Reihengräber culture
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The Reihengräber culture (translated from
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
as ''Row grave culture'') is an
archaeological culture An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of types of artifacts, buildings and monuments from a specific period and region that may constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between thes ...
that refers to the burial practice of regularly arranged, identically oriented inhumation graves between the mid-fifth and early-eight century in central and western Europe. Existing within the
Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
sphere of influence, the Reihengräber culture was dominant in modern
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, northern France and the
Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...
. The origins of the Reihengräber culture are unclear. Earlier scholars explained the diffusion of row graves in terms of Germanic or
Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
migration, but this is now generally refuted. More recently, scholars have argued that the burial custom was the product of a 'German-Roman mixed civilisation' that developed internally in Late Roman
Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
as a response to social instability with the collapse of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
. According to this explanation, local elites were buried with lavish grave goods in order to signal their high social status.Guy Halsall, Some scholars now argue that the concept of a row grave culture is obsolete and ought to be discarded altogether, since it wrongly suggests a Germanic ethnic connotation. Furthermore, the practice of burial in rows is so common throughout history that it is hardly specific enough to describe one archaeological culture. Finally, archaeologists now argue that the focus on row graves ignores the much larger variability in burial customs that were prevalent in the region in this period.


Geographical context

The Reihengräber culture, which developed within north-eastern
Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...
under Romano-Germanic settlement during the fifth century, was located primarily between the Rhine and the Loire in the fifth century. It spread to the regions of Germanic regions of
Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...
and
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
in the sixth century. Scholars have divided the Reihengräber culture into an eastern "Thuringian and
Langobard The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 and ...
" zone and a western "Bavarian and
Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
" zone, based on the similar burial customs and material culture shared between these ethnic groups. Frankish populations were also present within these zones. Most Reihengräber in Germany sites are found on the
River Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
or the
River Main The Main () is the longest tributary of the Rhine. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west through central Germany for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, Hesse. The cities of Mainz and Wies ...
, with pockets of Frankish dominated settlements on the
River Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sourc ...
. The eastern zone of the Reihengräber culture lies within the
Thuringian Forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side i ...
south of the
Harz mountains The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...
, and extends eastward towards the
River Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
, where Slavic cultures with settled on the eastern bank. The western Bavarian zone however lies between the
River Lech The Lech (, ''Licca'') is a river in Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube in length with a drainage basin of . Its average discharge at the mouth is . Its source is located in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, where the ...
and
River Enns The Enns (, ) is a southern tributary of the river Danube, joining northward at Enns, Austria. The Enns spans , in a flat-J-shape. It flows from its source near the village Flachau, generally eastward through Radstadt, Schladming, and Liezen, then ...
. Both zones remained autonomous of Merovingian control until the mid-6th century, when Garibald I of Bavaria was installed as Duke in 555 A.D.


Burial practices

The Reihengräber culture features the burial practice of evenly spaced rows. One of the main trends is the placement of funerary objects within graves, mainly weaponry for men, and jewelry for women. In addition, the Reihengräber culture is also known for the burial of horses, which while rare in the Bavarian zone, are common throughout burial sites in Gaul and Thuringia. The Reihengräber culture is characterised by a great variety of burial practices, including different orientations of the graves, church burials, separate burials and even a continuing tradition of
cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
. Mortuary practices changed rapidly between the fourth and eighth centuries, with the tradition of furnished burial largely disappearing from the late seventh century onwards.


Grave reopenings

The reopening of burial mounds and removal of grave goods shortly after burial is also a significant feature of Reihengräber culture burial customs. The reason for this practice is still debated among scholars, but it is commonly associated either with grave robbery or with ritual. Some scholars have compared it to Scandinavian practices associated with object animism. Here, this removal of burial objects, known as furta sacra, became especially common during the
Carolingian dynasty The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...
during the 9th century, and was based on
Harald Bluetooth Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson ( non, Haraldr Blátǫnn Gormsson; da, Harald Blåtand Gormsen, died c. 985/86) was a king of Denmark and Norway. He was the son of King Gorm the Old and of Thyra Dannebod. Harald ruled as king of Denmark from c. 95 ...
's desecration of aristocratic burial mounds during his campaign in the
Viken Viken may refer to: *Viken, Scandinavia, a historical region *Viken (county), a Norwegian county established in 2020 *Viken, Sweden, a bimunicipal locality in Skåne County, Sweden *Viken (lake), a lake in Sweden, part of the part of the Göta cana ...
region. The usage of wetlands as predominant burial sites also runs parallels with Scandinavian practices. Many of the removed objects may have been originally considered as inalienable property objects (see below).


Material culture

The material culture of the Reihengräber reveals distinctions between male and female burial practices. Male graves typically contain swords, axes and belts, whereas female graves largely contained brooches, necklaces and girdle hangers. Bronze conical helmets in the Reihengräber culture are also prevalent, and are especially of note as they were offered as funerary objects within the late-Iron Age. Animistic designs occur extensively throughout Reihengräber material culture, in particular bird-like iconography and shapes of Thuringian bow brooches. Late fifth century Thuringian graves in modern Scherzheim also contained sets of Zierschlusselpaare, or symbolic keys pairs, uncommon artefacts whose ritual significance is yet unknown. Another common item is the biconical pot, (German: ''Knickwandtopf'', Dutch: ''Knikwandpot'', and French: ''Vase biconique''), the most important type of
ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
from the
Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...
period. The name is derived from the shape of the vessel, the form looking like two cones on top of each other. Often, the outside of the pot is decorated with stamps, impressions or lines. The distribution of the pottery shows that these vases originate from different ceramic production sites. Biconical pots are also found in settlements.


Modern interpretations


Social status

Disparities in quality and prevalence of grave goods within the Reihengräber culture can be linked to a social overclass who represented local leadership and aristocracy. In Germany, Thuringian
brooch A brooch (, also ) is a decorative jewelry item designed to be attached to garments, often to fasten them together. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with vitreous enamel, ...
es give evidence to a cultural stratification between an elite and lower class, as they were developed on the commission of nobility and were almost exclusively found within he funerary sites of the entourages and personal attendants to these elites, who were mostly of Frankish descent. Despite clearly demarcated class differences between Frankish and Germanic peoples of the Reihengräber culture, the lower class of both ethnic groups show few differences in burial practices, with the cemetery at Zeuzblen in
Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban agg ...
revealing burials of both groups side by side in the classic row-graves style. All graves showed burial gifts crafted in the Thuringian make, and reveal that many Frankish commoners integrated the material culture with native Germanic populations in the Reihengräber region


Property rights

During the 1920s, archaeological investigation of the Reihengräber culture led to the debate among scholars whether the deposited funerary objects were seen as distinctly inalienable property that could not be inherited of sold. In this interpretation, inalienable property consisted of artefacts that could not be sold or exchanged due to their symbolic role as 'companion' objects to their original creators. These concepts were seen as integral to the Reihengräber culture's unique burial customs, and were instrumental in establishing the Merovingian concept of male
property rights The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership) is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typically ...
over weaponry in a custom known as ''hergewaete''. Female property rights over household and jewellery, known as ''gerade'', have also been identified. Although the concept is found in the later tenth century Germanic legal code of Sachsenspiegel, no contemporary sources exist to confirm this hypothesis. It is also contradicted by grave goods that had been passed down the generations before their final deposition in a grave. An alternative possibility could be that these goods represented collective inalienable goods.


Religion

Traditionally, the custom of furnished burial (with grave goods) was considered a
pagan Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. ...
practice. This has now been disproven by the presence of furnished graves in Christian contexts (such as churches), or the deposition of
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
objects in a grave. Following the Christianisation of Merovingian Gaul, and hence the Reihengräber region, in the early 6th century, gold foil crosses also begin to appear in the archaeological record, appearing mostly around the
French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...
and providing evidence for the Christianisation of the Reihengräber region during this period.


Ethnicity

The usefulness of the denomination of Frankish, Thuringian, Bavarian and other cultures as Reihengräber culture is debated within the archaeological scholarship. It is clear that these ethnic groups shares similar burial practices, especially considering the increasing prevalence of Frankish arms in connecting the Reihengräber region's military culture. Particularly, the Francisca battle-axes, traditionally considered as an ethnic marker of the Franks, have been located throughout the Reihengräber region in Thuringia, Almannia and Bavaria. Some scholars think that this is evidence of the adoption of Frankish warcraft in uniting the ethnic groups of the Reihengräber region. Others refute the possibility to read ethnicity from grave goods, including the francisca, altogether. The funerary customs show elements from both earlier 'Roman' and 'Germanic' traditions. No single material culture unites the various communities pooled into the Reihengräber culture, as Frankish, Gothic and Thuringian artefact forms exist among many local styles throughout the region. Social mobility within the Merovingian period influenced the sharing of local customs, eventuating in an amalgamation of burial practices that led to the eventually spaced inhumation graves and grave good deposits that dominated the region in the mid-6th century. Ethnic groups seem to have also moved throughout the Reihengräber region constantly with permanent settlement largely matched by military control by dominant ethnic groups. The collapse of the Thuringian kingdoms between 531 and 534 resulted in large populations of Thuringian peoples emigrating from the region into Frankish territories in modern-France, leading to the introduction of Reihengräber burial practices and material culture into western Europe, though they remained a subordinate class to the Frankish overclass.


References

{{Reflist Burials in Germany Central European culture Germanic archaeological cultures Merovingian period