ROMAN PERIOD, CIRCA 1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

From the 1st century B.C. through the 3rd century A.D., it was the custom of the Jews of Jerusalem to perform a second burial of the deceased's bones in an ossuary one year after the primary burial in a wooden coffin. See Jerusalem Talmud, Moed Katan, 1:5 [80c], "A man gathers the bones of his father and mother for it is a joy unto him. At first they would bury in pits. [When] the flesh was eaten, they would gather the bones and bury them in chests." One explanation of this practice is that the decomposition of the body would lead to the expiation of one's sins (see no. 29, p. 78 in Westenholz, ed., Sacred Bounty, Sacred Land, The Seven Species of the Land of Israel).