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Iron folding chair
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Appreciated today as space-saving, once a sign of power and dignity: In Middle Franconia, experts have discovered a folding chair that is around 1400 years old.
It is only the second discovery of an iron folding chair from the early Middle Ages in Germany, said the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments.
Across Europe, 29 sites of early medieval graves with folding chairs have been handed down, only six of which are made of iron.
The excavation team discovered the folding chair in August in a woman's grave in Steinsfeld, in the district of Ansbach in Central Franconia.
It therefore dates from around 600 AD, i.e. from the early Middle Ages.
When folded, the chair, which was about 70 by 45 centimeters in size, was placed at the feet of the dead.
Insight into the early use of furniture
"This find, which at first glance seems so modern, is an absolute rarity and of the greatest cultural-historical interest, because it gives an insight into the burial equipment of prominent sections of the population and the early use of furniture," said Mathias Pfeil, head of the state office.
According to experts, people have been making iron and bronze folding chairs since ancient times.
They were an important official sign in society and symbolized power, authority and dignity.
According to the state office, they appear as grave goods mainly in women's graves.
In the woman's grave, the excavation team also discovered the skeleton of a woman who, according to initial estimates, was around 40 to 50 years old.
The dead woman had a necklace of colorful glass beads around her neck, and a pendant made of fibulae and a large bead was on her belt.
This also speaks for an elevated social status.
Next to it, the experts uncovered a man's grave.
It contained, among other things, a waist belt with a bronze buckle and a complete set of weapons.
However, it is unclear exactly who the dead were.
jme/dpa