into the range of plants cultivated in that period, as well as into the contemporary natural vegetation in the Ig area.