During preliminary work for a new affordable housing development in Gerstetten, Germany, archaeologists unexpectedly came across a wooden grave chamber from the fourth century C.E. Not only is this burial a rare find connected to the Alemanni people, but it’s filled with grave goods.
And perhaps the most remarkable item that archaeologists have pulled out of the 1,700-year-old tomb is a comb — which still has all of its teeth.
The Unexpected Discovery Of An Alemannic Tomb In Gerstetten
State Office for Monument Preservation in the Stuttgart Regional Council/Gizem DakmazThe excavation of the Alemannic grave in Gerstetten in the spring of 2024.
According to a statement from the Stuttgart Regional Council, the grave was first discovered in the spring of 2024 during a “rescue excavation” in Gerstetten, Germany, ahead of the construction of a new affordable housing development. Though the village center has been “inhabited since late antiquity,” the discovery of the grave still came as a surprise.
Within the grave, archaeologists found the remains of a 60-year-old man who died circa the fourth century C.E. An examination of his ribs put the year of death between 263 and 342 C.E. He was buried in a wooden chamber with “rather elaborate construction,” which struck archaeologists as “particularly prominent due to its solitary location” but typical for the Alemanni.
Within the burial plot, archaeologists found a number of grave goods. The man had been buried with ceramics and glass vessels as well as a small comb. And though 1,700 years had passed, the comb still had all of its teeth.
State Office for Monument Preservation in the Stuttgart Regional Council/Gizem DakmazArchaeologists found the remains of a 60-year-old man as well as a number of grave goods, including the comb.
Another of the grave goods also caught archaeologists’ attention: a “high-quality” glass cup. According to the council statement, it likely came from a nearby Roman fort called Guntia (Günzbug), which makes sense, as the history of the Alemanni is tied closely with that of ancient Rome.
The History Of The Alemanni And Their Clashes With The Ancient Romans
The Alemanni — whose name roughly means “All Men” or “United Men,” and who later inspired the word for “Germany” in French and other languages, Allemagne — were a Germanic tribe that emerged on the eastern side of the Rhine River. They first appeared in the historical record in 213 C.E., when the Roman historian Cassius Dio mentioned their entanglements with ancient Rome and with the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, or Caracalla.
Tataryn/Wikimedia CommonsA map showing the territory of several European kingdoms, including the Alemannic, circa the fifth century C.E.
The emperor “made a campaign against the Alemanni and whenever he saw a spot suitable for habitation, he would order, ‘There let a fort be erected. There let a city be built,’ Cassius Dio wrote. “Consequently he came to feel contempt for these people and would not spare even them, but accorded treatment befitting the bitterest foes to the very people whom he claimed to have come to help. For he summoned their men of military age, pretending that they were to serve as mercenaries, and then at a given signal — by raising aloft his own shield — he caused them all to be surrounded and cut down, and he sent horsemen round about and arrested all the others.”
“Some of the most distinguished men whom Antoninus slew,” Cassius Dio added, “he ordered to be cast out unburied.”
Despite this treatment — or perhaps because of it — the Alemanni fought back fiercely against Rome in the two centuries before it fell. Between 213 and 357 C.E., they posed a serious threat against the Roman Empire.
As such, the grave found in Gerstetten is a part of this history. And archaeologists suspect that there may be more nearby. The Alemanni were usually buried in “small groups of five to twelve” and thus “it cannot be ruled out that further graves will be found in the area to the south.”
State Office for Monument Preservation in the Stuttgart Regional Council/ArchaeoBWThe Alemannic grave found in Gerstetten may be one of several in the area.
Perhaps more graves, and more grave goods, will add to the rich history of the Alemanni, which remains largely shrouded in mystery to this day.