[gothic-l] Hachmann: to Ingemar and Keth

[dirk at SMRA.CO.UK]

Hello Ingemar,


 
> Concerning Rolf Hachmann "Die Goten und Skandinavien" it is a very 
good
> book, I have read it very intensively from beginning to end. However 
his
> argument against a migration from Scandinavia does not hold 
altogether
> because he admits diverse local emigrations. 


He does? My reading is that he ruled out any 'significant' influx from 
Scandinavian cultures into the Masovian group (i.e. Wilbark culture). 
Hachmann stated, in my view, only on the basis of name similarities 
that there must have been some contact at some time. 





Also his way of 
estimating
> the extense of arrable land in connection to his estimated 
population
> has its faults. In my book I have treated him thoroughly and argued 
his
> weak points. You must also remember that he all the time seem to 
work to
> prove that the Goths originated elsewhere.


I don't think that Hachmann seeks to prove a pre-conceived point. 
Instead, he seems to be one of the very few and possibly the first 
scholar to have treated this question free of patriotic-nationalistic 
pre-conceptions. 






Finally he ends upp with
> admitting he can not prove the Goths were continental nor that they 
were
> Scandinavian. 


That is not quite right I am afraid. Hachmann clearly states that the 
continental Goths are, as bearers of the Masovian group (Wilbark 
culture) an authochon culture that originated as successor of the 
Oxthoefter culture and splinter group of the Przworsk culture on the 
continent. Thus, Hachmann states explicitly that the continental Goths 
 originated on the continent and not in Scandinavia. This is also the 
mainstream view among archaeologists involved this this matter.

Hachmann concludes by saying that there is no archaeological evidence 
that the Masovian group (i.e. Goths) came from Scandinavia, but also 
that there is no evidence that people of the Masovian group (i.e. 
Goths) migrated to Scandinavia.




Still he regards also the Gauts as Goths. 


Yes, Hachmann states that the name similarity suggest that the two 
groups had contact at some stage, but that archaeology could not 
verify which way this contact went and of what nature it was.




The 
conclusion
> is that he has made a very honest book which is quite recommendable 
and
> that shows Hachmann is a very serious researcher.   


Yes, Prof. Hachmann was, no doubt, a leading pre-historian and 
arachaeologist. In this context the writings of Prof. Volker 
Bierbrauer should be of interest. Bierbrauer is a leading expert in 
Gothic archaelogoy. For example: Volker Bierbrauer, Archäologie und 
Geschichte der Goten vom 1.- 7. Jahrhundert. Versuch einer Bilanz. In: 
Frühmittelalterliche Studien 28 (1994) 51-171 

Bierbrauer also wrote an article about Ostrogothic fibulae in Bavaria 
and another about Alamannic fibulae in Ostrogothic Italy. (Reference 
is in Wolfram's 'Die Goten'.

cheers,

Dirk


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