Grand grave of Hiddestorf

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The pompous grave of Hiddestorf is the burial place of a warrior of the Franconian upper class from around the year 530 in Hiddestorf in Lower Saxony . It is the central grave of a small grave field with five body burials and one horse burial . The burial site was discovered in 2012 during archaeological investigations in a new building area .

Grave inventory of the ceremonial grave of Hiddestorf

location

The magnificent grave was found in today's Hiddestorf, southwest of Hanover . It was located within the Calenberger Börde as an old settlement landscape that has been intensively used since the Neolithic Age and is traversed by the supraregional east-west connection of the Hellweg in front of Santforde . Within today's village of Hiddestorf, the burial site is on the outskirts north of the Arnumer Landwehr stream . In the immediate vicinity, around 1,600 findings from a settlement area were documented during excavations on an area of ​​three hectares. Mostly it was about post pits , building plans of long houses and smaller post structures as well as over 80 wells and pits as water extraction points. The periods include the Bronze Age , the Iron Age , the Roman Empire and the Migration Period up to the Merovingian Age .

The grave was about 100 meters west of the settlement within a small Franconian cemetery with four other burials from the time of the Merovingians.

Main burial

The deceased, an old man, had been buried in a box coffin inside a wooden chamber grave. Remnants of iron were found in his chest, which could have been caused by a penetrated arrowhead. The grave site was marked with a rectangular trench above ground. In the trench there were remains of a palisade , with which the grave site was fenced off. The grave was furnished with rich grave goods . In the coffin were parts of the personal equipment, such as comb, scissors and tweezers. Other additions are partly in the coffin and larger additions mainly in the open space of the wooden chamber grave. This includes the full armament, ceramic vessels from local production and Franconian imported goods. The armament consisted of a shield, a lance, three arrowheads, a Franziska as well as a spathe and sax . The ceramic vessels, including pots and bowls , are predominantly regional in character. A special ceramic piece is a smoothed Thuringian turntable bowl . Vessels made of non-ferrous metal were part of the grave equipment as pearl rim basins and Vestland cauldrons. A glass vessel was an undamaged Irmlauth type glass bowl that can be dated to the first third of the 6th century.

Secondary burials

The wooden chamber grave took a central position on the burial place. In its axis there were four other graves to the west at a distance of 18 meters. Men were also buried in them, whose additions were altogether much more modest with individual ceramic vessels, an ax and a valuable glass vessel. One of the graves, like the wooden chamber grave, was fenced in with a palisade around the surface. There are indications of a violent death in two burials. In one individual the skull is missing and in another it was staggered, which points to a decapitation .

In the axis of the wooden chamber grave, at a distance of 9 meters to the east, there was a horse burial in a wooden chamber, which can be assigned to the warrior's burial place. The animal was a comparatively large stallion with a height at the withers of 1.41 meters. Since the horse was relatively old at the age of 15 and limped, it is questionable whether it was the warrior's riding horse.

Research history

In 2008 archaeological measures were taken by the Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation during the development of a new building area on the northern outskirts of Hiddestorf . An earlier settlement was examined on an area of ​​two hectares which, based on the finds, existed continuously from the pre-Roman Iron Age to around the 5th century. During the expansion of the new building area in 2012, the excavations were continued on an area of ​​three hectares by an excavation company under the direction of the municipal archeology of the Hanover region .

Some of the five burials were carried out in blocks . The Lower Saxony State Office for Monument Preservation and the Lower Saxony State Museum Hanover , where the finds are also exhibited, provided support for the uncovering and salvage as well as other measures such as the investigation of finds, conservation and restoration .

Investigations

The grave finds were subjected to extensive investigations. This included an oxygen isotope and strontium isotope analysis on the skeletons of three individuals in order to gain knowledge about the origin and mobility of the buried. Despite a certain mobility during their lifetime, a local connection can be assumed for them.

Based on the additions, the burial of the magnificent grave could be dated to around 530 AD.

meaning

Based on the grave goods and the C14 dating , it is an early Merovingian burial group, which archaeologists rate as unique in northwest Germany . This is based on the burial form of unburned corpses, the grave form of the magnificent grave as an elaborately designed wooden chamber grave, its above-ground grave marking by a rectangular trench with wooden posts and the abundant grave goods. The grave goods indicate that the bearer had extensive connections in Europe and that he belonged to a prominent class. There are indications of a violent death in some of the buried. The grave ensemble could therefore have been the result of a special event, such as war or feud .

Due to the peculiarity of the burials due to their planned arrangement, their warlike impression, their simultaneity and the time of the burials around 530 AD led to considerations as to whether they are connected with the Battle of the Unstrut of 531 AD.

literature

  • Ute Bartelt , Markus Brückner: Hiddestorf FStNr. 7 Gde. Stadt Hemmingen, Region Hanover, formerly Reg. Bez. H. in: News from Lower Saxony's Prehistory , Supplement 17, Fundchronik Niedersachsen 2012, pp. 60–61 ( online )
  • Babette Ludowici, Ute Bartelt, Markus Brückner, Daniel Peters: Not alone in a wide field - settlement and Merovingian cemetery in the Calenberger Börde. in Archeology in Lower Saxony 17, 2014, pp. 118–120. ( Online )
  • Ute Bartelt: Hiddestorf FStNr. 7 Gde. Stadt Hemmingen, Region Hanover in: News from Lower Saxony's Prehistory, Fundchronik Niedersachsen 2016, pp. 97–98
  • Daniel Winger, Ute Bartelt, Claudia Gerling: In search of the house of the "Prince" - settlement and grand grave of the Merovingian period in Hemmingen-Hiddestorf, Region Hannover in: Settlement and coastal research in the southern North Sea area 39, Verlag Marie Leidorf, Rahden / Westphalia , 2016, pp. 111-131 ( online )
  • Daniel Winger: Together into death. The warrior from Hiddestorf and his companions in: Babette Ludowici (Ed.): Saxones , Theiss, Darmstadt 2019, pp. 203–215

Web links

Coordinates: 52 ° 17 ′ 0.2 ″  N , 9 ° 42 ′ 25.2 ″  E