Frankincense in Roman burials

[Duncan Head]

The next time you dispose of an unsuccessful general, remember to perfume him:

Frankincense, one of the precious gifts of the Magi in the Christmas story, has been discovered for the first time in high-status Roman burials from sites across Britain.

The sweet-smelling resin of the Boswellia sacra tree, still used today in church incense, was valued more highly than gold and was traded for millennia across the Mediterranean from the Arabian Peninsula and parts of Africa. It has been found in the silt in the lead coffins and stone sarcophagi from the most elaborate burials in the 3rd and early 4th centuries in Roman Britain.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/04/frankincense-found-roman-burial-sites-britain

[Patrick Waterson]

I shall put a drop of Eau de Cologne on him before he goes back in the box.

Ordinary troops just get a dollop of blu-tack.

Interesting how widespread the practice of using frankincense was - I always understood myrrh was traditional for this kind of thing.

[rodge]

Well it is nearly Christmas....

[Justin Swanton]

And to completely derail the thread...

[Imperial Dave]

class

although I do say this is somewhat mirth inducing too...... 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVS_zG4a1ag