Cremations, Urns and Mobility – Ancient population dynamics in Belgium

The CRUMBEL project proposes to study the collections of cremated bone found in Belgium, dating from the Neolithic to the Early-Medieval period. The goal is to improve the current understanding of how people lived in Belgium between 3000 BC and 700 AD. The dominance of cremation as funeral practice from that period in Northern Europe led to limited information on migrations and living conditions.

CRUMBLE will date the most interesting and relevant specimens using radiocarbon, to collect more in depth information about the chronology, development, and disappearance of cremation as funerary practice in Belgium. Thanks to the analyse of strontium isotopes, more information can also be obtained about mobility, lifestyles and evolution of funerary practices in Belgium, since the arrival of agriculture in the Neolithic to the arrival of Catholicism.

Coordinated by the VUB, this project gathers research teams from Universiteit Gent, ULB (Martine Vercauteren - Anthropology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Sciences & CRéA-Patrimoine, Faculty of Philosophy and Social sciences) and C-14 dating Laboratory, KIK-IRPA
Dates
Created on August 13, 2018