Archaeologica.org

Okay wasn't anyone else disturbed by this article?

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15255311/site/newsweek/

lies a 2,000-year-old graveyard littered with bizarre, often disturbing displays of pagan worship

Why are these displays bizarre and disturbing and not Egyptian burial practices. Or any other 'pagan' civilization for that matter. What is so bizarre about a headless body clutching an alabaster egg? I'm not loosing any sleep over it.
What I find bizarre and disturbing is the fact that they incorporated this museum into a car park. Of course I have heard about displays in shopping malls and train stations, but I thought that was just tall tales. Call me old fashioned but please call me.(or post your thoughts)

It's no more or less disturbing than anything else about the catholic religion. BTW...did the 'almost converts' get to heaven or not

The Necropoli dell'Autoparco (literally Necropolis of the Parking Garage), a 2,000-year-old burial ground, which opens to the public Oct. 20, offers a rarely seen glimpse of the close ties between pagans and Christians during the Augustan era (23 B.C.-14 A.D.).

Christians? In 14 AD?


I don't think so....and if there were it would a much bigger story than any parking garage because it would stand christian history on its ear.

Thanks, Starflower, for posting this link.

I don't understand the journalist's attempt to sensationalize the word
"pagan." The Vatican is part of ROME, and almost everything there except the vatican and the churches is ROMAN, i.e., pagan.
Furthermore, the vatican museum, one of the largest in the world, is full of "pagan" sculpture...great Roman Art.

More stupidity from journalists. Just a hook to hang the story on.
And more stupidity from the pope, who wanted to squelch this great site.
Hooray for the archaeologist.

The Vatican is built over a Mithraeum....they stole the real estate and incorporated a lot of the doctrine as well.

Pagan is a vatican inspired curse word anyway
its latin for "those of a lesser faith"
Paganus - country dweller
it equates with the american term "redneck"

It's almost funny the number of times Barbie (no relation?) uses the word pagan as if to impress the idea of us all standing at the edge of a Godless abyss. What seems particularly strange is that any level of debate was necessary within the Vatican, like perhaps some people thought the find might encourage a sudden rash of Pan worship (sorry - was he Greek or Roman?) which seems kind of insecure.
There's an old temple dedicated to Ehecatl slap bang in the middle of Pino Suarez metro station in Mexico City although I wouldn't like to say whether its unearthing has lead to any significant increase in the practice of human sacrifice. Mind you, Mexicans seem pretty well-balanced in that sense. The only example of religious intolerance I've heard of is when the local populace of Tepoztlan went apeshit over the prospect of an evangelical community setting up shop nearby, and under the same circumstances, I too might find myself going apeshit.

Another,much less sensationalized, article about these finds:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6067020.stm

Since then the excavations have brought to light more than 200 tombs, arranged on multiple levels and in remarkable condition.
In addition to funerary inscriptions they have uncovered a wide assortment of statues, vases, terracotta urns, coins and skeletons.
The burial site paints a complex picture of life and death in ancient Rome and for the first time gives archaeologists a valuable insight into the life of lower- and middle-class Romans.

"We found a little Pompeii of funeral life, " said Giandomenico Spinola, head of the Vatican Museums' classical antiquities department.
"We have had the mausoleums of Hadrian and Augustus," Mr Spinola said. "But in Rome we are short of these middle- and lower-class burial places."
In some parts of the necropolis lie the tombs of much wealthier Romans. Some of them are complete with ornate funeral altars.
The inscriptions help to fill out family trees and they provide an important insight into daily life.

And, for me, the saddest part.

Originally the necropolis ran along the edges of an ancient Roman road, the Via Triumphalis (Triumphal Way).
Now we know that the area uncovered is just a small section of a much bigger necropolis that would have covered a large part of the hill.
But many of the secrets will remain buried.
Archaeological digs like this are expensive - the work carried out so far has cost the Vatican around 400,000 euros (£268,851) - and the current site is now surrounded by the imposing stone pillars of the new multi-storey car park.

The advance of the modern world has, for the time being, put paid to any further excavations.