Heat Maps Tracking Death Practices in Early Medieval Europe The Cambridge University archaeologist examined over 33,000 graves from 237 cemeteries across early Medieval Western Europe and found that there was a widespread, contemporaneous change in burial practices across the region between the 6th – 8th centuries. Medieval burial. ( /Adobe Stock) Funerary practices suddenly changed from burying people with regionally specific grave goods to laying a person to rest in a standardized, unfurnished burial . Dr. Brownlee said that “Almost everyone from the eighth century onwards is buried very simply in a plain grave, with no accompanying objects, and this is a change that has been observed right across western Europe.”