[gothic-l] Re: Whence the Eruli

[george knysh]

--- paul mortimer
<paulmortimer at paulmortimer.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
> Dear George,
>                     It should be remembered that
> archeologists, too, are human. They can
> misinterpret, make mistakes, overlook important
> clues. They also have their "pet" ideas and have
> disagreements with other archeologists.

*****GK: Sounds pretty human doesn't it? (:=))In the
abstract and in principle you are absolutely right,
and I could go on to offer many examples of such
disputes (but you know this well so I won't bother).
However in this case I know of no archaeologist who
would consider the steppe cultures of Ukraine and
South Russia in the period under discussion [200-400
AD] to be anything else but Sarmato-Alanic-early
Hunnic. There's a difference between having a closed
mind on an issue and drawing conclusions from the
evidence. As you move southeastward from the
Dnipro-Orel confluence "Chernyakhiv" completely peters
out, and all you have are gravesites and campsites of
nomads. I know of no "available but unpublished"
material to the contrary. To locate the Eruli here one
would have to believe that upon their arrival they
instantly changed the entirety of their material
culture, and adopted the full range of nomadic
customs, with not a shred of intermediary "mix". That
would not be a rational attitude. So I do not say "the
Eruli must have been here because
Ablabius/Cassiodorus/Jordanes say they were, even
though four generations of archaeologists have found
nothing to substantiate this." I rather say "Since
there is no archaeological confirmation of the
presence of a Germanic population here, in spite of
four generations of assiduous digging and research,
then it is more than probable that Ablabius etc. were
wrong, and that their error stems from a
misinterpretation initiated by Dexippos." Naturally if
evidence should surface proving Ablabius etc. right, I
will yield. But I certainly won't hold my breath in
the meantime. Nothing is absolutely certain in this
world. But this is as certain as anything can be.*****


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