Grave Goods in Early Medieval Europe: regional variability and decline

Emma Brownlee

doi:10.11141/ia.56.11

Abstract

This article analyses the use of grave goods in burials across early medieval Europe and how that use changed over the course of the 6th to 8th centuries CE with the widespread transition to unfurnished burial. It uses data gathered from published cemetery excavation reports from England, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The grave good use in these cemeteries was analysed using GIS methods to visualise regional differences, as well as statistical methods to analyse how grave good use evolved over time in those regions. This analysis revealed clear regional distinctions in grave good use, with England and Alamannia appearing similar, with relatively high levels of grave good use. Meanwhile, parts of Frankia and of Burgundy had considerably lower levels of grave good use. Distributions of individual artefact types tended to match those of overall numbers, but there were a few key exceptions, such as vessels, which followed a quite different pattern, being found in high numbers along the Frankish coast, but in much lower numbers elsewhere. Despite these overall trends, there was still considerable intra-regional and intra-cemetery variation that suggests communities and individuals had the ability to make highly individual choices about the way to bury their dead, along with the ability to subvert local norms. It also revealed that while there was a general decline in the use of grave goods across this period, and everywhere eventually reached the point of almost completely unfurnished burial, this decline occurred at different rates. In particular, there was a zone around the North Sea, including Kent, western Frankia, and the Low Countries, where there was little change in grave good use until it was suddenly abandoned in the early 8th century. Different types of objects declined at different rates across different regions, with few clear trends, suggesting that only personal accessories held a common significance across Europe; the meanings of all other object types were negotiated on a local basis.

Highlights

One of the most dramatic transformations in funerary practices across western Europe was the transition from furnished to unfurnished inhumation in the 6th to 8th centuries CE
The beginning of the decline can be dated to the mid-6th century; numbers of unfurnished burials increased rapidly towards the end of the 7th century, and by the early 8th century, unfurnished burial was overwhelmingly favoured (Brownlee 2021). This apparently simple narrative hides a great deal of regional variability in how different communities approached the changing norms in burial rites; the change did not take place at the same pace in all areas of western Europe, nor did all types of objects decline at the same rates
Grave good use in early medieval Europe has far only been characterised on a small scale; previous studies, which have analysed grave good use and its decline over the course of the 7th and 8th centuries, have been conducted primarily at a regional scale and have been very much constrained by modern national borders

Summary

Introduction

One of the most dramatic transformations in funerary practices across western Europe was the transition from furnished to unfurnished inhumation in the 6th to 8th centuries CE This was a widespread change, and looking at the broadest of scales, the way in which different areas adopted a largely unfurnished burial rite appears reasonably similar. This article will, for the first time, characterise grave good use across early medieval north-western Europe, highlighting key regional distinctions, as well as investigating the potential for variation from the regional norm It will look at how those patterns of grave good use evolved over the course of the 7th and 8th centuries. The widespread adoption of unfurnished burial can be seen as a form of standardisation in this one aspect of the funerary rite

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Discussion

Conclusion