Regular readers will have followed the story of the evolution over three-and-a-half years of an innovative book project involving structured interviews: Cremation in the Early Middle Ages.

Co-edited by myself and Femke Lippok, the book has been a distinctive and original project unlike any other I’ve worked on. The collection explores new research and fresh perspectives on the archaeological evidence for death and fire in early medieval north-west Europe. The book comprises a Foreword, Introduction and 19 further chapters on cremation practices of the 5th-11th centuries CE in Fennoscandia, Continental northern and western Europe, and the islands of Ireland and Britain.

Rather than repeat information previously shared, I want to jump to the key point: after a month of thinking through cover-options that serve to represent the topic of the book without prioritising any specific locality/region, sub-period or dimension, we have agreed a final design!

As a result, the publishers have now advertised the book! Hence, I’m now delighted to announce that the book is available for pre-order from Sidestone Press via this link:

https://www.sidestone.com/books/cremation-in-the-early-middle-ages

The publication date is 12th December 2024 and we will announce the book launch closer to the time!