Concern for the Living, Care for the Dead: Non-adult Burial at the Early Christian cemetery of St Patrick’s Chapel, Pembrokeshire

Summary

Recent excavations below the ruins of a 13th–16th AD century chapel dedicated to St Patrick, at Whitesands Bay, Pembrokeshire in southwest Wales revealed ninety well-preserved burials dating to the 7th–11th century AD. There was an unusually high concentration of non-adults buried at the site, including a number of foetuses and infants. Some of these young individuals received elaborate burial forms, including the use of quartz-topped burials and cross-inscribed grave markers. It is necessary to consider why so much was invested in the burial of those whose lives were so short. This paper will therefore explore how the funerary rites accorded to these individuals reflect the concerns of the living regarding the well-being of society’s youngest members in the afterlife.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21200