Ancient tomb with a circle of six women around a cauldron found in Germany

[Michael_Wolff]

Tomb of an ancient Germanic lord is unearthed with a circle of six women around a cauldron who 'may have been killed or sacrificed themselves' on his death 1,500 years ago
- Six women believed to be concubines  were found buried in a radial arrangement in a central tomb 
- Researchers have yet to find the remains of the high-ranking lord or prince that the tomb is dedicated to
- Ashes may be inside the remains of a cauldron found in the central tomb alongside animal burials and gold, silver and glass items

The complex grave of a Germanic lord or prince who lived 1,500 years ago during the Great Migration has been unearthed in Saxony-Anhalt, near Brücken-Hackpfüffel.
Experts say the site is the country's most important archaeological find for 40 years and have kept the exact location of the dig a secret to stave off thieves.
Excavations got underway when builders were clearing land for a new chicken farm, and stumbled across the cemetery of a royal court. 
Despite the high-ranking status of the person entombed within, the researchers have yet to locate the remains of the prince they suspect was laid to rest there.
They speculate his ashes may be inside a bronze cauldron in the central tomb, which is around 13 feet by 13 feet in size.
The cauldron, the focal point of the mounded tomb, is surrounded by six women buried in a radial alignment from the pot...

-> https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8759147/Ancient-Germanic-lord-unearthed-1-500-year-old-tomb-circle-six-women-cauldron.html?fbclid=IwAR1Ay6YDkeW436q3lkf-OP4e8npo5dwWcMmb2nbDVTHdCYU_Kz52wZlZuzM

[Duncan Head]

No mention of weapons? Does that undermine the "missing prince" idea?

"When shall we six meet again?"

[Michael_Wolff]

"When shall we six meet again?"

Hexentanzplatz is easily reached in 5 minutes per broomstick from the excavation site...

-> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexentanzplatz_(Harz)

[Duncan Head]

Perfect!

[Chuck the Grey]

Budget overruns reduced the original six witches to three in the final version. 

[Jim Webster]

Budget overruns reduced the original six witches to three in the final version. 

Love it 

[Swampster]

https://www.livescience.com/germanic-lord-burial-no-harem.html rather boringly says the initial reports were rather jazzed up.

[Duncan Head]

Distorted and exaggerated press reports? Well, who'd have thought it?

[DBS]

Even now, there seems to be an excess of certainty in the quotations in the piece -  eg the statement that the cemetery IS Thuringian, as opposed to probably / possibly.  Given that a date range of 470-540 is quoted (and the basis for that date not given), and the article itself references the Frankish conquest as 531...  it may seem I am being a bit picky, but once you start shooting down earlier unjustified claims, a degree of caution is probably justified before making fresh claims.

[Erpingham]

Given our earlier "Marlow Warlord" discussion about associating identity with material culture, I thought this was interesting

"These analyses may reveal where some of the females in the cemetery came from, especially those buried with jewelry that may be from other Germanic cultures, such as the Lombards (also spelled Langobards) and Alemanni."

The analyses are for strontium and DNA.  Will be interesting how results compare to the traditional identification of the artefacts.

[Imperial Dave]

definitely one to follow with regards to genetic findings

[Michael_Wolff]

Given that a date range of 470-540 is quoted (and the basis for that date not given), ...

As far as I understand it, it's based on the detection of a coin supposedly minted during the reign of Flavius Zeno. (Eastern Roman emperor from 474 to 475 and again from 476 to 491.)

So-far archaeologists have uncovered a glass bowl with swirl decoration in pristine condition, a glass spindle whorl, silver gilt fibulas on one of which a piece of textile had been preserved by the metal. Also a sword,  a glass lamp, and part of a shield. An important find is a coin minted during the reign of Zeno, ca. AD 480, helping to date the finds. On one of the fibulas, the metal had preserved part of a textile.

-> https://www.medieval.eu/two-princely-graves-from-the-migration-period-in-sachsen-anhalt-and-the-thames-valley/