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Gold ornaments and scramasaxe: a late Antiquity necropolis unearthed in Alsace

2021-09-12T08:05:34.535Z


ARCHEOLOGY - Between a Merovingian funerary enclosure and several hundred Alamane tombs, Alsatian archaeologists think they got their hands, during their excavations before the extension of a camping area, on the only early Christian church in the region.


Rarely has the extension of a camping area given rise to so many discoveries.

In Kembs, in the Haut-Rhin, a preventive archeology project carried out by Alsatian archaeologists revealed, after two and a half months of excavations, an impressive funeral complex made up of more than 200 tombs from late Antiquity and 'a large Merovingian aristocratic burial.

Along with the other remains identified on the site, these finds shed new light on the long history of the town, known in Roman times as Cambete.

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“We found skeletons of children and adults, from all walks of life. Very simple tombs, devoid of accompanying furniture and others with small glass bottles, ”

said archaeologist Axelle Murer for our colleagues from France 3. A specialist in Gallo-Roman and medieval times, the ceramologist and operation manager led the excavation carried out by the private operator ANTEA-Archéologie, based in Habsheim, in consultation with the Regional Archaeological Service. Supported by a large team, she counted on the site 230 tombs of the Lower Empire, that is to say about half of the tombs that archaeologists estimate to be on the total surface of the necropolis. Dated from the 5th century,the various pits excavated to date belonged to individuals of Germanic culture.

"They could be Franks or Burgundians, but in this case, given the elements of adornment found, we would rather be dealing with Alamans"

, specifies the researcher for

Le Figaro

.

A double tomb with tile arrangements, discovered in Kembs this summer.

ANTEA-Archeology

Mix of cultures at the end of the Empire

Identified by their particular fibulae, specific to Germanic soldiers, several of the deceased from the Cambete necropolis must have belonged to the auxiliary forces which supported the Roman legions in the defense of the Rhine border. Like them, the entire site seemed steeped in mixed remains, between Roman influence and Germanic influence. The excavations for example brought to light typically Roman ceramic productions alongside pottery of completely Germanic manufacture, turned by hand.

“You would think you were seeing ceramics from protohistory, it's very curious,”

Axelle Murer laughs.

They also imitated, in a punctual way, the Roman production but with their own techniques ”.

The spectrum of coins discovered, for its part, dates mainly from the 4th century, with coins minted with the effigy of the emperors Constantine, Constantine II or Constance.

Between Alamane tombs and Gallo-Roman burials, the site eloquently illustrates the mixing of cultures on the borders of the Roman Empire, during the turbulent 5th century.

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The most exceptional of these more than 1500 years old burials belongs to a woman, buried among the most distinguished Alamane tombs of this funeral complex. These had been grouped together among the ruins of an old warehouse, in a square apparently reserved for the notables of the Gallo-Roman city. The lady of Cambete had been buried there with an array of luxurious adornments, which were to attest to her great wealth: a silver chain, twisted bracelets, a necklace matched with pearls, gold and small bones, as well as a beautiful pair of gold earrings. A fibula and two perfume vials, made of glass, finally completed this tomb, further specifies Axelle Murer.

The tomb of the warrior or the Merovingian chief. Buried in the middle of the 7th century, he was accompanied by a horse, beheaded during a funeral sacrifice of a pagan nature. ANTEA-Archeology

The necropolis of the Late Empire was not, however, the only funerary group of the site excavated by archaeologists. Apart from a cinerary urn from the High Empire located at the tip of what was to be the original sector of the necropolis, a Merovingian enclosure was also discovered, isolated and separated from the rest of the tombs by a long ditch which had perhaps be a defensive vocation. Dating from the middle of the 7th century, this enclosed burial place contained a deceased person of an important rank, as the presence at his side of a bronze basin and a decapitated horse seems to attest. Was it a horseman? A wealthy landlord? The amount of military equipment buried alongside it leaves little doubt.

“This individual from the Merovingian period had been buried with a complete panoply: sword, scramasaxe, horse harness, spurs,…

lists the archaeologist.

We even found a

shield

umbo

.

He was indeed an important warrior, possibly even a chieftain.

As Axelle Murer explains, this method of burial would in any case be typically Germanic and pagan, which is hardly surprising in Kembs, located along the Rhine.

The bronze basin discovered in the enclosure of the late Merovingian.

With a hygienic vocation, it was of a smaller size than a cauldron with a food function.

ANTEA-Archeology

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A possible early Christian church

The grounds for perplexity lie elsewhere, in the promising post holes discovered in the middle of a tangle of buildings, at the end of the 7700 m² of the excavation area.

Partially inspected, this precise sector indeed bears the combined remains of a

Roman

praetorium

- a stage reserved for imperial dignitaries -, of a warehouse, then of a third structure whose shape traced by a series of post holes immediately suggested to archaeologists a specific type of building.

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“It looks furiously like a church

,” commented Axelle Murer at the end of last month for the regional newspaper

L'Alsace

.

These post holes form an apse, a nave and even aisles! ”

According to the dating of this set, the track of an early Christian church, linked to early Christianity, could be confirmed. It would be a first in Alsace, archaeologists cautiously assure.

"What is very particular with this building is that it is grafted on top of the

praetorium

, with an alignment of the median axes which seems to indicate that the foundations of the old building were then still visible at its construction"

, observes Axelle Murer for

Le Figaro

.

For the site manager, the only other possible interpretation of such a building would be an

aula

, a meeting place.

While awaiting the results of the carbon-14 analyzes, many questions remain unanswered.

If the building dates from the Merovingian period, it will be difficult not to put it in direct relation with the neighboring funeral enclosure and its decapitated horse in pagan fashion.

This proximity is not, however, devoid of historical basis under late Antiquity.

"At the end of the Roman Empire, Christianity appeared sporadically and, for several centuries, we hesitated on which religion to adopt"

, recalled Axelle Murer. With the great migrations which characterize the disappearance of the Empire, populations and beliefs mix happily. And Kembs, the ancient Cambete, was a particularly well located crossing point, between Gaul and Germania as well as on the Rhine axis, which carries from the Alps to the North Sea. It is perhaps no coincidence that the necropolis of this former regional hub has become, some 1,500 years later, a camping area ...

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-09-12

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