Laatmiddeleeuwse sarcofagen en steenkisten in Boksum, gemeente Menaldumadeel (Fr.)

Samenvatting

Late medieval sarcophagi and cists at Boksum, Menaldumadeel (Friesland). In recent years, two sarcophagi and two cists, graves built from brick and tuff, topped with a sarcophagus lid, were found in the churchyard of the Sinte Margriet church at Boksum, in the province of Friesland. Three of these were (and still are) in situ and could be properly investigated by archaeologists. The fourth one, unfortunately, could not, though it has been restored and is nowadays on display inside the church. The sarcophagi and the lids of the cists are made of red sandstone and originate from the Middle Rhine area, which from about 1000 to 1300, saw a flourishing industry in the production of sandstone sarcophagi. Since the 11th century, these sarcophagi found their way to the coastal areas of Denmark, Germany and the northern Netherlands, where they were used and re-used for centuries. As a rule, the people buried in these often finely decorated sarcophagi belonged to the local elite or clergy. The importance of the finds at Boksum lies both in the number of the sarcophagi and cists found together (only a few other places in the north of the Netherlands have a similar number of sarcophagi) and especially in the fact that three of them are still intact and in situ.