Across early medieval Europe, furnished graves have been regularly found in a disturbed condition, their contents missing or scattered, occasionally broken and thrown into intrusive cuts. Deliberate damage to objects has been suggested, in line with the established idea of violence associated with these post-burial intrusions. However, a close look at the process – type of object broken, sampling of only a few pieces – suggests another reality, challenging the assumption that any break is necessarily the result of a negative intention. Alongside the intentional fragmentation of contents, missing bones characterise a significant number of reopened graves – taphonomy or voluntary destruction during the intrusion are usually proposed as (unsatisfactory) explanations. In fact, this issue has been little considered in the research, and very few in-depth analyses have been carried out so far.

This chapter explores the theme of incomplete and fragmented Merovingian reopened graves, not as a testimony to disrespectful practice but as an integral part of mortuary customs where the dead and their belongings played an active role in the lives of the living. It opens the discussion on the meaning of these specific gestures towards two very different kinds of remains: objects and human bones.