2021/06/18 by Alison Klevnäs, Edeltraud Aspöck, Astrid Noterman +2 · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Historical and Archaeological Studies #Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Middle Ages #Phenomenon #History #Ancient history #Geography #Archaeology #Philosophy #Epistemology
paper · pdf · doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.217
openalex publication_date 2021/06/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Across Europe early medieval archaeologists have long recognised significant numbers of graves displaying evidence for the intentional post-burial disturbance of skeletons and artefacts. The practice of reopening and manipulating graves soon after burial, traditionally described—and dismissed—as ‘robbing’, is documented at cemeteries from Transylvania to southern England. This article presents a synthesis of five recent regional studies to investigate the evidence of and the motivations for the reopening of early medieval graves. From the later sixth century AD, the reopening of individual graves and removal of selected artefact types rapidly became part of the shared treatment of the dead across this wide area.