Old Saxon burial grounds on the Fallward

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The old Saxon grave fields on the Fallward are an archaeological site near the former village of Fallward in the Wursten district in the Cuxhaven district . The two Germanic burial grounds from the 4th and 5th centuries were excavated from 1993 to 1998 after their discovery . Because of the favorable preservation conditions in the moist marshland , the site is characterized by extremely well-preserved organic finds. This includes a larger inventory of decorated furniture, which was probably created under the influence of late Roman handicrafts .

location

The grave fields lie on the beach wall of the outer Weser within the Wesermarsch . The up to two meter high wall was raised by an increase in sea ​​level in pre-Christian times during phase I b of the Dunkirk transgression . The graves are located about 200 meters north of the former Wurtensiedlung Fallward, whose residents are likely to be buried in the grave fields. Like the neighboring Wurten, Fallward was founded as a settlement on the plain. Only when the sea level rises in the 1st / 2nd Century AD it was expanded to a Wurtenhügel, which was given up again in the 5th century due to increasing storm surges . The prehistoric Wurt Feddersen Wierde is about 2 km north of the burial grounds .

Discovery and excavation

As part of the archaeological survey in the Cuxhaven district in the 1960s, an unexplained site was found near the Dorfwurt Fallward. During inspections until the 1980s, there were reading finds that pointed to a burial ground. In 1993 a smaller excavation was carried out by the Archaeological Monument Preservation of the Cuxhaven district, which confirmed the assumption. This was followed by a complete archaeological investigation of two mixed-use burial fields until 1998. Mixed evidence means that the two burial rites of cremation and body burial were practiced side by side.

Graves and graves

During the excavations from 1993 to 1998, around 200 cremation and around 60 body graves from the 4th and 5th centuries were uncovered. The cremation graves were characterized by a lack of gifts and were often damaged by agricultural use. The body graves were found to be of three quality levels. The elaborate burials include boat graves and graves with rich gifts that can be described as state graves. Graves with wooden coffins have a lower level. The lowest quality is found in simple burials without coffins, some of which had no gifts and some had fibulae and pearl necklaces. The decorations on the objects indicate an influence from late Roman handicrafts.

Organic material has been well preserved in the graves to the extent that it was less than 0.6 meters above sea ​​level in the silty marsh clay . The storage under the exclusion of oxygen in the year-round moist soil ensured good conservation conditions. In addition to the deceased themselves, most of the grave goods have been preserved. This includes, above all, wooden furniture such as tables, stools, footstools, wooden vessels and an ornate stool. Most of the three- or four-legged stools only have the seat. Two graves attracted attention because of their rich additions with elaborately manufactured furniture. The type of graves and the grave goods allowed conclusions to be drawn about the social stratification of the population group buried here. Individual graves could be dendrodated to the time around 300 AD .

The finds are exhibited in the Bederkesa Castle Museum.

Girl's grave

One of the two special graves is the burial of a girl in a large grave pit, which was surrounded by a circular ditch 8 meters in diameter. The fully clothed body was bedded on hay and wore jewelry and brooches , including two elaborately crafted tutulus brooches . The dead body was covered with a layer of shrubbery and split planks. A wooden trough, which was closed with a plank, served as the coffin. The gifts were placed next to the coffin. These include carved and turned wooden vessels and a small trough. A three-legged stool and a small table, each with turned legs, are unique in Europe and have no other comparisons.

Throne of the March

Another special burial is a boat grave with a male deceased in a 4.4 meter long dugout canoe . The accessories in the boat include a large wooden bowl and a wooden table. Like the table in the girl's grave, it is to be regarded as a dining table, since Tacitus writes in Chapter 22 of Germania that the Germans each eat at their own table. The most important find of the two grave fields examined is considered to be a 65 cm high log chair, which is popularly referred to as the throne from the march because of its appearance in the manner of a grand armchair . It was made from a tree trunk. The inside of the backrest has a notch cut .

With the dead person in the boat there was a wooden plank that appears to be the footstool of the grand armchair. It is decorated with similar notch patterns as the log chair. On its back there is an ornament with a hunting image. It shows a deer that is torn by a dog. Such motifs are known from late Roman monuments. There is a runic inscription on the board. The first word can be translated as a stool. The rest of the runic writing is interpreted accordingly as deer damage.

More finds

The metal finds include a metal kettle, a spathe , belt buckles and fibulas, as well as late Roman military belt buckles. Metal objects, as far as they were in the damp subsurface, are heavily corroded by the surrounding salt water. DNA analyzes were carried out on the bones in order to clarify the relationships between the buried and in individual cases the sex could also be determined.

literature

  • Matthias D. Schön: Graves of the 4th and 5th centuries in the marshland of the Lower Weser on the Fallward near Wremen, Ldkr. Cuxhaven In: Mamoun Fansa , Frank Both, Henning Haßmann (editor): Archeology | Land | Lower Saxony. 400,000 years of history. State Museum for Nature and People, Oldenburg 2004. Pages 526–534.
  • Matthias D. Schön: Furniture from graves of the 4th / 5th centuries Century at the Fallward near Wremen in: Archeology in Lower Saxony , 2015, pp. 43–47.
  • Matthias D. Schön, Klaus Düwel, Rolf Heine, Edith Marold: On the runic inscription on the stool in Wremen ( online , pdf)
  • Andreas Hüser: “Everyone has a seat and a table for themselves.” Wooden furniture from the 4th and 5th centuries from Fallward in: Babette Ludowici (ed.): Saxones , Theiss, Darmstadt 2019, pp. 124–125

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Schmid :  Feddersen Wierde. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 8, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1994, ISBN 3-11-013188-9 , pp. 249-250.

Coordinates: 53 ° 38 ′ 24.4 "  N , 8 ° 32 ′ 41.3"  E