TANGIBLE TRACES OF DEVOTION: The Post-mortem Life of Relics.

Though relics have attracted immense interest from a variety of scholars, not much attention has been paid to the practical handling of the holy corporal remains. Here, with the aim of better understanding the treatment of the bodies and relics as physical objects in Sweden during the Middle Ages, osseous materials from three different contexts were osteologically analysed. The investigation offers detailed insight into the treatment of the bones and makes it possible to distinguish three physical phases of the cult of relics. The three phases demonstrate the utilitarian administration of the bones and the fortitude of belief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]