Rural cemeteries, cult places and community identities in the central Middle Ages in the Kempen region (southern Netherlands)

Abstract

The archaeology of post-Merovingian rural cemeteries is not well developed in the Netherlands. Few cemeteries or churchyards of the Carolingian period and the Central Middle Ages have been excavated extensively, and no synthetic research is available. However, in the later 20th century, several rural cemeteries of the Central Middle Ages were excavated at Luiksgestel, Dommelen, Reusel, Bergeijk, and Aalst in the Kempen region in southern Netherlands (Figs. 1 and 2).