first century ossuary from a dealer in jerusalem. >> i could see some of the names that are mentioned. the meaning, james, it came by itself without any item to accompany it. >> in first century jerusalem, the bones of the dead were placed in ossuaries in underground tombs. archaeologist byron mccain is a leading expert on burial practices in ancient palestine. >> we're just south of the old city of jerusalem. there are a number of burial caves from the time of jesus right around here. in the jewish tradition, on the first anniversary of the death, they gather the bones of their deceased loved ones, those bones are placed in an ossuary. the ossuary is marked with the name of the deceased and then placed somewhere in the tomb. >> back in 1970s jerusalem,