Cremation in the Early Middle Ages - Death, fire and identity in North-West Europe, co-edited by Howard Williams, Professor of Archaeology at the University of Chester will be launched with a free online event on Thursday, December 12.

The book is based on new evidence for cremation practices across Ireland and northern Britain in the early medieval period.

The brand-new collection of articles, co-edited with Femke Lippok of Leiden University in The Netherlands, draws together the latest research and thinking on early medieval cremation, seeking to understand why early medieval people cremated their dead.

The online book launch will include talks by the editors and authors, special guest talks by key experts in the archaeology of death and burial, and an open discussion about the future directions of research on burning the dead in the early medieval period.

The new insights include the discovery in France of a cremated human body, buried with artefacts: a bead, key, knives and dress accessories, dating to the ninth century CE.

The remains were found during an excavation at La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin, in Loiret.

Given this is located about 1.5km from the nearest attested historic churchyard, it raises the possibility it is the burial of a Scandinavian 'Viking' raider and/or trader visiting the region.

The new publication, Cremation in the Early Middle Ages - Death, fire and identity in North-West Europe (Image via: Chester University))

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Professor Williams said: "Cremation has tended to be afforded limited treatment in accounts of death, burial and commemoration in the early medieval period, sometimes still over-simplistically characterised as 'early in date', 'pagan' and 'Germanic', but sometimes 'Norse', 'Celtic' or 'Slavic'.

"Yet traces of cremation practices can be found alongside the graves of those buried without cremation, and other dimensions of death ritual in varying forms and frequencies, over large tracts of the former Roman Empire and beyond its borders.

 "Presenting our developing interdisciplinary theories, refined field and lab-based methods, and a wide range of fresh discoveries, we have sought, for the first time, to explore the rich and varied evidence for early medieval cremation practices within the context of new scientific applications and contextual analyses, and 'debunk' some of the traditional associations.

"Cremation constitutes an important and diverse archaeological component in our investigation of death and identity in the early medieval period."

The launch takes place from 5pm to 7pm on Thursday, December 12. To find out more and book a free place, please visit here.

Further details about the book are available here.