The original term, catacumbae, however, had no connexion with sepulture, but was simply the name of a particular locality in the environs of Rome.
The original designation of these places of sepulture is crypta or coemeterium.
Mark's narratives of the sepulture by Joseph of Arirathea and of the empty tomb are taken as posterior to St Paul; the narratives of the infancy in Matthew and Luke as later still.
Distinct rank was accorded to aldermen, and in the Liber Albus we are told that " it is a matter of experience that ever since the year of our Lord 1350, at the sepulture of aldermen, the ancient custom of interment with baronial honours was observed."
The primary idea of sepulture appears to have been the provision of a habitation for the dead; and thus, in its perfect form, the barrow included a chamber or chambers where the tenant was surrounded with the prized possessions of his previous life.