I saw similar internment caverns under a monastery in Jerusalem. It dated back to the 6th century and probably was adapted to Roman custom. Rumor has it that several monasteries had burial catacombs like the one I personally observed, although I only saw the one.
Defleshed burials, or rather interments, sometimes using ossuaries, are found throughout the world, here and there, but preservation/veneration of the cranium seems to have been the important part. If memory serves, the practice as found in the excavation of Catal Huyuk and Jericho. It could be motivated by a desire or need to preserve the identity of the deceased.
Among Romans (and of course, the Vikings), cremation was also commonplace. Excarnation is still practiced by Zoroastrians in India, and was practiced (as "burials in the air") by some Precolumbian North American tribes.