ABSTRACT
The burials at the Graeco-Roman cemetery of Fag el-Gamous in the Fayoum provide a rich source of information about death, funerary rituals, and burial trends of juveniles (newborns, infants, and children) in the eastern edge of the Arsinoite nome. In contrast to what was expected from census texts, the Fag el-Gamous juvenile mortality is 32 percent (241/752 burials). Juvenile burials, like adult burials, were nearly symmetrically dispersed throughout all excavated areas. Most (85 percent) juvenile burials are sparsely furnished, dressed with fewer layers of textiles compared to adults, and buried head west in a normative Christian burial rite. Twenty-eight juvenile cluster burials (two or more juveniles with or without an adult) are asymmetrically placed in the cemetery.
