| Patterns in the distribution of graves in the central medieval cemetery of Reusel, the Netherlands |
7; Huijbers 2007, 409). It is possible that this part was reserved for people that were considered pious.
In general, males and females were buried unsegregated. However, only males were buried inside the Romanesque church. Perhaps females could not be buried intramurally. In front of the entrance of the Romanesque church, which is expected to be a humble, yet at the same time worthy, place( Effros 1997, 22; Meier and Graham-Campbell 2013, 436-7), only women were recovered. It appears that this location was, for unknown reasons, considered to be suitable for women, but the result could also be due to the small sample size.
When it comes to the spatial distribution of grave morphologies, the clustering of ladder graves east of the Romanesque church presbytery is the most remarkable. The ladder graves cluster in this favourable area, which suggests that this type of container was reserved for specific people, possibly either the clergy or wealthy laymen. It is noteworthy that this is the only type of container in which only men appear to be buried. Perhaps only certain males were considered suitable for such burials. Chronological analysis shows that these graves were constructed throughout most phases during the use of the cemetery. Ladder graves were only absent in the first and last phases( Nater 2016, 93). The same variation in grave morphologies is visible from other archaeological cemetery sites( Arts et al. 1998, 33; Lefever et al. 1993, 194), although this clustering of ladder graves is unique.
The orientation of a grave can provide information on burial ritual and the buried individual. At this cemetery the majority of the graves is orientated roughly from west to east, save three exceptions, which were buried from east to west. This suggests that these exceptions were priests, for the reason mentioned in paragraph‘ Burial within the Christian religion during the Central and Late Middle Ages’. This is also in accordance with results from other archaeological sites( see for examples: Rochtus 2015, 41-46). Because one of these was a woman, it is possible that in Reusel, east to west burial was not meant for priests only, contrary to the common practice( e. g. Arts 2013a, 30; Arts 2013b, 123; Arts and Nollen 2006, 88). It could also mean that this society had progressive ideas about the roles of females, or potentially that we are dealing with a nun. All of the east-west burials were rather far from the church.
The surrounding graves are all orientated from west to east. This suggests that there was no specific location to bury these people. However, there may
Figure 7. Map with pie charts displaying the relative amounts of males and females per area, and for the total.
2016 | INTER-SECTION | VOL II | p. 11