Rest in pieces: an interpretive model of early medieval ‘grave robbery’

Abstract

Many early medieval cemeteries contain graves that were reopened in the years following the burials. In the traditional literature, such post-depositional interventions are usually interpreted as cases of grave robbery, a criminal activity primarily instigated by economic motives. However, as has been noted by various scholars, not all aspects of these practices tally with this hypothesis equally well. The ‘robbers’ often left a number of artefacts behind, removed some of the deceased’s bones and then refilled the grave. These practices therefore seem to have originated from a motivation more complex than a simple desire to obtain the grave goods. The current article contains a re-evaluation of the main technical and theoretical aspects of the debate. Working from an ethnographically informed perspective, the author proposes an alternative model for the interpretation of grave reopenings, emphasizing the opportunities that these events offered for the interaction between the living and the dead. Artefacts and bones from reopened graves may have served as ‘relics’, enabling the ancestors to be physically present among their living descendants. It is therefore suggested that grave reopenings should not be considered deviant behaviour, but be studied as part of the general sequence of practices that were performed following a death.

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