Bed Burials in Early Medieval Europe

Abstract

Burial in a bed is a rare phenomenon, but one which is found persistently throughout early medieval Europe. Bed burials are found across a wide geographic area, from England in the west, to Slovakia in the east, and Scandinavia in the north, while their chronological distribution ranges from the early 5th to the early 10th century. The identities of the people buried in these graves were diverse, including men, women, adults and children, and they were accompanied by a range of grave goods, some particularly well furnished, others less so. The examples from England stand out as a unique group, being mostly adult women, and restricted to the 7th century. This paper will argue that this particularity, along with Christian symbolism in many of the examples from England, is evidence that the bed burial rite was imported into England as a result of female mobility associated with Christianisation.