Answer: A. A burial place.
Step-by-step explanation: The denotation of a word is its literal meaning, the one that we can find in a dictionary (it is the antonym of connotation, which is the meaning given by the readers based on their emotions or personal experiences). Based on the original meaning of the vocabulary word "catacomb" (an underground cemetery consisting of a subterranean gallery with recesses for tombs, as constructed by the ancient Romans), the denotative meaning of the word is a burial place.