ABSTRACT
The importance of human remains and associated material for the interpretation of social and cultural systems is self-evident. However, one of the major problems in medieval archaeology is the suppression of the practice of burying grave goods, which resulted from the establishment of Christianity. This lack of evidence is offset by the gains provided by the historical record and surviving illustrative material. Provided that this material is used ethnographically as well as in historical and art historical terms, the gain in terms of information is enormous (de Bouard 1969, Audouze & Leroi-Gourhan 1981).
