A fragmented history: demography, identity and the cremation rite in early Medieval North Lincolnshire

Cremation was one of the primary funerary rites practiced in North Lincolnshire from the fifth to sixth centuries. Despite the destructive nature of the cremation process, a wealth of information can be extracted from the resultant burned skeletal remains and associated artefacts.

This lunchtime lecture will focus on the Elsham and Cleatham cemeteries, two of the largest of their kind from the period under investigation. The demographic composition of these sites will be explored and compared with other contemporary cremation cemeteries in England and on the Continent. A comparison of these data with artefactual evidence found with the dead, will shine a light on the identities of these communities.

The cremation process itself will also be explored through an examination of burned bone, which will in turn facilitate a better understanding of how this mortuary rite was carried out. This research demonstrates that cremation cemeteries should not be overlooked in favor of inhumation dominant cemeteries. Both funerary practices are worthy of equal attention by scholars; failure to do so will result in skewed, incomplete interpretations of the early medieval period.