[gothic-l] Wielbark Culture

[Tore Gannholm]

>Hi Dirk, I never received any comment regarding this post.  Thoughts?
>
>Christensen:
>
>"My omission of the discussion of the archaeological discoveries in
>what is now Poland is intentional. They are normally identified with
>the Goths (the Wielbark culture). However, the basis for this
>identification is Jordanes's Getica along with the texts
>mentioned here, written by Strabo, Pliny, Tacitus, and Ptolemy. If
>the
>archaeologists did not find the name-related material here, they
>would naturally not be able to attach any names of certain peoples to
>their finds since, to my knowledge, no inscriptions have been found
>that indicate any particular ethnicity. The archaeologists are
>therefore unable to prove that the antique texts deal with Goths
>(Christensen 2002:40)."
>
>Christensen, A.S. Cassidorus Jordanses and the History of the Goths
>Studies in a Migration Myth. Copenhagen. Museum Tusculanum Press:
>2002.
>
>Regards,
>

This is very interesting. Christensen is a historian and only looks 
at written sources. As there is almost no contemporary written 
sources we have to look at the archaeological evidence. The 
archaeologist can read the written sources to get a hint where to 
dig. If the written sources have any substance the archaeologists 
will find the proof they need.

In the case of the Getica we don't  know what is coming down through 
the oral tradition and what is invented by Cassiodorus and Jordanes.

Herwig Wolfram writes "After having conquered the Romans, the Goths 
understand that their leaders are not ordinary humans but demigods, 
which is why they call them Ansis/Aesir. Do not expect to find real 
names in Theoderiks genealogy, most of them emanate from sources 
about the Getae, while the Ansis/Amal tradition is of oral Gothic 
origin. This was politically important for Theoderic in order to be 
accepted by the old Italian families.

Some say this is all taken from litterary sources but that is not 
true. The expulsion of the witches, for example, was to be of 
Jewish-Christian origin, but since the word "halliurunnae" (witches) 
has a Gothic stem, it must be part of the original tradition."
"Wolfram argues that the concept, that all barbarian history is 
nothing but litterature, is wrong. He feels that there is always a 
core of historical tradition hidden somewhere. He specially mentions 
Walter Goffart's "Narrators of Barbarian History" in which these 
simplifications are made."


In recent years extensive excavations have taken place in the Vistula 
area and Elblag.
This was presented at a symposium in Lidköing in 1992 where professor 
Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn, Warszawa read a paper about his latest 
findings.


see http://www.stavgard.com/Gotland/romaniron_/kulturcentrum/default.htm

Summary page 42

The paper was presented in German but I only have it in the Swedish 
version translated and published by Ingemar. I hope he has the 
original which I would like to include in this page.

Afterwards there was a discussion where professor Herwig Wolfram from 
Wien was very pleased and stated that with this paper it was the 
first time he gets a view over what the Wielbark culture actually is.

Professor Okulicz-Kozaryn was very convinced with his interpretations 
about a common Baltic culture with the center in the Elblag area. It 
is the Ember trade that is very profitable that is foundation of this 
culture.

He writes: "The preliminary discussion of research results from the 
Weklice cemetery presented here, with an attempt to present them in a 
broader historical context shows that we are not dealing here with a 
marginal and minor area of the Wielbark Culture but with one of the 
centres of the amber coast, crucial for understanding the 
far-reaching ties between the Baltic region and various areas of the 
Roman Empire and European Barbaricum. "

"It is difficult not to associate such a strong economical position 
of the group in question with the organization of the southward 
migrations of population. It is surprising that no existing 
publications concerning the migration of Goths and Gepidae engaged in 
such a basic comprehensive confrontation of sources."

He has no misgivings about Gotland being a part of this.

Tore


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