BURGUND SYNOPSIS

The early Roman historians treated Germania as geographical space, and called all peoples there Germanic without regard to their ethnicity, stating that they are Celtic people. The Romans simply labeled the Gauls along the Rhine, and the Celts and Sarmats as Germania tribes, even though they clearly were different peoples. The border between Germania in the west and Sarmatia in the east run somewhere along the Oder-Vistula rivers. Later Roman historians made clear that not all peoples of the early Germania were ethnically Germanic, they learned to discriminate between the Celtic, Finnic, Baltic, Slavic, and Germanic peoples. During Dark Ages little was known about ethnicity. And the modern historiography tends to follow the lead of the early Roman historians, treating clearly non-ethnically Germanic people as ethnically Germanic. Thus, the modern historiography encounters two contrasting types of Germanics: societies of sedentary farmers and societies of nomadic animal husbandry pastoralists, each equipped with its own unmistakable set of distinct ethnological traits. To treat these disparate communities as one unbreakable continuum is impossible, although their histories are much intertwined their disparateness brings havoc into historical discourse.

  In contrast with the sedentary farmers, the pastoral societies of the Classical Germania stand out with their Sarmatian traits: unlike the Germanic tribes, they are horse pastoralists, they leave faint archeological traces of their settlements; they bury under kurgans, they supply their deceased with necessities for a travel to the other world including horses, tools and arms, food and drinks, and they bury their deceased dressed in their best daily attire. Their armies are cavalry armies, their military routs run through terrain able to support their horses, they are known as salient warriors, they are distinctly dressed and armed, their battle tactics is mobility and surprise, instead of standing their ground they would rather dissipate and reappear from the rear. In appearance they are Caucasoids with a tint of Mongoloidness, low-faced and distinguished by a tradition of cranial deformation. They have distinct social organization, predicated by the mobility of their constituent tribes, and distinct system of overlordship over sedentary subjects. Historical records and archeological finds concur on their location and allow to trace their migrations. In the European history they appear as Scythian-kindred tribes, vaguely located between Scythia and Germania; they occupy enormous poorly defined space; the ancient geographers can't be blamed for the misty descriptions, for the mobility defies stationary descriptions.

The Vandals and their Burgund branch are clear cases of nomadic origin, ignored in their ethnology and misrepresented in their culture. Other "Germanic" tribes distinguished with less obvious non-Germanic traits are the Thurings, also reviewed in this book. Archeological traces obviously distinguish the horse pastoralists' Przeworsk and Chernyakov cultures from the neighboring agricultural and hunter-gatherer cultures. The Przeworsk culture 2nd century BC - 5th century AD is a culturally varied zone dominated by the unmistakably Türkic horse pastoralist Sarmats whose most prominent component was made famous by the later Vandals and Burgunds. The Chernyakov culture of 2nd - 5th cc. AD is an extension of unmistakably Türkic Scytho-Sarmatian horse pastoralists' culture with notable dynastic Hunnic presence, admixture of Germanic elements introduced by the Goths, which readily explains the heavy layer of Turkisms in Germanic languages and underscores social demography by Gothic having only few Slavic loanwords, and sedentary elements that are traceable to the later Slavic settlements, which also readily explains the heavy layer of Turkisms in the Slavic languages. Both Przeworsk and Chernyakov cultures are adjacent and include areas where Herodotus placed the Scythian ploughmen, he included sedentary farmers into the Scythian horse pastoralist-led society. And both Przeworsk and Chernyakov cultures distinctly belong to the Scytho-Sarmatian-Hunnic-Türkic Kurgan Culture.

Page numbers are shown at the beginning of the page in blue. Page breaks in continuous text are indicated by //. Posting notes and explanations, added to the text of the author and not noted specially, are shown in parentheses in (blue italics) and in blue boxes, or highlighted by blue headers. The original footnotes are mostly omitted.

Part A. History and the Archeological Evidence
I. Northern Central Europe
b. Populations
The Burgundians

Tacitus does not name the Burgundians living along the south shore of the Baltic Sea. He may have considered them to be included among the Lugians (Balto-Slavic lug = meadow, quite a proper exonym for peoples pasturing in meadows and bogs) and hence associates of the Vandals (Germanic Vandals = Wandalen = Nomad,, quite a proper exonym for peoples pasturing in pasturing routs). Pliny, in the first century AD, did not know of any Lugii though he names Burgundiones as members of the larger group of Vandili (Pliny's mention of Gutones states that Vandals are one of five races of Germany, and that Vandals include the Burgodiones, the Varinnae, the Charini and Gutones. The most logical explanation for the syllable gut/guth/got/goth is the Türkic generic guz = tribe, and we can recognize it in numerous ethnonyms, from Scandinavia to Mongolia. The form guz is Oguzic, while the form Gur is Oguric. Together, the forms gus and gur, and subforms gut/get cover most of the Eurasian span. Depending on the time of their spin-off, vary their the other traits, like the Kipchak-type stone circles around the graves, and the grave stelae). ²⁴ Their location according to Ptolemy in the second century AD can be placed in eastern central Europe near the river Vistula. ²⁵ Here links with the Wielbark and Przeworsk cultures are indicated. The earliest identifiable settlements along the northern Middle Oder point to the first century BC. The archeological evidence suggests expansion between /23/ the Elbe and Oder Rivers to have taken place during the late second and third centuries AD.
23

The evidence suggests an assimilation of the indigenous population with the tribal elements known as Burgundians during which process pockets of settlement gradually assumed a degree of uniformity. ²⁶ Linguistically they may have been linked to the Goths, however, very little of their language has been retained (What specifically has been retained?). Ablabius' early legendary 'history' of the Visigoths mentions a devastating defeat of the Burgundians by the Gepids at a time when the Goths had already reached the plains north of the Black Sea, perhaps early during the first half of the third century AD (ca 220 AD).

Archeology has revealed that while the Goths and other eastern Germanic peoples (I.e. seddentary peoples of ancient zone called Germania) did not customarily include weapons in the graves, the Burgundian fire pit graves were nevertheless equipped with weapon inventories before they were replaced by gravefields of the Gepidic type, but already in AD 269 the Gepids were settled in Dada.

In Lusatia between Elbe and Middle Oder conflicts with the Lombards introduced unsettled conditions, including Lombardic oppression of parts of the Burgundian tribe. Burgundian splinter groups are mentioned repeatedly during this time along the Lower Danube.

Dubious references are also made to 'eastern' Burgundians fighting with the Alans against the Goths along the Don River in southern Russia (And if two centuries later they are identified with the Hunnic Bulgars, how can it be dubious? More than that, Agathias confirms that Bulgars and Burugunds are two separate ethnonyms, they are not two close versions of the same ethnonym). ²⁷

24 Pliny, Natural History, Vol. IV, translated by W.H.S. Jones, XCV (Cambridge, Mass, and London), 99. See also Hachmann, pp.138, 241ff.
25 Ptolemy, Geographica, 11,11,14. Strassburg 1513 {Amsterdam 1966).

35
Part A. History and the Archeological Evidence
III. Western Central Europe
a. The Burgundians along the Rhine

As early as AD 278 Burgundians are mentioned with Vandals invading Raetia where Probus defeated them and pushed them north out of Raetia. The prisoners taken were sent to Britain as reinforcements for the Roman army there. A decade later some of the Burgundians have settled in the Main-Neckar region. In AD 286 the Emperor Maximian repelled them as well as Alemans and others from Gaul. Rather than heading for the Danube, they turned to the area formerly delimited by the limes. The experience gained by the earlier Germanic raiding parties against this part of the Roman frontier will have helped them find the way. No doubt Burgundian nobles and their retinues will have served there as auxiliaries during the middle of the third century.

For the next hundred years the main tribe of the Burgundians still remaining in their tribal realms between Elbe arid Oder, appear gradually to have left their land and joined their advance groups, gathering reinforcements from other tribes through whose lands they passed. In 359 Julian, not yet Emperor, campaigned against the Alemans and in this context it is mentioned that the rivers Jagst and Kocher, part of the Upper German limes formed the western boundary of the Burgundians. ⁵¹

51 Ammianus Marcellinus, The Surviving Books of History, in three volumes With an English translation by J.C. Rolfe. Classical Library (Cambridge, Mass. And London 1964), 18, 2, 15.
36

It is possible that the Burgundians actually occupied the military territory of the former limes forts, where for a hundred years they probably had very close contact with the remaining Romans and the Romanized population and probably  also foedus obligations to guard the area against the Alemans especially during the reign of Valentinian I who attempted to restore the old border. The region is rich in salt springs and in c.369 disputes between the Alemans and the Burgundians did take place over the control of some of these springs. It may have been the occasion of these disputes which prompted the Emperor Valentinian I in 369/70 to encourage the Burgundians to attack the Alemans from the rear while he attacked from Raetia. ⁵² In keeping with Rome's divisive policies he would have been pleased to see two Germanic tribes weaken one another rather than to help one gain dominance in the region, upset the balance of power and become a problem to Rome. The hostilities brought the Burgundians, reputedly eighty thousand strong, along the river Main to the Rhine and Valentnian I may have feared that Burgundian ambitions could take them into Gaul. Under the threat of the impending Burgundian attack Alemanic groups pushed evasively into Raetia where they were overcome by Theodosius, magister equitum, and father of the future Emperor by the same name. When the Roman support of the Burgundian attack did not materialize and Valentnian refused to cover their retreat, the Burgundian kings were angered to the point of killing all of their prisoners, probably including Romans. According to Ammianus the Burgundians had been willing to join the Roman designs, since for a long lime they, the Burgundians, had known themselves to be descendants of the Romans, perhaps left there by Drusus and Tiberius. ⁵³ If the Burgundians had such feelings they were more likely to have been caused by more recent close association with the Romans in their new territories.

Map 14. Burgund C.European Anabasis

When the Vandals and their confederates crossed the Rhine in 406/07 the Burgundians followed in their wake and crossed the Rhine near Mogontiacum/Mainz (Fig. 14) As was the case with almost all of these tribal groups, not all the Burgundians gave up their lands on the right side of the Rhine, a large enough group stayed behind to form a contingent in Attila's army in 451. ⁵⁴ Seventy years later, in 542 they finally joined the main tribe in its kingdom on the  Rhone.

52 Hanz-Jorg Kellner, Die Romen in Bayern (Munich 1978), p. 173.
53 Ammianus Marcellinus XXV111, 5, 10-11, p. 167.
54 Luebe, Die Burgunder, in Krüger II, p. 373 n. 21. The source is Sidonius Apollnarius, Carmina, 7, 322. Also Maenchen-Helfen p.84.
37

Once they had crossed the Rhine in 406/07, the Burgundians occupied lands in Germania II along the left hank of the river between Argentorale/Strasbourg in the south and Mogontiacum in the north. Their engagement in the politics of the Empire is indicated in that in 411 Burgundians sided with the usurper Iovinus, actually a member of the old Celtic aristocracy, in his quest for the purple, and in conjunction with Franks, Alemans and a large Roman army attacked Constantine III, ⁵⁵ the usurper from Britain, and threatened to invade Gaul. It was this threat, which helped the Visigoths obtain land in southern Gaul. It is possible that the Burgundian king Gundahar, with other support, played a more active role this usurpation and actually proclaimed Iovinus Emperor, partly to gain legitimacy in the political process as forces to be taken seriously and partly as a means to gain the recognition of ownership of the lands in their possession. However that may be, in 413 the Emperor Honorius recognized the Burgundians as foederati and gave them the land even though the usurpation had failed and the other tribes had withdrawn. But then the Visigoths were fighting in Gaul against the troops of Ravenna and the military power of two tribes may have been more than Ravenna was willing to fight at the same time.

The Burgundian lands were developing into a kingdom, which according to tradition, had its capital at Worms. The kingdom may actually have been located further north along the Middle Rhine, the Moselle being its northern frontier. ⁵⁶ Twenty years later, in 435. the Burgundians attempted to expand their territories westward into Belgica but were defeated by Aetius, since 330 the supreme commander of all Roman forces in the west. This defeat may not have been decisive, for in 436 Aetius set his Hunish mercenaries (Fig. 15) under the command of Litorius, one of his generals, on the Burgundians and this time the entire royal family was wiped out along with purportedly twenty thousand members of the tribe. More is not known about the destruction of the Burgundian kingdom. Earlier, in 428 and 432, Aetius had been victorious over the Franks, in 435 he used Huns when he had to deal with the uprising of the bacaudae (apparently, from Spanish baca ~ cow > "shepherds, cowboys", but a notable remnant of Bacauds is a high number of Bagaud-based last names among Itil Tatars, allowing for an alternate hypothesis) and there was war with the Visigoths in southern Gaul. These struggles may account for the drastic measures taken against the Burgundians at this time.

55 Wnll’ramj Gothsf p.lfil. Gn'S'dr)’ ol Tnurs. II. Herr Gitjfory quotes hum Ft i^eridus.
56 l L. Musset, 7?m (tfnnaniz InvasionTht Mahng oj Unmpt J-Z). 400 iratisl. In toward and Gnlumlxi James from the IVem h /ji Imashm: hi I' igm Gmiafuqm; (London 1975), p.62.
38

The Senate erected a statue to Aetius on which were commemorated Aetius' victories over Burgundians and Goths. ⁵⁷

Aetius, as supreme commander was also the chief policy-maker in the west. To secure Gaul, he must have realized that the location of  the Burgundians on the Middle Rhine after 406 and their potentially destabilizing presence in northern Gaul after 430 had to be dealt with decisively. An anti-Roman alliance with the Franks, as had taken place in 411, had to be prevented, if Rome wanted to maintain control. The Franks could no longer be driven out, but the Burgundians could be moved further away and consequently in 443 their resettlement as foederati and laeti in Maxima Sequanorum, i.e. western Switzerland and eastern France (an area also referred to as Sapaudia, linguistically related to "Savoy" but not territorially) was completed. (Map 6)

Map 6. Burgundians and Huns

Their role was the protection of eastern Gaul and of the Alpine passes against Alemans and Franks from the north and N-E and against the Visigoths from southern Gaul (Such counterposing of Burgunds vs. generically Germanic tribes reliably poits to the ethnical disparateness, another cue indicating their Sarmatian Uraloid Türkishness; Sarmats played that role from early 2nd c. AD, and the Scythians, Sarmatians, Huns, Bulgars, and Türks are known as renown warriors and mercenaries of all times). Devastated by years of repeated Alemanic invasion, the area was attractive to them largely on the north shore of lake Geneva and around Lake Neuchatel. In time king Gundobad (474? - 516 placed his capital at Genava/Geneva. ⁵⁸ Already in 451 the Burgundians were called to reinforce Aetius' coalition against the Huns under Attila and his army of tributary peoples. (Fig. 16)

During the battle Attila against Burgundians and Romans formed the center of the battle line. The position in the line was evidently one of trust and honor, which the Burgundians had earned during the brief period in their new settlements. In their lands the integration of the Gallo-Roman population and the Burgundians proceeded particularly well. ⁵⁹ Catholicism was adopted in time, both groups shared the same cemeteries. Burgundian graves no longer contained weapons. Owing perhaps to the continuing sense of importance for education and the vitality of the many men of letters in the realm of the Burgundians they more readily adopted the interests and caltural directions of the Gallo-Roman population. In time they turned towards the southwest so that during the sixties of the fifth century the kingdom expanded in that direction by incorporating most of the provinces Lugdunensis I and Vienensis at the expense of tihe Visigoths.

57 Miirnrhcn-Hrllrn. p. 99 n. 444.
58 Gimlhrr, Crfnaanm, p.fi, dclatls th<; regional tkihdhisiwi!; ol ihr kingdcnn.
59 See Goffart, Barbarians and Romans. AD 418 - 584, The Techniques of accomodation. (Prinston, 1980), pp.145ff, for the implementation of hospitalitas.
40

By the end of the century, aided by the expanding Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy, the Burgundian kingdom reached from the Champagne region in the north to the Maritime Alps and Avignon in the south and from central Switzerland in the east to beyond the Rhone River in the west. Administered from two centers, Geneva and Lugdunum/Lyon, the kingdom was a dual monarchy in which Gallo-Romans and Burgundians enjoyed nearly equal status. It may he that this nearly equal coexistence was promoted by the circumstance that under the practices of hospitalitas the Roman landowners were made to support their "quests" with revenue, ⁶⁰⁰ rather than with expropriated land, indicating that the establishment of the new "lords" did not take place overnight and that at the end Gallo-Romans and Burgundians were represented among the landowners.

The process of integration was reflected in the law codes, written in Latin and developed under their kings, the Lex Gundobada, actually misnamed, intended to accommodate both people and the Lex Romana Burgundionum of 506. ⁶¹ King Gundobad was another of these Romanized Germanic personalities who as vir illuster held the uppermost rank of the Late Roman Senatorial nobility, whom the Emperor dignified with the highest title — patricius and who as second in command and then successor of the real power in the west, Ricimer, rose to a position where he too could make Emperors and determine the polities of the Western Empire.

This Imperial recognition equipped them with the prestige acceptable to their Gallo-Roman populations. ⁶² The Burgundians never dissolved the foedus concluded with Rome and although the royal house generally remained Arian it retained good and tolerant terms with the Catholic Church, so that with its assistance und that of the Gallo-Roman aristocracy the unified kingdom with a community of interests was able to establish itself. The collaboration of the nobility in this and other instances indicates that, as during the Romanization centuries earlier, this social group realized where its interests lay and knew how to accommodate itself to the new realities presented by church and state (Fig. 17). Ii was only a matter of time before their Gallo-Roman descent was lost behind their Germanic names.
41

The Burgundians’ first important contacts with Catholicism will have taken place during their stay in the Catholic Rhineland (Fig, 18), but it is possible that under Visigothic influence the Burgundians adopted Arianism. That this was not a conversion involving everyone is indicated by the circumstance that the royal Burgundian princess Chrodechildis was Catholic when she married Chlodovech, king of the Franks, c, 493, and influenced his conversion to Catholicism. Shortly after 500 the Burgundian king Sigismund convened to Catholicism, - he was later elevated to sainthood even though he had his son murdered — convened a Catholic synod, maintained a link with Byzantium, and was the first Germanic king to go on a pilgrimage to Rome, a sure sign that the idea of the centrality of a Christian Rome was gaining acceptance among the kings of the successor states.⁶³ In his self-abasing correspondence with Byzantium Sigismund probably expressed the core thoughts about the political reality shared by the other kings when he wrote so humbly to the Emperor that his ancestors had always been devoted to the Empire, ... That his people belonged to the Emperor and that in commanding them he was only obeying the Emperor. ... That he appeared as king among them but that he was only the Emperor's soldier waiting for the orders which the Emperor might deign to issue him. ⁶⁴ Although the Emperor may have deduced something else from this diplomatic display of submission, it is correct that the successor states maintained enough of the old Imperial structures that the distant Emperors could feel secure in their impression that nothing had really changed.
42

However, placed in a vulnerable position between the realms of the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Alemans and Franks the relative stability of the Burgundian kingdom could not prevent the kingdom falling prey to the expanding ambitions of the Franks. Fratricidal and patricidal conflicts and intrigues within the royal family invited Frankish intervention in the affairs of the kingdom. ⁶⁵ Already in 500 Chlodovech/Clovis the Frank, in collusion with one of the royal brothers, Godegisel, defeated Gundobad and then used Burgundian support against the Visigoths.

63 A. Angnend Das FruhmdUiallcr die abendtrin'iiicfu. Chnstmhfit ran 400 - 900 [Scuttgai t 1990), jj.1 :!'2f.
64 Richc, pp.Jl9, 68.
65 Goftlm, Barimnmu, pp.L.V^lF, fitr the legal consequences pertaining to the holding of kind and bondsmen lulluiving the dr4Ltrr4. Ldfil conflict Wwccti GtidegisL-l and Gundobad. in 5011, and thr lie tory i )f Gundubnd.
43

The Catholicism of the Franks made it possible for them to draw the Catholic Gallo-Roman population onto their side and the Burgundian defeat of 532 ended their independence. Destined to become a bone of contention for a long time to come, the kingdom was divided among the three victorious kings of the Franks. By 600 the Burgundian language had faded from use (For any coherent community submerged into foreign environment, it takes half of a millennium to lose their language, and a millennium to lose their traditions. Pomaks are one of the abounding examples, submerged for a millennium into Slavic medium, influenced by related Oguz Türkic vernaculars, and with their literacy wiped out a millennium ago, at home they still use a version of the Türkic language that ascends to the Ogur languages supplanted half a dozen centuries ago).

[End of citation]

  Fig. 33 Child's deformed skull, early 5th century, from Schiltern in Lower Austria (47.7° N 16.2° E) (Traismauer)
(See Sarmat Synopsis on cranial deformation and Uraloid low face and jaw short in height)

95

VI. The archeological evidence
a. The funerary evidence

References have been made to burial sites, human and animal burials, funerary practices and inventories of provisions, pottery, weapons, personal ornaments and jewelry. These details allowed conclusions concerning foreign contacts and influences, such changing social patterns as the development of a gentrification and the emergence of social hierarchies. Tracing particular characteristics among these details also allowed the identification of migrations and of new settlement locations. It was also possible to conclude from the inventories that in some instances — those of the Thuringians and of the Bavarians, for example — the tribal genesis was the result of a process of assimilation.

It bears repeating that the disappearance of grave inventories marks the horizon of this book. This archeological indicator, more than any other, marks the end of the ancient world towards the conclusion of the Merovingian period. The triumph of Christianity in Europe during the Carolingian period coincides with the adoption of new funerary practices. These include the departure from the practice of burial in large gravefields in favor of interment in cemeteries placed around a (funerary) church or other sanctuary and the nobility's burial in the floors of the naves, aisles and crypts of their own religious foundations. From the Carolingian period onward funerary gifts are no longer a part of the burial. The following is in part a review of the earlier discussions.

In the north, in the region along the Lower Elbe which had been part of the core area of the Jastorf culture (c. 600 BC) and in which the genesis of the Lombards had taken place, there is evidence of smooth continuity of burial among a large number of urn-gravefields dating from the Early Iron Age to the second, and in part even to the third or fourth centuries of our era. This continuity indicates typological and cultural development in the grave gifts of pottery, fibulas, bone needles, sickles and bronze imports of Celtic and later of Roman provenance. Already for the early period in the Elbian territories the funerary practices indicate a growing class differentiation as richer graves appear separated from other burials, by their relative wealth in silver ornaments. Silver and glass vessels appear beside the Roman bronze ware. The quantity and selection of the grave inventories and the manner of burial point to social gaps and the emergence of elevated personalities.
95

In the large cemetery at Harsefeld near Stade (Fig. 51), on the Elbe estuary, the earlier concentration of bronze urns had been replaced by a concentration of weapons. Evidently one or more families had gained dominance along the Lower Elbe, allowing the conclusion that the leaders, their dependents and their following were buried at this site. Only a quarter of the graves are weapon-graves and none shows an association between weapons and bronze urns. Smaller, neighboring cemeteries were weaponless, such as the Saxon urnfield of Oldendorf near Stade. ¹⁶⁰ There the 73 graves yielded only a few finds, such as six fibulas, but six types in all, including a tutulus fibula, and other disc-shaped, cross-shaped and equal-armed examples, and such implements as tweezers and the fragment of an ear spoon, combs, knives, scissors, needles, keys, arm- and fingerings, a small belt buckle, bronze fragments and pieces of sheet bronze, objects of bone, as well as multicolored beads and the molten remains of glass beads. Wherever combs, beads and brooches appeared together one assumed the graves of women. Pottery was the most prevalent evidence in the graves. Fibulas and pottery allowed a dating of the urnfield to the fourth and fifth centuries (AD). Further towards the S-E a cemetery at Nienbuttel reflects developments comparable to those at Harsefeld. Here weapons were associated with bronze urns. At Harsefeld the old elite of the Early Imperial Period (25 BC - 193 AD) appears to have lost its prominence. The cemetery, has shrunk, though some of the aristocratic burials are more splendid than before and the complete armaments are contained in bronze vessels. Other weaponless cemeteries further south, showing a noticeable increase in the number of burials and their funerary inventories, indicate the presence of other aristocratic power centers and the prominence of a different and more numerous elite. At this time Nienbuttel gained in importance and along with the neighboring cemeteries, swords, shields, lances and spears appear in a variety of distributions. ¹⁶¹ Around another center there is a noticeably greater display of ornaments on garments and weapons. The elite group may have been wealthier. Thereafter the cemeteries indicate fewer burials and general impoverishment.

160 H.-J. Hauler, "Der sachsische Urnenfriedhof von Oldendorf (WciBcnmoorj, Kr. Stade, Niedcrsachsen", in H,-J. HaBler, Studm ^ur Sachsmforxhmg, //, Verof-jenthchungen der Urgeschichtlichen Sammlungen des Isindemiueums zu Hannover (Hildesheim 1980), pp. 107-120.
161 For an extensive analysis and itemization of weapons and other inventories from this and the later periods, see F. Stein, Adelsgrdber des achtenjahrhunderti in Deutsch-land. Gemanische Dmkmiiler der Volkeiwanderungszeit, Sew A, Band IX (Verlm 1967), pp.75-88
97

The extensive weapon inventories in the graves have been taken to denote the evolution of aristocratic constitutional structures with a Monarch at the apex. The singular, occasionally princely, funerary treatment of certain individuals or groups suggests the existence of leaders and entourages who were able to gather forces about themselves. ¹⁶² Some of the Roman wealth in the early graves can be attributed to the adventurous warrior formations, which made up the raiding parties of all those tribes, which penetrated the Roman defenses and returned with spoils. While towards the Rhine the Romans are believed to have hindered this development, farther in the eastern interior, along the Elbe, these leaders learned to consolidate the primacy of their position among their communities and, using their supporting forces, make other tribal groups inclined to join in their political ambitions.

By the middle of the fifth century this process favored the emergence of the kingship among the Thuringians, as well as among the leading central and western European tribes. Further east, among the Goths for instance, the result of this development had been completed earlier. Further south and east in the Slavic areas characterized by the Prague type of pottery the pit-house and the block-house, square in outline and between 12 and 20 m² in size predominated. Their western limit coincides with the western border of Slavic finds. ¹⁶³ Though post and beam construction was known towards the east, the Slavs preferred the block-house (I.e timber house, Sl. “сруб”) construction.

'Princely' graves made an appearance in the region during the first half of the second century, in an area characterized by weaponless graves and at a considerable distance from the old power centers. Instead of the traditional cremation graves these are inhumation graves, of which some are richly equipped with many weapons, imported Roman bronze ware and other objects pointing to extensive trade relations. Linked stylistically with the inhumation graves of Bohemia and Slovakia, the southern Baltic coast and the Swedish islands, the Danish islands and eastern Jutland, the 'Princely' graves were part of a group of similar aristocratic graves found between Denmark and Bohemia and Lower Saxony and Poland.

163 Peschel,pp.ll8fr., l(l! See Donat, p.lOf. for greater details concerning house construction among the Slavs.
98

Not until c.400 were urn burials introduced to the Lower Elbian lands previously characterized by the use of inhumation graves. This would be consistent with the tribal tradition that the Lombards had passed through to Bohemia. Once in Rugiland and then in Pannonia they accepted the prevalent inhumation burials in W-E (occidented) (focal point of the architectural structure faces west) row-graves, which show in the aristocratic graves strong influences in personal ornaments from eastern nomadic peoples (Fig. 52) in such things as ear-hangings, mirrors and certain types of weapons and Hunnish skull elongations as a clear physical distinction from the remainder of the tribal population.

Just as the presence of Ostrogothic women's personal ornaments among the Thuringians suggests intermarriages, so do the artificially deformed 'Hunnish' women's skulls, displaying Germanic, as well as Mongol features (These, certainly, are Sarmats, notable for the ubiquitous female cranial deformation, see Sarmat Synopsis). To impede pillaging the aristocratic graves were placed in pits seven meters deep. Simple pottery and provisions of animal products characterized the common graves. Warriors took along their weapons, usually battle-axes and lances (Fig. 53). Later, during their early history in Italy the Lombards gave up their burial practices as they abandoned the row-gravefields for churchyard burials, as in ever greater numbers they turned to the prevalent practices of the Catholic Church and as their leading groups adopted Roman funerary traditions of self-representation. Most notable, even north of the Lombard realm, was the adoption of the Byzantine use of the gold-foil crosses fastened to veils and placed over the deceased's mouth (Fig. 54), which during the seventh century generally displaced the bracteats used as amulets throughout the Germanic lands.
When we return to the north, to the area along the Lower Weser, it should be noticed that the population had been practicing cremation since c.600 BC Here too, inhumation graves began to appear c.400. From the first century onward this burial practice may have been a response to Roman influences from across the Rhine. To the end of the pagan period, c.800, one can expect mixed practices in the cemeteries along the middle Weser and in Eastphalia. The inventories reveal great variety of grave goods (Fig. 55) pointing to an inventive range of local crafts and extensive trade relations - - bronze objects from the Romans, ornaments, weapons and pottery from the Anglo-Saxon lands (Fig. 56) and Scandinavia, ornaments and ceramics from Thuringia and the Rhenish territories of the early Franks. The best known of these cemeteries is located at Liebenau, south of Bremen in the sand dunes along the Weser River. This very complex gravefield of over 300
HISTORY AND THE ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
99
gravesites was started during the Late Imperial Period with urn burials, funerary pyre tumuli, fire pit graves and horse burials. From the end of the fourth and early fifth centuries unto the eighth century there is the continuing use of S (head)-N inhumation graves,164 complemented by later W-E graves of the late Merovingian and the Carolingian peri-ods.1155 The other burials date from the sixth and seventh centuries. The horse burials, sometimes including dogs, also laid out S-N, date approximately from the late fifth or early sixth centuries, c.500.166 An innovation here is the funerary pyre tumuli created by piling a thin layer of sand over the pyre remains.lti7 The inventories destroyed by the pyres show that the majority of the valuable finds — glass, gold, silver and other metals — predominate in the fire graves and not in the inhumation graves.168 In 80% of the S-N graves the deceased was equipped with ornaments, weapons, garment fasteners and utensils. However, some graves yielded no inventories, though these may ha^e been organic and did not survive. Only some 36% of the W-E graves were furnished, pointing to the marked disappearance of inventories during the late Merovingian — Carolingian periods. 80% to 100% of the various fire graves contained grave goods. Throughout the gravefield cremation burials predominated, 70%, during the Late Imperial and Merovingian Periods. Only about 30% were S-N inhumation graves. Other than knives, only thirteen of the S-N graves contained weapons, though over time re-usable metals had probably been gleaned from the funerary sites. Most of the graves placed generally W (head)-E tended to be concentrated in one part of the gravefield. These graves showed discolorations of the ground, suggesting containers of perishable, organic material. Among these the elongated ones point to the possible use of coffins for the deceased and especially for the deceased's property.169 The burial pits for the horses were limited in size. Rather than
l(ii1 H.-J. HaBler, Das sacksische Graberfeld bet Liebenau, Kr, Menburg (Weser), Tail 2, Bdtrage tur Friihgeschichte Nordwestdeulschlands, in Studien zur Sachsenforschimg, 5,1 (Hildesheim 1983), pp.8 - 14. Also Teil 3, in Studien zur Sacfisenforschung, 5,2 (Hildeshcim 1985), pp.8- 14. See also Siegmund, p.31.
165 HaBler, Liebenau, Part 2, pp.15, 28 - 35 and Part 3, p.!4f., 26 - 32.
'1Hi HaBler, Liebenau, Part 2, pp.13, 27f. Part 3, pp.8, 14, 25f. However, F. Stein, Addsgraber, p. 126, gives sources that the horse burials were arranged North-South. Sec Siegmund, pp. 124ff. for distribution maps.
lf'7 H. W. Bohme, Gemanische Gmbfunde, p.239f. Also HaBler, Liebenau in Saclisen-fbrschung 5,1, Part 2, p. 1.
1 !i» HaBler, Oldendorf, in Saehsmfarschwg 2, (Hildesheim 1980), p. 1.
IW) HaBler, Liebenau, in Sacftsenjbrschung 5,1, 5,2, Part 2, p. 15, Part 3, p.8, 1 If. Stein, Adelsgraber, p. 126f
100
PART A
being laid out on their sides, the horses tended to be flattened with their legs underneath the bodies. The animals were young, generally about two but no older than eight years of age. Parts of the harness and other trappings were present in the graves. Concerning the cremation graves, about 50% were pyre sites with urns, pyre tumuli without urns or pyre sites with burial pits. In almost all instances the shadows of the latter were those of postholes, holding the upright timbers of the funeral pyre. Attention has already been drawn to the circumstance that the cremation graves yielded the richer inventories. In one part of the cemetery only two out of eighty-five cremations offered no grave goods, but these may have been disturbed, as the installation of the later inhumation graves disturbed a great many of the cremation graves, but then already the location of new pyres among older graves contributed to the latter's disturbance as their layers of covering sand were used to smother the new pyres.170
Further toward the S-E, around Hanover, Braunschweig and Got-tingen, inhumation begins to replace cremation c.500. Rich graves are accompanied by a few horse or dog burials. Pagan graves laid out S-N, i.e. the head placed in the south, were replaced c.800 by oriented (W-E), perhaps Christian, graves. The cemeteries reflect Thuringian influences. While the Saxons practiced cremation, as of the first centuries of this era Angles and Jutes engaged in inhumation burials with richly equipped graves for the tribal and warrior nobilities. With the Frankish conquest of the Saxon lands during the eighth century, a radical shift in burial practices indicates a significant cultural change. The Christian Franks forbade the old pagan funerary practices of cremation, the raising of tumuli and the popular return to old prehistoric cemeteries. However, for a brief period, perhaps in protest during the anti-Frankish uprising of 831/32, there are instances where the W-E graves were superseded by pagan cremation burials. Even for early Christian times the inclusion in the grave of anything at all of material value has an aspect of the sacrificial about it. It is important to note that the northern area, extending from the Weser River in the west, to the Oder River in the east, did not participate in the practice of arranging the cemeteries as row-gravefields.
17(1 HaBler, Liebenau, Sachsenforschung 5,1 and 5,2, Part 2, pp.HfF., Part 3, pp.lSf., 16fF. See also A. Genrich, "A remarkable inhumation grave from Liebenau, Nien-burg, Germany", in V.I. Evison (cd.), Angles, Saxons and Jutes. Essays presented to JJV.L. Myres (Oxford 19811, p.59.
HISTORY AND THE ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
101
In Belgium and in northern France, Germanic row-gravefields are identifiable by the large number of N-S depositions among generally E-W arrangements, their grave inventories of weapons and ornaments.171 This burial culture began without transition during the fourth century and ended almost as abruptly during the fifth, though in some areas it continued into Frankish times. The wealth and quality of the grave inventories, derived mainly from ornamental forms traceable to the northern German areas, such as the tutulus and sup-ported-arm fibulas, and then complemented by objects, techniques and styles of provincial Gallo-Roman manufacture (Fig. 57), and especially the high frequency of weapons and women's brooches in the graves, suggest the deceased to belong among the laeti and the high ranking Germanic landowner and warrior populations ofihefoederafy in Roman service and their successors of free Franks. The funerary evidence suggests an assimilation of Romans and socio-econbmically highly-placed Franks in Roman service. With their submission to the Franks during the fifth century the populations of the area also adopted the Merovingian row-gravefield burial practice. The large grave-fields show such continuity. Frankish weapon graves containing throwing axes and angos, spears with retention hooks, were frequent. Before that the graves were distinguished by the inclusion of an Elbian funerary ware and of some weapons. The disposition of fibulas and of cloak- and hairpins in the women's graves allows the conclusion that these were worn in a characteristic manner common to the Germanic populations in the area, either at the shoulders or at the hip. It would not be possible to identify unfurnished graves as Germanic, All factors considered, the finds show uniformity from the Loire River in the west to the Elbe River in the east. Especially before c.400 the Germanic populations of northern Gaul and those to the east of the Rhine, such as the Netherlands and Westphalia, appear to have been closely linked, judging by the stylistic uniformity of ornamental objects from both areas. After c.450 there is marked stylistic divergence.
It has been suggested that the practice to furnish graves with weapons was already in occasional use in Germanic areas to the east.
171 See Bohme, Gemanisciie Gmbfitnde, for a detailed analysis and very extensive inventory of women's and men's ornaments — varieties of fibulas, hairpins, earrings, chains of beads and other pendants, neck-, arm- and finger-rings, buckles, belt fittings and terminals, utensils for personal and general use, knives and spoons, shoes, receptacles of wood, clay, glass and bronze, urns and coins. Concerning the positioning of the, graves, see pp.166 - 194.
102
PART A
but that it became established within the Germanic boundaries of the Roman Empire towards the end of the fourth century with the arrival of new groups of warriors, aware of their special status. From there [he custom spread into the east-Rhenish regions.172
To the east of the Rhine, in Westphalia, the details of the picture are unfortunately rather incomplete, as only sections of cemeteries have been examined. During the Roman Period cremation was the normal funerary practice. From the middle of the fifth century onward, earlier cremation burials and later inhumation graves, generally laid out N-S or W-E, are typical.1" Though there are exceptions, as was the case at Liebenau, the heads were located generally in the south or west respectively. The inhumation gravefields are distributed rather evenly throughout the region, while the cemeteries with cremation sites and graves tend to be concentrated towards the west. Here and in the center of the region both types of burials, especially those with S-E positioning, had been surmounted by tumuli and surrounded with ditch or post perimeters. The tumuli appear to have collapsed into the graves.
Three large gravefields stand out — Beckum, 99 chiefly N-S burials, Dingden-Lankern, 349 chiefly N-S burials, and Soest, 214 chiefly W-E burials. The N-S positioning of the graves may document Saxon expansion into Westphalia. The deceased were buried in coffins which had sometimes been placed in chambers and which on occasion, as in the rich 'princely' grave at Beckum (Fig. 58, Plate Id), were lined with a facing of stone slabs. The coffin itself had been made of thick planks. Early excavations paid little attention to such features so that such coffins may have been much more frequent. W-E positioned tree coffins have been located in seventeen grave-fields.
A special feature in the area between the Netherlands and Thuringia and particularly in the easterly zones of Westphalia is the frequency of horse burials. They were found in 18 cemeteries. Most yielded up to 10 such burials, but the gravefields at Beckum had 47, and Soest 13. The horse burials too were placed predominantly N (heads)-S and E (heads)-W. Their burial in wooden chambers was the
17a BOhme, pp.184-201.
17:1 G. Wand, "Beobachtungen zu Bestattungsitten aus friihgeschichtlichen Graberfeldern Westfalens", in HaBler, Sacksmforschum 3, (Hildesheim 1982), p.255f., 269.
HISTORY AND THE ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
103
exception. Though usually buried singly, double and triple burials are not exceptional (Fig,59). Thus in the distinguished grave at Beckum, located c.600 about 250m away from the row-gravefield of the 6th and 7th centuries, ten horses had been buried with the deceased, at his feet and at his side, of which eight had been buried in pairs. Two of them were equipped with complete and richly ornamented bridles. The many horses may indicate that the deceased belonged to a distinguished social group among the Saxons, although the great frequency of such burials in some areas may invite scepticism. Other graves, probably belonging to members of his family, were soon grouped around this exceptional burial. The presence of horses in the funerary inventories may be seen as a cultic practice — the horse was sacred to Wodan/Odin - — or was meant to suggest aspects concerning the afterlife for men,174 who, equipped with their own string of horses, could join Wodan in his 'Wild Hunt'. •
In Pre-Thuringian times, the Hermunduri sacrificed animals, especially horses, by depositing heads and hooves, in what must have been a pars-pw-toto sacrifice. The positioning of these parts suggests that the horse's hide connected the parts, before it rotted away. The carcass itself may have been consumed in a ritual meal involving the divinity to which the animal was consecrated. In the center of one cemetery, dated to c.500, three pits contained the skull and hooves of two mares and one stallion positioned as if the whole carcass had been buried and not just the parts.175 At several sites in Thuringia, such as Ober-dorla and Possendorf, pits contained the heads of decapitated horses and dogs. Most often one had placed the severed heads elsewhere, had buried them or impaled them. Nearby large circular ditches, up to 50 - 80m wide, were found, probably consecrated precincts containing the sites of some unknown cultic practices around varieties of wooden anthropomorphic idols and poles on which the sacrifices were impaled and around which the sacrificial meal was taken. Probably joined in this life and in the beyond, the participants formed a cult-association dedicated to Wodan/Odin. In Thuringia the horse burials would indicate that pagan beliefs still found expression. In the Christian areas of the Prankish realm horse burial was not practiced. With
''4 Wand, "Beobachtungen", in HaBler, Sachsen/orschung 3, pp.263f., 273f. for details concerning the Beckum cemetery and its horse burials.
I7:> Behm-Blankc, p.!47f., places these burials in Oberwerschen, District of Hohen-molsen, and in StoBen, location of an Ostrogothic conical helmet, a Spangenhelm.
104
PART A
the Christianization the eating of horsemeat became taboo. Whoever did eat it failed the test and revealed himself to be still pagan.
The gravefield at Soest, 214 burials, is the second largest in Westphalia. Though the excavation remained incomplete, the probes indicate that the majority of the later burials in tree-coffins is arranged in a W-E manner. In installing these graves, earlier burials were cut, revealing a tentative stratification in which the chamber graves and horse burials in chambers were the earliest, N-S graves and other horse burials being more recent. The chamber graves are particularly well equipped.
From the sixth century on. the increasing frequency of W-E inhumation gravefields betrays a link with the row-gravefield burial practice introduced from the Frankish left-Rhenish regions, where chamber graves and burials in plank coffins were customary. Thus the quantify and quality of inventories of such graves as the Princely grave of Beckum, positioned W-E in contrast to the other N-S graves, are generally 'Frankish' in character, and related to the clearly Frankish W-E chamber graves at Morken and Krefeld-Gellep. Evidently the funerary evidence demonstrates a socio-cultural link between the east-and west-Rhenish areas, corresponding to the political reality of the Frankish kingdom. It is the richly furnished, W-E chamber graves which correspond to those of the Frankish core area west of the Rhine. Clearly a community of interest developed between the elevated social groups on both sides of the Rhine reflected in the eastern adoption of western funerary conventions and of the 'Frankish' material culture. Regional distinctiveness is reflected in the individualistic disposition of the tree coffins — it was noted above that the area extending from the Weser to the Oder Rivers did not participate in the practice of establishing row-gravefields — within the cultic context of the N-S positioning of these coffins.
While these funerary practices eventually cease in the Frankish core area, they continue in Westphalia where N (head)-S tree coffin burials coexist with W-E depositions. Though a small number of chamber graves continued to be installed — they are absent in the large cemeteries mentioned above -, the predominant form of burial was in N-S positioned tree coffins. It seems that the maintenance of the burial practice in gravefields signals the continuity of the population, at the same time pointing to a socio-political transformation. Just before the end of the seventh century the expansion of the Saxons effected a reduction of the Frankish hegemony in the region, thereby interrupt-
HISTORY AND THE ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
105
ing the flow of the Frankish influence and allowing the resurgence of indigenous practices. These continued well into Christian times, when the gravefields were abandoned in favor of the new church-yards.176

109

The Burgundian Code went even further when it established for the murder of a noble or of a goldsmith a fine of 150 shillings, and 100 shillings for the death of a semi-free man or of a silversmith. Among the Burgundians the artisan was not a free man. These craftsmen could be lent out by their owners. By the third century the crafts appear partly exempt from the production of the food supply in agriculture and the raising of livestock. Frequently the craftsmen were not free. The trade in Roman objects and status symbols and the spread of the necessary techniques served as a creative stimulus, which increased the demand for and manufacture of refined ornaments.

Pottery continued to be simply ornamented and handmade rather than turned, and was frequently fired in open flames (Fig. 64). Occasionally it was wheel finished and fired In kilns. Kilns themselves are not really in evidence in these regions. As late as the second century Celtic influences were still noticeable in southern Thuringia. In general, thousand year old techniques continued into the second century. Innovations — a technology transfer - - were probably introduced by itinerant or enslaved craftsmen who adopted and adapted Roman forms and techniques. Textiles were not as readily available as might be thought. A piece of material, only 1.5m in length would require 5kg of yarn, the yield of fifty to sixty hours of spinning. In all, this piece of fabric would represent 160 - 200 hours of labor.¹⁸⁸ Performed by women, probably during the winters, fabrics were produced in the home and for private use. Not until later did the regions further west gain fame for their woven coats.
Finds of foreign origin do not necessarily indicate extensive trade. From the third century onward finds of Roman glass, Gallic silver, of fibulas and buckles, belt fittings, strap ends and iron tools and weapons are more likely to be booty, even second or third hand. Long distance trade will have taken the form of transmission. The idea of the solitary trader or even that of a caravan penetrating into the trackless forests of deepest Ge.rman.ia magna, even by river, is probably too romantic. In what manner would the Roman trader have been paid? Any Roman coins present among the village populations will have functioned as a contribution to the accumulation of a treasure of precious material and not as valid currency. Similarly other Roman objects were estranged from their original functions.¹⁸⁹

The overall impression is that these early societies had to cope with the disfavor of such environmental conditions as uneven harvests, poor yield of the land, deterioration and reduction of the arable land /111/ along the coasts, poor animal yield and generally such conditions that animal diseases must be assumed.

188 Grunert, "Produktionskrafte", in Gramsch, p.50.
189 Meyer, Boden/hnde,pp. 31 3ff.
111

Examination of the stomach contents of the moor corpses suggest that at most times hunger, persistent undernourishment and its effects on health were probably debilitating. Weeds will have constituted a significant component of the grains harvested. In Thuringia the evidence from the urn burials suggests men to have been robust, between 150cm to 158.4cm tall, women to have been of a slight built, between 146.6cm to 153cm tall. When no one was taller than 160cm (5'4"), the 'prince' of Gommern, measuring 180cm, was very tall for his time. Most of the deceased were adults between the ages of 20 and 40. In most areas cremation came to an end during the third and fourth centuries. In Mecklenburg it continued till the fifth century, in Lower Saxony even into the seventh. Inhumation begins to establish itself during the fourth century. Most of the deceased found are men. 2/3 — 3/4 died between the ages of 20 and 40 and of these most died at about 36 - 38 years of age, fewer than 1 /4 were between 40 and 60 and only very few were over 60 years of age. According to the calculations derived from the skeletons people of this later period were taller, men from 159cm to 183cm, women from 147cm to 169cm, averaging c.170cm for men, c.158cm for women.190
Hygienic conditions, vulnerability to infectious diseases, internal parasites, festering wounds indicate that life will have been short. The high mortality rate among children and young adults reflects directly on the poor living conditions during those times. Five to six children per mother were necessary to maintain the population levels. Graves dated from the fourth to sixth centuries in the Thuringian areas around Halle and Magdeburg indicate that of 263 individuals from 40 sites, 138 or 52.5% showed pathologically or anatomically noticeable defects of the joints, such as rheumatic disorders. There may actually have been more since not ail skeletal remains were complete and not all illnesses affect the bones. Many simple ailments by today's standards could be fatal. 62% had caries, diseased jaws and periodontal problems. Skeletal wear suggests a life of hard work for all. Bone deformities and arthritis, spinal dysfunctions were prevalent. Nearly 60% of those 40 to 60 years of age had damaged discs.
11111 Ch. MiUlcr. "Zur Bevolkerungsgeschichte aus anthropologischer Sicht in dcr Zeit vom 3. bis zum 6. Jahrhundert", in Kriiger, II, pp.57 - 65. provides tables of sites, series and specific finds. See also Bemmann, in Frohlich, pp.75ff.
112
FART A
The man from Gommern suffered from severe sinusitis.191 Fractures had healed poorly. For centuries to come these would continue to be the prevailing circumstances. These statistics derived from inhumation graves are not representative since cremation was still a funerary practice. During the third century the transition from cremation to inhumation took place, first in the Thuringian areas from where the practice spread northward. The urns were buried up to 1m below the surface. Awkward objects tend to be excluded from the grave gifts. In many locations the ashes were deposited in organic, hence perishable containers, leaving a little pile of ash in the grave. Cemeteries upward of 100 graves are common, though urnfields of up to 1000 graves, as the one near Magdeburg, have also been found,m Inhumation graves are positioned N-S, with the head in the north. These could take the form of pit-graves or of wooden chamber graves in which the deceased was buried fully clothed with his personal property, his ornaments and provisions. The type of grave and its inventory indicate the social status, which the deceased enjoyed during his lifetime.193
Overpopulation as a result of an increasing birth rate cannot have been a major social problem as the mortality of women in childbirth is estimated to have been 40% higher than the general mortality of men, so that even with an estimate of nearly twelve pregnancies pro-jectable for a woman married before the age of twenty, the population would have remained relatively constant. It can be assumed that three to four children survived in a family. The available land and its yield will have affected family size. Additional factors such as miscarriages, infant mortality and especially the exposure of the unwanted child after birth affected the survival of children. Paternal authority extended over life and death. Since males were valued more highly than females the father decided if a baby girl was to, live. Exposure was the practice if the child was misshapen, weak or generally unfit for the hardships of early life. Such factors as jealousy, infidelity, illegitimacy, revenge, but also war could affect life and death decisions. A firstborn daughter was usually allowed to live, others only if sons were born in between.194 This led to a scarci-
''" Muller, "Bevolkerungsgeschichte", in Kruger, II, p.67ff. See W.-R. Teegen, "Gesundheit und Krankheit bei den Germanen", in Frohlich, pp./Bff. 1!l^ Schmidt, "Thiiringer", In Kruger, II, p.529.
193 R. Seyer, "Die Entwicklung der germanischen Kunst." in Kruger, II, p.229f. m R. Hachmann, Die Goten und ihreNaehbam (Berlin 1970), pp.355 - 387.
HISTORY AND THE ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
113
ty of women and as we have seen repeatedly made the daughters of some Princely houses particularly valuable in marriage. In earlier times any significant increase in the population would have brought about an inner colonization, until all suitable land was occupied and tinder cultivation. In later times, and probably as a result of the decrease of the available land, it caused groups to seek service elsewhere and not to return, to augment possessions through raiding expeditions, to join other migrating groups in search of better conditions and lastly, it induced large numbers and even entire tribes to relocate.
It becomes apparent from the above considerations that small, single families would be in economic difficulties and that the response to this circumstance would contribute to the development of the more supportive extended family as a necessary economic unit. We have seen that the village societies composed of small family units soon gave way to a social structure in which several family units, probably relations, occupied the multi-family longhouses. These were now in a position, which by means of a division of labor could sustain the family and perhaps overcome the shortages in the food supply, satisfy the immediate demand for utensils and other objects for daily use and perhaps produce surpluses for trade. In time modest specialization allowed the concentration of surplus goods among some small groups and with the realization of trade the economic pattern stimulated the next socio-economic step, the emergence of an elevated and perhaps separate socio-cultural primacy supported economically by the community and socially by the emergence of a military entourage. This development will have had an adverse effect on the available surpluses and substitute methods of acquiring them will have had to be found. Throughout the period under consideration the coastal areas remained at the periphery in material as well as in social ways.
It would appear that the continuity of settlement in this region complicates the question concerning the emigration of Saxons and others from this area. It is accepted that during the fifth to sixth centuries the coastal populations had boarded their boats in large numbers and set out along the North Sea coasts in search of new and better lands to settle. Some relocated westward on land. Pollen analysis indicates that there was indeed a thinning out of the settlement areas. Other artifacts are difficult to date. Nevertheless, compared to other tribal areas that of the Saxons was rather sparsely populated, perhaps
114
PART A
because of the continuing emigration of Angles and Saxons from the
arM 195
area.
m Gringmuth-Dallmer, "Siedlungscntwicklung", in Kriigcr, II, p 98f. See I Wood, ''Before and after the Migration to Britain", mj. Hincs (ed), TheAwlo-Saxons Jrom the Migration to the eighth Century. An ethnographic Perspective (Wnodbridec, Rochester N.I . 1997), pp.4! - 55.

115

a. Thuringians

During the Early Imperial Period earlier Thuringian populations (Fig. 65) showed links with the Rhine-Weser area who practiced cremation (Fig. 66) and who took Roman objects into their graves; or whose use of a certain type of vessel linked them with groups living in eastern Holstein and western Mecklenburg, Frankonia and Bohemia; or whose ashes were deposited in wide bowls mostly without gifts. While burial in urnfields was customary during the Early Imperial Period, inhumation gravefields in which the deceased were laid out either in a stretched or fetal N-S position, appeared during the Late Imperial Period of the third and fourth centuries, including very richly equipped graves among modestly furnished ones. (Map 13)

Map 13. The Thuringians during 5th and 6th cc.

From c. 450 onward a uniform culture becomes apparent. Again the funerary evidence marks a clear change in burial practice, as the graves are oriented (head in the west) (I.e. facing east) and arranged in row-gravefields. A uniformity horizon is reflected in the urn- and gravefields as the garb of men and women, and armaments become standardized, allowing for social differentiation. The process suggests a growing tribal identity, which appears completed about 500 with the predominance of the inhumation row-gravefields. Spreading from Bohemia, it reached southern Thuringia during the later third century, where it gradually replaced the older urnfield and N-S inhumation burial practices. As was indicated previously the socially distinguishing inhumation graves are wooden chamber graves in which the deceased was laid out fully clothed, wearing ornaments, surrounded with vessels containing food, and occasional Roman objects, such as weapons, a silver spoon or Roman pottery.
117

Personal silver ornaments, imported bronze objects, and pairs of glass and silver vessels, as well as silver arrowheads accompanied the nobility into the graves as a sign of rank (Fig. 67). Weapons, apart from spurs, were not a common funerary feature, nor did everyday bronze arrowheads usually find their way into the graves. The row-graveficlds connected with the earlier grave-fields, and as some old practices were retained in the burials, continuity is indicated. In these instances it was the wearing of weapons for men and jewelry for women, which conveniently serve to indicate social status, since the property of the deceased during his lifetime accompanied him or her into the grave. In one cemetery the chambered graves of the nobility were clearly separated from the narrow, closely spaced and poor burial pits of the unfree. The burial of three horses and two dogs accompanied each chamber grave. One grave of the late third century in the cemetery at Hafileben, evidently that of an aristocratic lady, showed that this social group maintained links with the Roman world (Figs.68,69). The grave contained Roman coins, belt fittings and buckles, two disc fibulas with coil-spring fasteners, long disc-headed gilt silver cloak- or hairpins, rings, numerous pendants, axe-shaped earrings, an engraved neck ring with catch, most of the trinkets ornamented with gold bead granulation arranged in concentric circles and the like.1 By contrast a poorer grave contained beads of amber, coral and glass, two silver brooches, axe-shaped pendants, a comb, spinning whirls and an iron knife, but no clearly Roman objects.
Toward the end of the fifth century closer family contact between Thuringians and Ostrogoths, mentioned previously, is indicated. Against the expansionist ambitions of the Franks, the Ostrogoths tried to create and maintain an in-depth line of defense in the form of buffer kingdoms, which included the Thuringians. The marriage of Amalaberga, Theoderic's niece and daughter of his sister Amalafrida, the queen of the Vandals, to Herminafrid, king of the Thuringians, introduced a woman's court of Imperial splendor to the region. It follows that this court would have left an effect on women's fashions and this is reflected in the appearance of such ornaments as large bow fibulas placed at the shoulders and later also at the waist or on the thigh.
118

Smaller brooches were intended to hold the garments together. Women wore bracelets and chains of glass beads, seldom earrings or hairpins, also a bag suspended from the belt containing a small iron knife and other essential objects. Metal keys or girdle-hangers attached to the bag were a clear symbol of her domestic authority. For men the elaborately ornamented belt buckle had replaced the fibula. A leather bag at his belt contained scissors and the means to strike fire. Throughout the Germanic area jewelry —- with tribal characteristics — was popular at all times. The bow-fibula became dominant. Garnet inlays in disc fibulas were very popular, even though expensive.
Weapons graves had faded from use during the Middle Imperial Period, From c.300 onward the occasional weapon accompanied the deceased onto the funeral pyre or into the body grave, and during the fifth century weapons began to reappear in great numbers in the graves —- sword, shield, bow and arrows, a battle or a throwing axe, lance or spear, constituted full armament. Variants were possible — sword and lance or bow and arrows or axe.a
After 531 the Thuringian kingdom was destroyed and subjected to the rule of the Franks in the south and the Saxons in the north. The presence of an extensive range of imported Prankish objects in the archeological inventory throughout Thuringia makes it clear that its people had adjusted to the triumph of Frankish arms and to the cultural forms introduced by the Franks.

Map 15. Horse burials in Central Europe (According to to Kruger, II p. 113)