[wildbill]

While I agree with you that the burial clothes COULD have been paid for by a wealthy patron, Occam's Razor suggests that another explanation is much more likely.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I don't know much more about early Christian sociology than what I've read by Rodney Stark, who suggests a predominance of small artisans and tradesmen (and women.)

Historian Philip Harland note the lack of Christian memorial momuments of the type that well-to-do people often had in the first 2 centuries of the Christian era, and also has this to say:

"..There is truth in [Celsus'] observation, about a century after Paul, that attachments through workshops of wool-workers, shoe-makers, and clothing-cleaners continued as a key resource for newcomers to some Christian groups (Origen, Cels. 3.55)."

http://www.philipharland.com/articlehandbook17.html

Harland also notes the role of wealthier members of the congregation as benfactors.