Burial in early medieval Wales : identifying multifunctional cemeteries

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