To browse Academia. Early-Medieval Migration and Colonisation, Relicta. Archeologie, Monumenten-en Landschapsonderzoek in Vlaanderen, , p. In , excavations carried out by INRAP at Saint-Dizier led to the discovery of four graves of exceptional wealth, containing a young woman, two men and a horse, dated to c.
In early medieval cemeteries, graves sometimes contain the co-mingled bones of several individuals. For many years, these disturbed deposits have created questions for historians and archaeologists. Studies of early medieval grave disturbances were often based only on textual sources or imprecise analyses of bones deposits.
Many hypotheses were proposed to explain these usages. Were they funerary practices or unrelated to the burial process? With the development of the field methods known as archaeothanatology Duday , it is now possible to analyse the organisation of disturbed bones in graves more precisely. This methodology requires the full documentation of the position of bones in the grave and thus the deposition patterns. With this data recorded it becomes possible to ascertain if a body primary deposit or only dry bones secondary deposit were initially placed in a grave, or to determine the original presence or absence of funerary containers and architecture e.
Generally, it is important to distinguish taphonomical processes, such as the decay of human remains or coffins, from anthropogenic facts. And, for those determined to be actual cases in which graves were opened, it is necessary to distinguish whether they resulted from funerary practices or later interventions. In early medieval contexts, one of the main causes of disturbance of existing graves is their reuse. Interpretations of reuse practices are often limited to identifying burial practices contrary to the law and possible familial graves.
Insights provided by textual sources are very few, and studies of the bones and their patterns of deposit have been for the most part too hasty.
