LOCULO. - Diminutive of locus, which in classical and Christian funerary terminology (cf. Christian inscriptions with locus, in Diehl [V. op. cit. in bibl.], nos. 3498-3533) means: tomb, locus [sepulturae]. The word l. is used by modern archaeologists to designate a particular form of rectangular, or sometimes oven-shaped, burial niche hollowed out in the walls of a cemetery gallery.
This term finds no counterpart in antiquity except in the sense of a niche, casket, or funerary chest, as, for example, in the inscription from Toledo of 579 (locellus: Diehl, no. 3793) and in that from Catania (loculus: ibid., no. 1549). If the l. was intended to receive several corpses, it was called, according to the case, «bisomus or biscandens, trisomus or tercandens, quadrisomus» (cf. the Christian inscriptions referring to this, ibid., nos. 3797-3822).
The corpse was wrapped in bandages or precious cloths and covered, for disinfection and preservation, with a layer of lime. The l. was subsequently closed with bricks or marble slabs sealed to the tufa with lime, in which, besides lamps, coins, ampullae, gilded glass, dish bottoms, and various objects were often set as identifying marks. The inscription concerning the deceased was, according to circumstances, carved, painted, or incised.