The bioarchaeology of early medieval cremation practices in England

Cremation was a dominant mortuary rite in England from the fifth to early seventh centuries CE. A notable characteristic of cremation practicing communities is the large cemeteries where the living interred the cremated remains of the dead, alongside grave- and pyre-goods, and animal offerings in pottery cinerary urns. Yet despite the wealth of information that can be obtained from material culture and human burnt bone, this funerary rite has historically been largely ignored in favour of the contemporary inhumation rite. Where cremation is studied, there is an overreliance on the rich data from the Spong Hill (Norfolk) cemetery. As a result, our understanding of social identity is skewed towards inhumation practicing groups and those that buried the dead at the aforementioned site. However, in recent years there has been a gradual shift towards the study of other sites and the application of analytical techniques to better understand social identity and demographic makeup of these groups, and the cremation process itself. It is clear that we should not treat cremation as the poorer relative of inhumation, given the largely untapped potential of cremated human remains and associated funerary assemblages.