A name of obscure origin, perhaps first given to the extensive subterranean Christian cemetery in the vicinity of the church of San Sebastian on the Via Appia Antica, south of Rome, and then generally to a large number of similar complexes around Rome and elsewhere. Characteristically, a labyrinthine succession of narrow galleries and chambers are cut into the soft bedrock. Rows of horizontal slots (loculi) are provided in the walls for single or multiple burials, the niche being subsequently sealed. Walls and ceilings are decorated with a variety of pagan and Christian motifs. Catacombs are generally to be found in areas that were already in use as cemeteries, outside the city proper, and their subterranean nature is usually explained on the basis of the need for security and secrecy on the part of a religion that was at worst banned and at best tolerated. Certainly they appear to decline in use soon after the official recognition of the Church. Other parallels, for instance the multiple family nature of the burials, may perhaps be drawn with Jewish examples, Etruscan family/freedmen/slaves burials, and the ‘pigeon-hole’ approach of the Roman columbarium. ’
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied