After receiving her BA from the University of Amsterdam, Robbin van Splunder graduated in medieval archaeology at the University of York in 2012. In November 2018 she joined the Rural Riches team.
Robbin is currently going trough piles of excavation reports to gather data about 5th to 7th century settlements. This comprehensive inventory of Merovingian settlement excavations will provide a broader understanding of the society of the day. It will allow us to connect the highly ritualized context of cemeteries to the more mundane practicalities of everyday life in a village. How do items found in rural settlements differ from those deposited in graves? What does that tell us about the Merovingian economy? A surprisingly large number of rural settlements also reveal evidence for the production of pottery, glass and metal objects. An overview of these rural artisanal workshops is essential for our understanding of the early medieval economy and exchange systems. .