Gifts from the Grieving: Objects left by the Bereaved at Burial Sites in Central Europe

Abstract

This thesis advances an archaeology of bereavement, arguing that grief is materially legible in Early Medieval Austrian burials. It analyzes 748 inhumations from Pottenbrunn, Thunau Obere Holzwiese, Oberleiserberg, and Krungl using mixed methods that combine distributional summaries and correlation by age and sex with qualitative readings of manufacture, use, and in-grave placement. Despite Christian discouragement of grave goods, nearly sixty percent of graves contain artefacts. Children’s burials show distinctive assemblages. Copper-alloy and iron bells cluster with infants and children, mosaic “eye” beads occur only in child or unknown-age graves, adult-sized iron knives accompany some children, likely donated tokens or protective gifts. Vessels, animal remains, grain, and hearth materials indicate enduring feasts and house-linking rites. While heterogeneous recording, typological inconsistency, and incomplete dating and biological profiles limit precision, convergent patterns across sites show grief and attachment shaped funerary choices. Recognizing these affective signatures refines mortuary interpretation and reconnects past communities with their lived emotions.