BURIAL IN EARLY MEDIEVAL WALES: IDENTIFYING MULTIFUNCTIONAL CEMETERIES

Burial grounds and secular settlements in early medieval Wales (fifth to eleventh centuries AD) are understood have been geographically separate locations. In contrast, it is known that England on the Continent during this period burial began be integrated within settlements. Changes practice also occurred Ireland, where ‘cemetery settlements’ with non-funerary activity a relatively recent discovery. This paper presents reassessment of archaeological evidence from five published Welsh cemeteries one recently-excavated example. It will demonstrate these share number attributes Irish cemetery critically evaluate significance for our understanding Wales. The conclude such sites better conceptualized as ‘multifunctional cemeteries’, rather than settlements’.