This dissertation examines the development of local Roman identity in Britain and its relationship to skeletal health and mortuary treatment. The Butt Road cemetery, from Colchester UK, provides the main sample for this study. Previous researchers have suggested that 4th century AD burials from the Butt Road cemetery represent an early Christian community at Colchester. However, there is little supporting evidence of a distinct Christian mortuary ritual in the 4th century. The mortuary analysis in this study reevaluates proposed criteria for identifying Early Christian burials. A sample of 214 individuals from two temporal periods are used to examine possible changes in physiological stress levels and mortuary treatment of individuals based on age, sex, and social status over time. The results of the mortuary analysis suggest that the people buried in the Butt Road cemetery had adopted a local Roman identity. The cemetery appears to be organized by family groups, and social status may be expressed through burial location within the cemetery and the presence of grave goods. This study shows that many other forms of identity are expressed in burial beyond religious belief. As a result, Christian burials cannot be confidently identified in the 4th century AD. The Butt Road skeletal sample reflects a relatively `healthy' population with low levels of dietary and environmental stress. However, when the Butt Road sample is compared to contemporaneous skeletal samples from London and Cirencester, there is clear variation in skeletal health within the region. The significant differences in physiological stress between the Butt Road sample and the comparative samples suggest differences in local group identity as well as living conditions and management of the community infrastructure. Roman Colchester and Cirencester provided suitable living conditions to minimize physiological stress within the community, while London residents appeared to suffer from high levels of physiological stress.
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