This thesis provides new insights into the treatment of the dead in Roman Britain and establishes fresh links between this remote province and the remainder of the Empire. As social signifiers, they appear to have denoted the status of the deceased while their sensory impact promoted remembrance and facilitated the final rite of passage to the afterlife. On a practical level, they acted as temporary preservatives and masked the odour of decay. Theoretical consideration of this imported rite indicates the multiplicity of roles played by resins/gum-resins as part of Roman period mortuary practices. In addition, traces of a balsamic resin, probably Liquidambar orientalis, were recovered.

(frankincense) gum-resins from southern Arabia/eastern Africa were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. (mastic/terebinth) resins from the Mediterranean/Levant and Boswellia spp.

The presence of European Pinaceae (conifer) resins, Pistacia spp. This study provides chemical confirmation for the use of resinous plant exudates in mortuary contexts in Roman Britain.

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