Early Medieval Burial in Wales

Abstract

Early medieval burial in Wales is often taken as synonymous with early Christian burial and associated with the development of the early church. The chronological context of the period under review will determine that the great majority of burials are Christian, but this should not automatically be assumed, particularly during the 5th and early 6th centuries, nor that a church building will necessarily be present. Special treatment or elaboration of a grave is not something particular to early medieval or Christian contexts. The extra-mural cemeteries of late Romano-British provincial towns displayed a variety of scale and ostentation in commemoration of the dead determined by status, resources and social or familial grouping. In contrast, in early medieval Wales, such graves might be found in rural locations in community burial grounds or on the estates of great lords. The burial place could become a focus of veneration and acquire increasing structural enhancement, through endowment, to become mortuary chapels.