The skeletal samples

For this study, the skeletal remains from the cemetery sites of Pleidelsheim and Neresheim (Fig. 4.1) were analysed, by courtesy of the Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg (LDA), which permitted the transferral of the remains for anthropological analysis from the Central Archives in Rastatt (Baden-Württemberg) to the Biological Anthropology Research Centre at the University of Bradford.

Fig. 4.1: Geographic location of Pleidelsheim and Neresheim

(Source: http://www.freeworldmaps.net/europe/germany/baden-wurttemberg.html)

4.1.1 Pleidelsheim

The Alamannic cemetery near Pleidelsheim, situated 8 km north of Ludwigsburg and overlooking the river Neckar ford (Fig. 4.1), offers an exemplary insight into the lives and deaths within a local Alamannic population during the period under study.

With an occupation span from the mid-5^th c. to the 7^th c. AD, it forms one of the few and largest burial grounds in the middle Neckar area (Stork 1991) with occupancy from the last phase of the migration period (around 450 AD) to the height of Alamannic occupation in the late 5th c. AD and period of Frankish reign from the mid-6th c. AD onwards (Koch 2001: 353ff.). It is assumed that the cemetery (Fig.

4.2), which may hold as many as around 1000 burials, given that only around a third has been excavated (pers. comm. Stork 2008), expands over an area of about 90m in north - south and 130m in east - west direction (Christlein 1991: 162; Stork 1991).

The associated settlement of Pleidelsheim, mentioned for the first time in 794 in the Lorscher Codex (Koch 2001: 15), is very likely not congruent with the modern town of Pleidelsheim but was possibly sited northwesterly or westerly from the cemetery (Koch 2001: 16), and placed the population of Pleidelsheim next to an important Roman trade route (Benningen - Wahlheim), the important Neckar ford between Pleidelsheim and Grossingersheim, a town which would rise to central importance during the 9^th c. AD (Stork 1991), and the Neckar itself with its significance for trade and exchange. Furthermore, the people of Pleidelsheim benefitted from fertile farmland in the valley on the right side of the Neckar, and from a favourable climate with mild winters and warm summers (Koch 2001: 16).

Multiple excavation campaigns (in 1969, 1989/90, 1994 and 2003 (Stork 1991 ; 2003; Koch 2001)) revealed a row grave cemetery (Fig. 4.2) with 264 burials that were published by Koch (2001) and are subject of this study. Building works and rescue excavations resulted in the discovery of even more, albeit mostly destroyed or disturbed and neither archaeologically nor anthropologically analysable burials, which, however, brought to light material evidence that questions the archaeologically established phasing of the cemetery (pers. comm. Stork 2010). The skeletal remains from a further 117 burials excavated in 2003 could not be considered for this study due to the lack of archaeological and context information⁸⁰ as well as their preservational state. An inventory of the analysed burials (266 examinable indivdiduals)⁸¹ can be found in App. 4, Table 1.

The majority of graves is oriented west-east (Fig. 4.2), with the individuals buried in supine position (with one exception, PH 132, a prone burial; cf. App. 4, Table 1) and the upper limbs positioned beside or slightly angled across the body (Koch 2001:

89ff.). The graves differ in depth and display a variety of types, including evidence of wooden coffins, shrouded burials, and tumuli; however, there is no evidence for any stone-walled graves (Koch 2001: 155). Two horse burials (PH 146 and PH 233) were found among the inhumations, dating roughly into the first half of the 6^th c.

AD (Koch 2001), a period for which also an above-average number of imported goods among the material evidence indicates a central importance of Pleidelsheim (Christlein 1991: 162).

80 90% of these graves were not intact, robbed and heavily disturbed (Stork 2003) and therefore not suitable in most parts for the present study.

81 This is due to the occurrence of multiple individuals in some burials.

Fig. 4.2: Pleidelsheim - Plan of excavated cemetery. Modified from Stork 1991 (hatched areas = modern house and garden plots)

map removed for copyright

4.1.2 Neresheim

Lo atedàa outà k àeastàofà“tuttga tào àtheà Ostalb à Easte àál àdistrict; Fig. 4.1), in a natural corridor on the slope of a small valley running north to south between the modern town of Neresheim and a 15^th - century cloister (Knaut 1993: 15), the Alamannic cemetery of Neresheim (Fig. 4.3) provides insight into an Alamannic community that used this burial ground from the 5^th c. to the 8^th c. AD (Knaut 1993:

187ff.) and prospered noticeably during the 6^th and 7^th centuries (Christlein 1991:

159). It is not certain whether Neresheim, which is only mentioned in 1095 AD (Knaut 1993: 19), is a continuation of the Alamannic settlement that is assumed to have been founded during the mid 5^th century and to have been named after the founder Narin (or Nerin; Hildebrand 2000 ; Haubrichs 2004: 90).

The people at Neresheim were subject to quite different living conditions than thoseà atà Pleidelshei :à the à settledà i à theà H tsfeld à a ea,à oughl à t a slati gà toà theà o k à oodlessàa ea ,àaà egio à ha a te izedà àlithoidalàg ou dàu fa ou a leà to agriculture, water shortage, comparatively low temperatures and, thus, shorter growing seasons (Hildebrand 2000). The long settlement history in this area, from theà Lateà Neolithi à o a ds,à isà e plai edà à theà a ea sà esou esà ofà la à a dà o eà (Hildebrand 2000). However, there is no evidence for the Alamannic settlers to have been active in mining or clay production. The grave goods from Neresheim point to an agricultural society⁸² that settled in a small basin in the inner Härtsfeld area which had been made arable for agriculture by the Romans and provided a climate somewhat more beneficial than the surrounding area (Knaut 1993: 18).

82 As opposed to the large cemetery at Lauchheim, north - estàofàNe eshei ;à ate ialàe ide eàdidà otài di ateàa à elite ào à nobility with Frankish characteristics at Neresheim (Hildebrand 2000).

Fig. 4.3: Neresheim - Plan of excavated cemetery. Modified from Knaut 1993: Plate 66

map removed for copyright

Finds of Alamannic grave goods in the cemetery area had been previously described since 1872, followed by the discovery of burials from 1900 onwards (Knaut 1993:

15), mostly by building works which are responsible for gaps found within the cemetery plan. A systematic excavation of the cemetery only took place in 1975/76 (Biel 1976), revealing a row grave cemetery with burials in west - east orientation⁸³ (Fig. 4.3), and with a clear demarcation towards the west and south and a continuation of burials expected north- and eastwards (Knaut 1993: 22). Knaut (1993: 187) supposes that the excavations revealed about half of the entire cemetery, with around 300 more burials to be expected in addition to the 158 graves that were published by the archaeologist in 1993 and provided the burials of 164 individuals⁸⁴ that could be analysed for this study (App. 4, Table 2).

The individuals, laid to rest in supine position, were found in graves of varying depth and a width of up to 120cm, and of varying type, including wooden constructions or so- alledà t ee-t u kà offi s ,à utà oà e ide eà ofà sto e-walled burials or tumulus graves was found (Knaut 1993: 26f.). Also in this cemetery, a separate horse burial was found among the inhumations, associated with a well-endowed but disturbed weapon burial (NE 44), dating to the first quarter of the 7^th c. AD (Knaut 1993:

185ff.)

4.1.3 Chronological setting

In order to allow a chronological comparison of individual burials and burial groups and to identify temporal changes in the burial rite across the centuries, it was

83 Knaut (1993: 24) points out the inaccuracy of the orientation of a few burial outlines in the cemetery plan and ascribes the slightly deviating orientation (west-south-west to east-north-east) of a group of burials in the south corner of the cemetery to their early date, around 500 AD and the beginning of the 6^th century.

84 Again, this is due to the occurrence of multiple individuals in some burials.

necessary to devise a system of combined phases, which could then be joined in order to create a system of broad chronological groups, covering about half a century each and allowing the burials to be placed into roughly the same period, permitting examination of the evidence for potential major temporal changes.

Table 4.1 shows the previously described phases for the cemeteries of Pleidelsheim and Neresheim as developed by Knaut (1993) and Koch (2001)⁸⁵ (cf. Chapter 2.2.2) and the combined phases used in this study, i.e. periods I to X (cf. Inventory of analysed burials, App. 4, Tables 1 and 2). In the combined phasing (Table 4.1), periods I - III comprise the 5^th c. AD and the beginning of the 6^th c. AD, to the onset of Frankish rule, periods IV - VI describe the 6^th c. AD from ca. 525 AD and the potential effects of socio-political change by period V or VI (broad phase D), and periods VII - X encompass the 7^th c. AD.

For Pleidelsheim, Koch (2001: 353ff.) describes the first generation of settlers as well as their successors for periods I - III (SD-phases 1 - 4). Periods IV - VI (SD-phases 4/5 - 7) see the arrival of new burial customs, such as large deep burial pits and (narrow) grave chambers, and the onset of a greater variety of burial customs in terms of grave types and burial accoutrement overall, pointing to the presence of several familiae during the 6^th c. Eventually, the cemetery is possibly extended to the south during periods VII - X (SD-phases 8 - 10; Koch 2001: 361). Due to the incompleteness of the cemetery excavations and the difficulty of a local cemetery chronology (see Chapter 2.2.2), any conclusions on potential clusters of familiae or

85 Although Koch (2001) provides an extensive archaeological analysis of the burials, including typology of grave goods and a chronological attribution of burials, her results are not always congruent in their presentation and conclusion, as already remarked by other archaeologists (Brather 2004b). The phasing of the Pleidelsheim burials can only be tentative and broad.

similar groups can only be speculative. Indeed, Stork (2003) mentions that large parts of the area potentially dating into the Frankish period (6th and 7th c.) were missing from the excavations.

For Neresheim, periods I - III (Phases 1 - 3a) cover the onset of burials at this cemetery which Knaut (1993: 188ff.) places at the time of Childerich I (c. mid - 5^th century AD). Massive grave robbing rendered the definite identification of burials from period I impossible, however, some remaining artefacts suggest their existence. Periods IV - VI (Phases 3b - 3d) comprise the era of Frankish rule, for the beginning of which (period IV) Knaut (1993: 191) describes a reduced burial intensity that picks up again in period V and VI, a time when we also notice the introduction of chamber grave types in this cemetery (Knaut 1993: 27f.). Periods VII - X (Phases 4a - 4d) encompass the 7^th c. AD, with period X marking the end of this cemetery, coinciding with the decrease in grave good inclusions and the placement of cemeteries near early churches in Southern Germany (Knaut 1993: 195).

Table 4.1: Combination of phases for Pleidelsheim and Neresheim as used in this study

4.2 Methods

An accurate estimation of age and sex, as well as a defined palaeopathological assessment of human skeletal remains is crucial to the bioarchaeological study of past populations, not only for palaeodemographic analysis, but, especially in the context of this study, for recognizing age-, gender- and status-based differences in mortuary practices, disease and diet as well as activity patterns, all of which lead to an improved understanding of living conditions and social complexity of a community. Although the skeletal remains from both sites had been previously analysed, published concisely as part of the main archaeological publications (by R.

Hahn and M. Kunter for Pleidelsheim (Koch 2001: 89ff.), and R. Hahn for Neresheim (Koch 2001: 16)), the re-examination of the remains was necessary due to

 developments in anthropological methodology and the potential for advanced skeletal analysis,

 therefore, an improved age and sex assessment of all individuals with an anthropological basis,

 an extended and thorough examination of palaeopathological and musculoskeletal traits.

Due to the above reasons as well as the lack of some skeletal elements which were found to having been removed (and untraceable), others being very fragmented due to handling or the storage of the remains, and the findings of adult and subadult skeletal material which occurred in some burials and had not been previously recorded anthropologically, the re-examination of the skeletal remains

resulted in a diverging and more complete record of the skeletal remains, with essential consequences for their bioarchaeological study and interpretation.

4.2.1 Anthropological analysis

A full skeletal analysis was undertaken, based on standards for osteological analysis, with a few adaptations with regard to these specific populations. Skeletal recording forms used for adult and subadult remains (available on request) include a record of burial features such as site, burial number, burial position (if known), and the level of skeletal preservation, as well as a full skeletal inventory and records of selected relevant cranial and postcranial metrics and non-metric traits, stature (adults), biological age and sex, pathological analysis, and scoring of entheseal changes (adults). If additional skeletal elements of another individual were found among the remains of a burial, an MNI was established for this grave (App. 4, Tables 1 and 2); if the remains provided enough information to assess the sex and / or age of the additional individual, especially in case of subadult remains often found commingled with those of an adult skeleton, the individual was recorded as a separate burial for this particular grave.

The results of the skeletal analysis, by different techniques drawn from multiple sources, were recorded separately and eventually combined in order to arrive at the most accurate assessment possible and to allow for an analysis of often fragmented and poorly preserved skeletal remains.

4.2.1.1 Metric analysis

Cranial and postcranial measurements were taken with an osteometric board, sliding and spreading calipers to the nearest 0.1mm after guidelines by Bräuer (1988), based on the classic measurements defined by Martin and Saller (1957) and Howells (1973). An overview of the measurements taken can be found in App. 4, Tables 5 - 8, while individual metric results can be supplied by request. The osteometric analysis of subadult skeletal remains followed Fazekas and Kosa (1978), with a choice of measurements following suggestions by Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994). A note was made if at least one landmark had to be estimated, or if pieces of fractured cranium could be held in place to allow an accurate measurement. If a pathological condition might have changed the original measurement or landmarks for the measurement, it was entered as non-recordable.

4.2.1.2 Sex assessment

Sex was determined by means of the dimorphic features of pelvis and cranium, as well as by metric formulae, and recorded as

M = male,

M? = probable male, I = indeterminate, F = female,

F? = probable female,

a dà u o se a le à ND .àFo àtheàpu poseàofàa al sisàofàtheseàsiza le,à utà otàla geà samples, probable males / probable females were grouped with males / females in

this study. In cases where skeletons were preserved well enough to show sufficient indicators of sex, yet these being still ambiguous, an individual was recorded as

i dete i ate .à

Given the function of the female pelvis with regard to childbirth, pelvic morphological features are considered to be the most reliable indicators for sex determination (Cox and Mays 2000 ; White and Folkens 2000). For the visual determination of sex using pelvic morphology, standard methods as described by Phenice (1969), Bass (1995), Mays (1998), Ferembach et al. (1979), as well as by Bruzek (2002) were applied in order to compare the results and arrive at the most informed sex assessment possible. Considering the fragmentary nature of the material and often poor preservational state of the inferior pelvis and the ischium and pubis, the assessment of these features as well as the use of the very reliable Phenice method proved to be not applicable in many cases. The same applies to the consideration of the sacrum (Ferembach et al. 1979), which was one of the features assessed additionally.

Sex determination from cranial features followed the recommendations by Buikstra and Ubelaker (1994), Mays (1998), and Acsádi and Nemeskéri (1970). Although considered potentially less reliable on its own as a method for assessing biological sex due to their interdependency with factors such as robusticity or age (e.g. Walker et al. 1988), cranial morphological features can provide an accuracy of up to 96%

(Maat et al. 1997) and were employed in addition to the observation of pelvic features in this study, albeit weighing less heavily in terms of accuracy. Cranial features were only considered in isolation if they were all found to be in agreement.

Where possible, the degree of sexual dimorphism for cranial features was

calculated following the suggestions by Ferembach et al. (1979) and Giles and Elliot (1963).

Long bone measurements of clavicle (Bass 1995), humerus (Suchey 1997), radius (Berrizbeitia 1989 ; Bass 1995), and femur (Black III 1978a ; Bass 1995 ; Suchey 1997), as well as scapula (Bass 1995) were assessed for sex determination in addition to the observation of morphological features, especially in cases where the material was too fragmentary to obtain a reliable sex estimation from the pelvic and / or cranial features. Furthermore, the visual assessment of morphology of the distal humerus (Falys et al. 2005) was found to provide reliable indication of sex in the Alamannic samples, as well being mostly in congruence with other morphological findings.

Sex assessment in sub-adults

It is generally acknowledged that sex determination in subadult skeletal remains is difficult due to minimal differences in morphological features of the skeleton prior to puberty (Fazekas and Kosa 1978), and various studies have discussed and demonstrated the potential problems in terms of reproducibility of suggested methods for sex assessment in immature remains (e.g. Molleson et al. 1998 ; Scheuer 2002 ; Wilson et al. 2008), including tooth dimensions in the deciduous dentition (Black III 1978b ; Rösing 1983), as features of sexual dimorphism vary between populations (Schutkowski 1994 ; Vlak et al. 2008), or due to a lack of representative documented collections (Rösing 1983 ; Molleson et al. 1998 ; Mays and Cox 2000). Pelvic and mandibular morphology do show evidence of some sexually distinctive traits, as reported by Weaver (1980, for perinatal infants),

Schutkowski (1993), and Loth and Henneberg (2001), that can be used for determining the sex of children, with accuracy levels for females ranging between 72 - 92% and hence a little lower than for males (Schutkowski 1993 ; Sutter 2003 ; Wilson et al. 2008), and these traits are usually obliterated during later childhood (Reynolds 1947).

In those cases where mandible and / or pelvic bones were preserved well enough to allow for a sex assessment, the described dimorphic traits of ilium and mandible (Schutkowski 1993) were found to be distinguishable in the present samples, supported by a seriation of the remains which established this method (Schutkowski 1990 ; 1993) to work favourably for the immature skeletal remains from Pleidelsheim and Neresheim. The examination of sexual differences in tooth crown size (Ditch and Rose 1972 ; Black III 1978b ; Rösing et al. 1995) to support the assessment of sex of the subadult remains was applied in very few cases where teeth were present but sex from the pelvic and / or mandibular features was indeterminate, however, time constraints did not allow for applying this method, which, moreover, is considered very population-specific as well as problematic (Molleson et al. 1998), for all subadult remains.

4.2.1.3 Age estimation

The estimation of adult age-at-death was based on the assessment of surface degeneration of the pubic symphysis (Brooks and Suchey 1990), auricular surface of the ilium (Lovejoy et al. 1985 ; Buckberry and Chamberlain 2002), late fusing epiphyses (Webb and Suchey 1985 ; Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994 ; Black and Scheuer

1996 ; Scheuer and Black 2000), and, as additional means, dental attrition (Brothwell 1981 ; Lovejoy 1985) and development (Ubelaker 1989) as well as cranial suture closure (Meindl and Lovejoy 1985). As the auricular surface showed a much higher level of survival and preservation than the pubic symphysis in the present samples, the results of the two methods for age estimation from the auricular surface were assessed in combination, with the criteria as devised by Buckberry and Chamberlain (2002) proving slightly more consistent and applicable for these samples and the age assessment more expedient than the application of Lovejoy a dà olleagues à ite ia.

While the recording of dental development as well as fusion stages of late fusing epiphyses provided a reliable distinction between adolescents, young adults and individuals over 25+ years in the Alamannic samples, the assessment of dental wear could only be indicative of very broad age categories, as a seriation regarding dental wear for the Alamannic samples, as advised by Lovejoy (1985), and a subsequent comparison with the age-at-death profiles resulting from the skeletal indicators indicated an under - aging of the two populations when using dental wear.

All of the above methods were found to be appropriate for assessing age-at-death in the samples under study. Cranial suture closure was used to provide an additional rough age estimate, considering the debate over its reliability as an age

All of the above methods were found to be appropriate for assessing age-at-death in the samples under study. Cranial suture closure was used to provide an additional rough age estimate, considering the debate over its reliability as an age