Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PresentDead (The Present Dead: Investigating Interactions with the Dead in Early Medieval Central and Eastern Europe from 5th to 8th Centuries CE)
Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2026-02-28
Archaeological evidence from 5th-8th century Europe is dominated by cemeteries of up to hundreds of graves where the dead were generally interred in single graves, often together with lavish objects. As evidence for habitation and written sources are rare, these graves offer the main evidence for this period, allowing inferences to be made on many aspects of early medieval life.
Many graves show evidence for human intrusion whilst the cemeteries were still in use, sometimes within just years or decades of burial. Graves were reopened for a variety of reasons frequently with the removal of grave goods. This was commonly characterised as materialistically motivated and unlawful ‘grave robbery’, contrary to contemporary customs and disrespectful to the dead.
In the last 15 years, regional studies of reopened graves in England, Bavaria, France and the Netherlands found similar patterns of selective removal of, particularly, swords, seaxes and brooches, while the cemeteries were still in use and, often, with the corpse already disarticulated but the organic burial containers still intact. This suggests practices of selective object removal, following cultural rules, within the realm of practices relating to the dead (Klevnäs et al 2021). However, proving this hypothesis is hindered by:
- The complexity, and lack of documentation, for disturbed inhumation graves
- Previous research is limited to western and northern Europe
- Reading of ‘Germanic’ laws as only condemning grave re-entry
- Lack of social anthropological models and knowledge
The ERC PresentDead project tackles these research challenges through analysis of cemeteries and and out-of-cemetery contexts in four central- and eastern European regions; investigating practical, conceptual and emotional dimensions of diverse human interactions with the materials of the dead. We identify in archaeological and written records the range of practices and contexts in which contact between the living and graves, human remains and artefacts from graves took place, to understand the underlying motivations and beliefs, and provide different perspectives on relationships between the living and the dead.
Research objectives: 1. Investigate the range of practices and contexts in the archaeological records. 2. Analyse textual perspectives in diverse genres. 3. Synthesise material and textual perspectives via an innovative technical solution for semantic integration of data. The methodological objectives for achieving the archaeological goals are: 1. Consolidation of methods and development of research protocols. 2. Development of strategies to mitigate deficiencies of archaeological data. The development of digital tools will be key to a novel approach that moves from high- to low resolution evidence. The working hypothesis for this project is that culturally accepted post-burial practices follow the structure of rites of passage accompanying the transition of immaterial and material remains of the dead, and that practices and beliefs will differ according to the diverse ritual stages.
References:
Klevnäs A, Aspöck E, Noterman AA, van Haperen MC, Zintl S. Reopening graves in the early Middle Ages: from local practice to European phenomenon. Antiquity. 2021, 95(382):1005-1026. doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.217
Many graves show evidence for human intrusion whilst the cemeteries were still in use, sometimes within just years or decades of burial. Graves were reopened for a variety of reasons frequently with the removal of grave goods. This was commonly characterised as materialistically motivated and unlawful ‘grave robbery’, contrary to contemporary customs and disrespectful to the dead.
In the last 15 years, regional studies of reopened graves in England, Bavaria, France and the Netherlands found similar patterns of selective removal of, particularly, swords, seaxes and brooches, while the cemeteries were still in use and, often, with the corpse already disarticulated but the organic burial containers still intact. This suggests practices of selective object removal, following cultural rules, within the realm of practices relating to the dead (Klevnäs et al 2021). However, proving this hypothesis is hindered by:
- The complexity, and lack of documentation, for disturbed inhumation graves
- Previous research is limited to western and northern Europe
- Reading of ‘Germanic’ laws as only condemning grave re-entry
- Lack of social anthropological models and knowledge
The ERC PresentDead project tackles these research challenges through analysis of cemeteries and and out-of-cemetery contexts in four central- and eastern European regions; investigating practical, conceptual and emotional dimensions of diverse human interactions with the materials of the dead. We identify in archaeological and written records the range of practices and contexts in which contact between the living and graves, human remains and artefacts from graves took place, to understand the underlying motivations and beliefs, and provide different perspectives on relationships between the living and the dead.
Research objectives: 1. Investigate the range of practices and contexts in the archaeological records. 2. Analyse textual perspectives in diverse genres. 3. Synthesise material and textual perspectives via an innovative technical solution for semantic integration of data. The methodological objectives for achieving the archaeological goals are: 1. Consolidation of methods and development of research protocols. 2. Development of strategies to mitigate deficiencies of archaeological data. The development of digital tools will be key to a novel approach that moves from high- to low resolution evidence. The working hypothesis for this project is that culturally accepted post-burial practices follow the structure of rites of passage accompanying the transition of immaterial and material remains of the dead, and that practices and beliefs will differ according to the diverse ritual stages.
References:
Klevnäs A, Aspöck E, Noterman AA, van Haperen MC, Zintl S. Reopening graves in the early Middle Ages: from local practice to European phenomenon. Antiquity. 2021, 95(382):1005-1026. doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.217
Work performed and main achievements
The first two years of the project saw the following work carried out for each objective:
a.1 Taphonomy-based analysis of interventions into graves
The mid-7th to late-8th century Avar-period cemetery in Achau, Lower Austria is a key test site:
- Micro-archaeological excavation of 3 inhumation graves
- Previous excavations offer test cases for the development of the PresentDead research protocols for archival material. Initial findings suggest that swords were often the target of grave reopenings at Achau.
a.2 Collation and critical re-reading of textual evidence
- Analysis of early medieval passages on interactions with the dead, and literature review of secondary scholarship.
- Re-assessment of how archaeologists have drawn on these materials to interpret re-opened graves.
a.3 Synthesis of material and textual perspectives under consideration of social anthropological models and knowledge
Interdisciplinary collaboration is central to the project, combining archaeology, history, and social anthropology.
A first major output of a.3 is an article analysing legal aspects of funerary rites of passage in the early medieval ‘Pactus Legis Salicae’.
By combining detailed case studies with broader analyses, the PresentDead project uncovers new insights into burial practices, grave reopenings, and the cultural significance of interactions with the dead in early medieval Europe.
a.4 Consolidation of archaeological methods and development of research protocols
- Adaption of a protocol for the micro-archaeological excavations
- Adaption of an archaeothanatological field protocol for micro-archaeological excavations of reopened graves
- Literature review + creation of protocols for the analysis of 1. human remains (bone surface modifications, fragmentations), and 2. artefacts (preservation, modifications, fragmentations) from previous excavations
- Data modelling
- Ongoing: development of a controlled vocabulary and thesaurus
The first two years of the project saw the following work carried out for each objective:
a.1 Taphonomy-based analysis of interventions into graves
The mid-7th to late-8th century Avar-period cemetery in Achau, Lower Austria is a key test site:
- Micro-archaeological excavation of 3 inhumation graves
- Previous excavations offer test cases for the development of the PresentDead research protocols for archival material. Initial findings suggest that swords were often the target of grave reopenings at Achau.
a.2 Collation and critical re-reading of textual evidence
- Analysis of early medieval passages on interactions with the dead, and literature review of secondary scholarship.
- Re-assessment of how archaeologists have drawn on these materials to interpret re-opened graves.
a.3 Synthesis of material and textual perspectives under consideration of social anthropological models and knowledge
Interdisciplinary collaboration is central to the project, combining archaeology, history, and social anthropology.
A first major output of a.3 is an article analysing legal aspects of funerary rites of passage in the early medieval ‘Pactus Legis Salicae’.
By combining detailed case studies with broader analyses, the PresentDead project uncovers new insights into burial practices, grave reopenings, and the cultural significance of interactions with the dead in early medieval Europe.
a.4 Consolidation of archaeological methods and development of research protocols
- Adaption of a protocol for the micro-archaeological excavations
- Adaption of an archaeothanatological field protocol for micro-archaeological excavations of reopened graves
- Literature review + creation of protocols for the analysis of 1. human remains (bone surface modifications, fragmentations), and 2. artefacts (preservation, modifications, fragmentations) from previous excavations
- Data modelling
- Ongoing: development of a controlled vocabulary and thesaurus
PresentDead marks an entirely new and innovative approach to the study of early medieval funerary evidence. Reconstructing the range of human activities after burial adds a new layer of information to a field in which graves ‘disturbed’ through post-burial activity are still seen as second quality evidence. The project’s focus on methodological development expands to application of advanced digital methodologies on mortuary evidence. This will all be part of an innovative – and unconventional – strategy of micro- and macro level analysis, mitigating problems from under-documented archaeological evidence of disturbance or bad preservation.
The following deliveries are expected by the end of the project:
- Careful integration of the different perspectives material and textual evidence offer, in consideration of anthropological models and knowledge which so far had little impact. Results beyond the state of the art are indicated in our ongoing work of re-reading an early medieval law text from the angle of funerary rites of passage. Preliminary results promise new ways to interpret interactions with the dead and unexpected insights into what a proper burial may have meant in the early medieval period.
- Moreover, in a highly innovative approach, the material and textual data will be semantically integrated, allowing the analysis, reconstruction and visualisation of data for final synthesis.
- Digital methods and tools will be developed to support analysis of the impact of natural and human processes on the evidence (taphonomy).
- The project is ambitious in scope – if the application of Neural Networks for analysis of images from grave drawings is successful, then it will result in a large-scale view of post-depositional practices across Europe.
Overall the project is progressing on multiple fronts, with a number of publications spanning the various disciplines encompassed in the research underway.
The following deliveries are expected by the end of the project:
- Careful integration of the different perspectives material and textual evidence offer, in consideration of anthropological models and knowledge which so far had little impact. Results beyond the state of the art are indicated in our ongoing work of re-reading an early medieval law text from the angle of funerary rites of passage. Preliminary results promise new ways to interpret interactions with the dead and unexpected insights into what a proper burial may have meant in the early medieval period.
- Moreover, in a highly innovative approach, the material and textual data will be semantically integrated, allowing the analysis, reconstruction and visualisation of data for final synthesis.
- Digital methods and tools will be developed to support analysis of the impact of natural and human processes on the evidence (taphonomy).
- The project is ambitious in scope – if the application of Neural Networks for analysis of images from grave drawings is successful, then it will result in a large-scale view of post-depositional practices across Europe.
Overall the project is progressing on multiple fronts, with a number of publications spanning the various disciplines encompassed in the research underway.