Evidence of a Roman ritual with pig jaws found among remains of a legionary camp
In February 2024, the
discovery of the camp of the Legio VI Ferrata was announced at the site called Legio at the foot of Tel Megiddo, in Israel.
The site was the permanent military base of more than 5,000 Roman soldiers for over 180 years, from 117–120 to approximately 300 CE.
Now archaeologists reveal, in a study published in the journal
‘Atiqot, that among the findings made during excavations in the Roman camp there is evidence of an
ancient funerary ritual carried out by the legionaries, which was known from written sources but for which no remains had ever been found.
Among the different finds at the site, they discovered a shallow pit containing the
jaws, maxillae, and teeth of at least thirteen domestic pigs, which had been carefully buried. No complete bodies, only these parts of the head.
Analysis of the remains ruled out that they had been consumed as food or that they were part of the camp’s everyday food waste, since there were no signs of cooking, no carnivore marks, nor signs of damage caused by rodents, and the sediment indicated that they were deposited in a single planned event.
The zooarchaeological study revealed that jaws predominated in a 3-to-1 ratio over maxillae, and that the pigs’ ages ranged from 6 to 18 months, when they reach maturity and the appropriate size for consumption—an indication that they were deliberately selected for the ritual. Cut marks found on some of the bones indicate that the animals were slaughtered and defleshed before their jaws were buried.
Why pigs, and why only the jaws?
Pigs were very important to Roman soldiers; they were their main source of food and carried symbolic meaning, representing strength and masculinity. For example, the wild boar was the emblem of
Legio X, another famous Roman legion.
But why were only the jaws buried? In other Roman archaeological sites in Jerusalem, concentrations of pig jaws have also been found, so it must have been a common practice. However, this is the first time that jaws have appeared in a legionary cemetery.
Authors such as Varro or Pliny the Elder mention purification rituals in which pigs played a symbolic role. Even in the
sacramentum militare, the sacred oath taken by Roman soldiers, a pig was sacrificed to seal the commitment of loyalty to the emperor. In offerings to Mars, it was part of the sacrificial trio along with a ram and a bull.
But the researchers believe that in this case it is a different type of ritual—specifically one of the ceremonies known as
silicernium and
cena novendialis, funerary banquets held next to the tombs in honor of the deceased and to purify the grave, which included animal sacrifices, especially pigs, as a required act to legalize the burial.
After cremating the dead, the Romans would purify the site by sacrificing a pig and sharing a ritual meal, the researchers say.
This finding could be the first archaeological evidence of this custom in the region.
SOURCES
Lee Perry-Gal, Greg Leyfirer, et al.,
Pig Sacrifice and Feasting in Roman Funerary Practices: A Case Study of the Roman Legionary Cemetery at Legio. ‘Atiqot: Vol. 117, Article 10.
DOI:doi.org/10.70967/2948-040X.2258