Dr. M.c. Van Haperen
Researcher
Archaeology
Leiden University
Netherlands
Biography
The richly furnished graves from Merovingian cemeteries form a formidable source for the study of early medieval society. These graves were frequently reopened while the cemetery was still in use. Such post-depositional interventions are traditionally interpreted as grave robbery. Nonetheless many archaeological observations seem to contradict this interpretation. Given the frequent occurrence of interventions, it seems better not to approach them as deviant behaviour, but to study their role in the spectrum of interactions between the living and dead in early medieval society.
Research Interest
Archaeology
Publications
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Theuws F.C.W.J. & Haperen M.C. van (2012), The Merovingian cemetery of Bergeijk-Fazantlaan. Bonn: Habelt Verlag Bonn.
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Haperen M.C. van (2013), The distributed dead: Personhood from the perspective of reopened graves. In: Ludowici B. (Ed.) Individual and Individuality? Approaches towards an Archaeology of Personhood in the first Millenium AD. no. Neue Studien zur Sachsenforschung Stuttgard: Konrad Theiss Verlag. 89-93.
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Haperen M.C. van (16 May 2017), In touch with the dead : early medieval grave reopenings in the Low Countries (PhD thesis). Supervisor(s) and Co-supervisor(s):F.C.W.J. Theuws.
