A Merovingian Surprise: Early Medieval Radiocarbon Dates on Cremated Bone (Borsbeek, Belgium)

Radiocarbon dating of cremated bone is a well-established practice in the study of prehistoric cremation cemeteries since the introduction of the method in the late 1990s. 14 C dates on the Late Bronze Age urnfield and Merovingian cemetery at Borsbeek in Belgium shed new light on Merovingian funerary practices. Inhumation was the dominant funerary rite in this period in the Austrasian region. In the Scheldt Valley, however, some cremations are known, termed Brandgrubengräber, which consist of the deposition of a mix of cremated bone and the remnants from the pyre in the grave pit. 14 C dates f... Mehr ...