Major Merovingian necropolis finds

Looks like I missed this one during my weekend in DC, but Cronaca is chronically short-staffed:

Forty-five aristocratic Merovingian tombs have been discovered over the past few weeks in the Haut-Rhin. . . "an unusual necropolis composed of large tombs beneath tumuli, the most important of this type discovered so far in France," according to the supervisor of the site, David Billoin.

A rich site as well as a large one, containing

. . . the remains of Frankish warlords with their arms (shields, longswords, shortswords, lances, and arrows), as well as other members of the Frankish aristocracy. The most important individuals were found in the center, where each tomb, covered with a large tumulus, enclosed an average of five to fifteen objects, arms, jewels, ritual objects, all well preserved, because of the argilo-limestone nature of the soil.

Excerpt and translation via Ionarts, ever-vigilant for French historical and cultural news underreported in the English-language press (follow link for full references, along with notes regarding other significant finds as well).

Posted by David on August 28, 2004 8:59 AM