Fires in the dark. Wood and charcoal analysis of the Early Medieval funerary deposits in the cave of Riocueva (Cantabria, Spain)

Abstract

The results of the uncharred wood and charcoal analysis carried out on samples from the site are presented in this work. The assemblages comprised debris from combustion structures, remains related to the funerary burnings and torches, and also fragments of uncharred wood probably related to the funerary rite. The cave of Riocueva was used as a burial place at some point between the 7th and 8th centuries cal. AD. Archaeological work carried out between 2010 and 2014 has recovered the remains of at least eight young individuals and many associated objects: glass beads, rings, spindle hooks, knives and pot sherds, among others. As in other burial caves of similar chronologies from the Cantabrian region, rituals linked to the treatment of corpses have been detected. The destruction and burning of the skulls is the most stunning of them. Furthermore, burning grain beside the bodies, a custom forbidden by medieval penance books, has been tentatively suggested as a possible practice forming part of the rituals.