Chapter Two. The Origins Of The Reihengräberzivilisation: Forty Years On

Werner argues that this chapter seeks the origins of Merovingian burial customs-i.e. interments in cemeteries in more or less neatly-arranged rows, accompanied by numerous grave-goods, above all weaponry for males and jewellery for females in a style of burial which appeared in northern Gaul late in the fourth century and which persisted to the mid-fifth century. The chapter looks at the archaeology of areas where migrations of Germans are known to have occurred. The distribution map of silver imitation imperial coinage provided by King show that in precisely the region which yields 'early Germanic' graves, local leaders had adopted the imperial right to mint coins. A more critical consideration of the archaeological evidence suggests therefore that the people of northern Gaul in the late fourth and early fifth centuries took to displaying their power in the community more overtly in their funerals than had hitherto been usual.Keywords: Merovingian burial customs; Werner