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 modern term l. is used by archaeologists to denote a particular form of rectangular, or sometimes arched, burial niche cut into the walls of a catacomb gallery.
This term has no counterpart in antiquity except in the sense of niche, casket, or funeral chest, as, for example, in the inscription from Toledo of 579 (locellus: Diehl, no. 3793) and that from Catania (loculus: ibid., no. 1549). If the l. was to receive more than one corpse it was called, depending on the case, « bisomus or biscandens, trisomus or tercandens, quadrisomus » (cf. the Christian inscriptions referring to it, ibid., nos. 3797-3822).
The corpse was wrapped in bandages or costly cloths and covered, for disinfection and preservation, with a layer of lime. The l. was then sealed with bricks or marble slabs fixed to the tufa with lime, in which were often embedded, besides lamps, coins, ampullae, gilded glass, fragments of plates, and various objects as tokens of identification. The inscription relating to the deceased was, according to circumstances, carved, painted, or scratched.
A. Pietro Frutaz