[gothic-l] Re: Analogy between fate of Eruli and Burgundians?

Mon Jan 20 10:20:31 UTC 2003

>
>
> > BTW, Judith Jesch's book on early Scandinavian history is now
out.
> > This edited volume reportedly includes all the latest research on
> > early Scandinavian history from ca. 500AD. Once it is available
in
> > the British Lib. I will check whether any of the contributors
> regard
> > a 'significant' Herulian contribution as a viable theory or not.
>
>
> You have written this several times before. There is a world
between
> the Scandinavian "school" and the attitude you possibly present in
> your MSG 6818 at Germanic List ("Langobardic fibulae found").

Hi Troels,

I don't know about the 'Scandinavian school', however, archaeologists
anywhere are careful not to attribute archaeological artefacts to
ethnic/linguistic groups, unless there is clear historical evidence
that a certain group lived in that particular area at that particular
time. For the 'Langobardic fibulae' comment this is the case. I.e.
the cemetaries cited in this article are in a region where historical
sources mention the Langobards some 2000 years ago. In addition, the
archaeological characteristics link the objects of these cemetaries
to finds in Bohmeia, Austria, Pannonia and Italy. Hence, calling this
culture 'Langobardic' is rather firmly established.

In
> general Scandinavian scholars are against combining archaeology and
> ethnicity, and most of them have neglected the historical
mentioning
> of the Heruls for years.

As I said, this is not only common and good practice among
Scandinavian archaeologists, but archaeologists in general. Only
under certain circumstances can an ethnic attribution be justified.

The authors of this new book are wellknown
> archaeologists writing a lot of articles and books all the time.
They
> have however given the Heruls a note in the "official"
> book "Vendeltid" (1980) from the Historical Museum of Sweden
> mentioning a Herulic origin in Scandinavia, ErilaR and Jordanes,
but
> not a word about Procopius' reports regarding 512 and 546 AD. I do
> not know what you expect to happen now. If they are provoked to
write
> anything about the Heruls this time they will have to defend their
> earlier silence, unless new convincing DNA-analyses or finds are
> published in the book.
>

I still think that if the Heruls did play a major role in
Scandinavia, scholars specialising in this time period will have
taken notice of them.

> Please also remember that no German or Easteuropean archaeologists
> have been able to show where the Heruls - by you regarded as the
> majority -

Not, just by me, but also by Menghin, Pohl, and Werner.

settled in Moesia/Dacia ripenses. Neither have they been
> able to tell where the Heruls lived at the Black Sea and they have
> only been able to guess at some "royal" burials in Moravia, where
the
> Heruls were known to be the most numerous people.

That is true and a good point. However, firstly I think that the
status of research is not satisfactory in those regions. Secondly,
various archaeological remains have been linked to the Heruls. The
Blucina grave is one example and the Hegykoe group at the Neusiedler
See is another.

How do you by
> archaeology determine the ethnicity of a mixed vagrant people
living
> by theft and plundering based on their (stolen) remains?

Certainly a problem. But all of their plunder would have come from
the middle Danube. Much of their material would be of provincial
Roman origin. Other forms would derive from Hunnic nomadic cultures.
All this should give a general picture which an archaeologist would
likely recognise among a uniform local culture.

By their
> burial costums you will say - but Procopius told they used
cremation

Procopius wrote that they used to cremate their dead 'in the past'.
Note that the whole passage, when Procopius describes the customs of
the Heruli, referes to 'ancient times'. Around 500AD none of the
groups in Moravia, Bohemia, Pannonia etc, practiced cremation burial.
Especially, the East Germanic groups coming from the Black Sea had
long adopted inhumation burials.  The last groups to cremate their
dead in that region were the Suevi (i.e. the reminders of the
Marcomanni and Quadi). As you know Iulius Honorius, Cosmographia 26,
p. 40, mentioned the Heruli as living between Marcomanni and Quadi.
However, by that time even the Marcomanni and Quadi had adopted
inhumation.

> and no cremation is found at any of their livingplaces except in
> Scandinavia (and maybe those at the Black Sea mentioned by George).

Exactly, the Eastern Heruls of the 5th/early 6th century have
certainly not practiced cremation, but inhumation, as is clearly
evidenced by those inhumations linked to the Heruls and the absence
of cremations in general. In short, no cremation can be found in
Herulic settlement areas in the middle Danubian regions, because they
did not practice cremation burial. Also, the notion that they
switched their burial custom immediately to cremation upon their
arrival in Thule is unbelievable, especially if they settled in a
compact area 'next to the Gauti'.

>
> Spare the poor listmembers from the endless thread you indicate by
> mentioning this book.
>

I am sure it is a perfectly good book, written by experts in the
field. I think it is likely to provide a clearer picture of what went
on in Scandinavia from 500AD than any theories based on Herulic
migrations.

Dirk

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