Author: Martine van Haperen

Members of the Grave Reopening research group will present various papers at the EAA 2018 in Barcelona:

INTERACTING WITH THE DEAD. BELIEF AND CONFLICT IN EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE (AD 450-750)
Klevnäs, Alison – Noterman, Astrid (Stockholm University) – Aspöck, Edeltraud (Austrian Academy of Sciences) – Haperen, Martine (Leiden University) – Zintl, Stephanie (Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege)

DEPOSITION, TRANSFORMATION, RETRIEVAL: THE VALUE OF OBJECTS FROM REOPENED GRAVES
van Haperen, Martine (Leiden University)

« FRANCE IS THE COUNTRY OF THE FRANKS ». CONSTRUCTION OF A NATIONAL IDENTITY THROUGH MEROVINGIAN BURIALS
Noterman, Astrid (Stockholm University; CESCM (UMR 7302)) – Klevnäs, Alison (Stockholm University)

Martine van Haperen recently published a short article with an ethnographic/economic perspective on grave reopenings in the festschrift presented to prof. dr. Frans Theuws for his 65th birthday.

‘Van Haperen M. (2018), Exchanges with the Dead: Economic Aspects of Reopening graves. In: M. Kars, R. van Oosten, M.A. Roxburgh, A. Verhoeven (eds.), Rural Riches & Royal Rags? Studies on medieval and modern archaeology, presented to Frans Theuws, 110-114.’

At the EAA 2018 in Barcelona, Van Haperen will also present a paper closely related to this subject, titled ‘Deposition, Transformation, Retrieval: the Value of Objects from Reopened Graves’.

There will be a workshop in Hamburg on 10-11 November 2017, titled “Rest in peace? Burial grounds as spaces for non-funerary activities”, will look into just this: what else happened, or might have happened, in burial places, apart from people burying their deceased? As the program shows, the presentations cover a wide range both in regards to time and regions. Stephanie Zintl will talk about the reopening of early medieval graves and what these actions may tell us about the cemeteries’ role beyond being used for burying people; and will draw attention to newer research and ideas on what was traditionally only seen as “grave robbery”.

The workshop is organized by Daniela Hofmann and Robert Schumann at the University of Hamburg and is free of charge. If you want to attend please contact the organizers.

Grave disturbance in early medieval Europe. International symposium 2017

09:00 to 17:00 Thursday 12th January 2017.

Attendance is free but registration is required.

Tea, coffee, and light refreshments will be served during the morning and afternoon breaks, but lunch is not provided. A range of cafés and restaurants can be found on the university campus or nearby.

For more information please see the main event page.

Update 17 December 2016: The symposium is now fully booked. If you would still like to attend, please register using the form below and we will place your name on a waiting list in case of cancellations.

The Dutch foundation Archaeological Dialogues in cooperation with the medieval chair group at Leiden University are organizing a small symposium on the interaction between theory and methodology in archaeological mortuary studies, followed by a two day conference on early medieval cemetery archaeology in the Low Countries. The conference will take place at Leiden University on April 22nd to 24th 2015.

The first day will consist of papers the techniques and standards for excavation and publication; the use of scientific analyses on grave remains; and the potential added value of ethnographic examples and anthropological theory for archaeological mortuary studies.

The two consecutive days will focus specifically on early medieval cemetery archaeology in the Netherlands and Belgium, and will include a lecture by Martine van Haperen on reopened graves from the Low Countries.

For more details, please see the program and registration form on the foundation’s website. The registration deadline is April 3rd.