Ways of death: cremation and belief in first-millennium AD Ireland. (April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gleeson, Patrick; McLaughlin, Rowan
• Is Part Of: Antiquity. Volume 95:Number 380(2021)
• Page Start: 382
• Page End: 399
• Publication Date: 2021-04
• Subjects: Europe, -- Ireland, -- early medieval, -- mortuary practice, -- cremation, -- Christianisation; Archaeology -- Periodicals; Antiquities -- Periodicals; 930.05
• DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2020.251
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0003-598X

Abstract

Abstract: Abstract : Archaeological studies of belief, ideology and commemorative strategies in Ireland, and elsewhere in Europe, neglect the continuation of cremation far beyond the supposed fifth-century AD threshold for the shift to inhumation under the influence of Christianity. A database of radiocarbon dates from first-millennium AD Ireland permits the identification of new patterns in early medieval (AD 400–1100) mortuary practices, including a new phase of cremation. The authors discuss archaeological and historical implications to demonstrate how data-driven approaches can enhance and challenge established metanarratives. They also highlight serious methodological and interpretative issues that these data pose for current narrative frameworks, and their influence on post-excavation strategies.