Catacombs
3300 BCE
A variation on ground burial, catacombs are subterranean cemeteries with a network of tunnels and recesses for tombs. They originated in the Middle East 6,000 years ago and spread to Rome with Jewish migration and early Christians gathered in Rome’s catacombs to share funeral meals and mark anniversaries. The Paris Catacombs are the most famous as they were opened as a public attraction in the 19th century. Former quarries, they were converted from 1786 to relocate bones from the city’s overflowing cemeteries.