Cemetery from late antiquity: Buried lying on his stomach

Actually, construction work for a primary school and a fire station should begin.

But then, during the work on the outskirts of Rockenberg, the largest known human grave from late antiquity in Hesse was found.

It is such an extraordinary discovery that both district archaeologist Jörg Lindenthal and district archaeologist Hardy Prison speak of "sensational finds that hardly exist in Europe anymore".

Since mid-April, archaeologists from the Hessian State Office for Monument Preservation have been studying the historical remains in coordination with the Archaeological Monument Preservation of the Wetteraukreis.

The experts found more than 330 graves from cremation burials and a field with 71 body graves.

Only 17 burial sites were discovered in the largest cemetery of its kind to date.

This means that the Rockenberg burial ground is five times larger than anything that has been found so far.

The tombs date from the first half of the 4th century to the 5th century.

The Romans had given up the Limes around 260 AD and retreated to the Rhine border; Frankish rule had not yet begun.

"This time is a very important part of our history," says Lindenthal.

But so far it has been rather in the dark, since there are only sparse documents from this time and finds have also been missing.

This is different now.

Many outstanding finds

The remains of the cremation graves are of course difficult to prove, especially since most of the grave goods were burned.

Only the extraordinarily advantageous location of the burial ground prevented further destruction.

Some of the body graves are very well preserved.

Remains of men, women and a surprising number of children have been found here.

Silver pendants and a simple silver ring worn by a man have already been restored and presented to visitors on the last day of the excavation, as well as small vessels and larger jars.

The special shape and the type of decoration of the ceramic vessels indicate that the deceased came from the Elbe.

"In archaeological research, they are associated with the Alamanni," say the archaeologists.

There were many outstanding finds from this excavation, but archaeologists were particularly excited about the tomb of an archer.

The Germanic warrior from the first half of the 4th century was laid to rest with his quiver and ax in a wooden burial chamber with a stone cover, which consisted of demolition stones from the nearby Roman villa of Oppertshofen.

However, the wooden bow that was probably also given was no longer preserved.

He carried personal belongings in a pouch attached to the dead man's belt.

Another special feature is the grave of a man who was buried lying on his stomach.

A bent and thus rendered useless sword had been draped beside his right leg.

The severed point of the sword was found under his left leg.

People were buried on their stomachs throughout Europe at all times.

"But that's very, very rare," Prison said.

One can only speculate about the reasons, but they are usually associated with the fear of revenants or particularly serious crimes by the buried person.

“Now we must save what can be saved”

The high point of the excavation campaign was the richly decorated grave of a presumably young man, who was equipped with a bronze so-called flask neck ring and a large, magnificent bow-button brooch.

A rare wooden structure erected over the grave could also be found here.

Since the bones of many of those buried are still very well preserved, anthropological investigations are to follow and, among other things, provide information about possible family relationships.

The heavy rains have made the excavations a muddy affair down to a depth of 1.70 meters.

Accordingly, some of the graves were also very damp.

"Now we have to save what can be saved," says Prison.

Finally, the excavation team secured a wooden box, about 70 by 50 centimeters in size, decorated with fittings.

The finds are not examined individually at the site itself.

They come "in one block" to the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments and are processed there.

But Jörg Lindenthal is already convinced: "This is a very important piece of the jigsaw puzzle of Hessian or even German history."