La perturbation des sépultures mérovingiennes est-elle « élémentaire » en archéologie ? Nouveaux regards sur les réouvertures de tombes au haut Moyen Âge en Europe

Abstract

The reopening of Merovingian burials with the removal of objects is a practice well known to archaeologists and historians. Recent studies highlight the extent of this phenomenon across a Europe with rich and varied funerary practices. It began during the 6th century, particularly in its second half, and reached its peak during the 7th century. The concerned sites belong to the Reihengräberfelder horizon (row grave necropolises) and are characterised by the use of clothed inhumations and the burial deposits. They spread over a large part of Europe, from the south-east of England to Romania. The removal of objects is selective and answers to considerations that cannot be systematically linked to a search for beautiful objects motivated by greed. The chronology of intervention is similar between sites with ancient reopenings, contemporary with the use periods of the cemeteries. Archaeothanatological study shows that disruption typically occurs after the decomposition of the bodies, but before the complete disappearance of the container and the obstruction of the burial. Considered for a long time as transgressive acts, reopenings appear today more as a complex community practice, weaving a close link between the world of the living and that of the dead.