The mysterious skeleton of a headless horse has been found buried alongside its rider in a medieval graveyard in the southern German town of Knittlingen.
According to archaeologists from the Stuttgart Regional Council’s State Office for Monument Preservation and ArchaeoBW, the remains date back some 1,400 years.
At this time, the area was ruled by the Merovingian dynasty, a Frankish family whose reign from 450–751 AD united much of what is now France and central Europe.
The experts are uncertain why the horse was decapitated, but think this treatment was likely part of the man’s burial ceremony, with the steed’s body a grave good.
Among his other belongings were a straight and double-edged sword known as a ‘spatha’ and a lance. The location of the horse’s head, meanwhile, remains unknown.
The mysterious skeleton of a headless horse (pictured) has been found buried alongside its rider in a medieval graveyard in the southern German town of Knittlingen
According to archaeologists from the Stuttgart Regional Council’s State Office for Monument Preservation and ArchaeoBW, the remains date back some 1,400 years. Pictured: the man, who can be seen alongside his ‘spatha’, which is a type of straight and double-edged sword
At this time, the area was ruled by the Merovingian dynasty, a Frankish family whose reign from 450–751 AD united much of what is now France and central Europe. Pictured: an aerial view of part of the medieval cemetery, which is located on the west side of Knittlingen. Alongside rectangular medieval burials, an irregular, rounded Neolithic structure can be seen
The excavations at the site were led by archaeologist Folke Damminger of the Stuttgart Regional Council’s State Office for Monument Preservation.
The medieval cemetery, a little west of the centre of Knittlingen, was first uncovered in 1920 during construction works for an ultimately aborted narrow-gauge railway line.
As the expert explained, the man found buried alongside his horse was likely in the service of the Merovingian dynasty.
‘He stood in a “chain of command” with the Merovingian kings on its top, which meant he was obliged to participate in the king’s campaigns,’ Dr Damminger explained to Live Science.
‘As a member of the local elite, he most probably was the head of a farming household consisting of his family and his servants.’
However, the man himself likely did not engage in farming practices directly, but would have had workers to take care of such.
Dr Damminger also said that the man’s elaborate burial with his steed would have likely been arranged by his family to reaffirm his — and their — social standing.
‘One function of this ceremony was the “staging” of the deceased in his former status and wealth as a claim of his successors to maintain this status,’ the archaeologist explained.
The elite man was not the only individual from this period whose remains the researchers have unearthed from the site of the cemetery.
In fact, the team reported that they have examined 110 graves in total, some of which were simple burials while other employed wooden coffins and more elaborate timbered burial chambers.
Many of the men, they said, were buried alongside weapons including arrowheads, lances, shields and swords, while others were interred with luxury items, like one woman who was found alongside a gold brooch.
Other grave goods included jewellery such as amulets, arm rings, belt hangers, earrings, pearl necklaces and robe clasps, along with bronze bowls, combs, knives and ceramic vessels that analysis has indicated once contained food for the dead.
‘Despite their fragmentation as a result of ancient robbery, the finds provide indications of the social position of the dead,’ said Dr Damminger.
Most of the graves were found to be lain out in regular rows, while members of the local elite were buried ‘out of sequence’ within a circular ditch, the team added.
According to the archaeologists, many of the men in the cemetery were found buried alongside weapons including arrowheads, lances, shields and swords — while others were interred with luxury items, like one woman who was found alongside a gold brooch (pictured)
Other grave goods included such jewellery as amulets, arm rings, belt hangers (an example of a bronze disc from one of which is pictured), earrings, pearl necklaces and robe clasps, along with bronze bowls, combs, knives and ceramic vessels that analysis has indicated once contained food for the dead
Most of the graves were found to be lain out in regular rows, while members of the local elite were buried ‘out of sequence’ within a circular ditch (pictured), the team added
According to the archaeologists, these burials are notably more lavish than their counterparts from the late 7th century.
‘It is not known whether this is due to reduced prosperity or a different staging of the burials of the local elite,’ Dr Damminger told meinKA.
Alongside the medieval discoveries, the site has also a handful of Neolithic ceramic fragments that have been dated back to around 5000–4500 BC.
‘As was to be expected given Knittlingen’s location in a fertile old settlement landscape, the investigations also revealed individual prehistoric, i.e. Stone Age, findings,’ said Dr Damminger.
With their initial investigation complete, the researchers are now continuing to study the remains of the headless horse and its rider, with the aim of learning how old the man was, the state of his health and the likely cause of his death.
Alongside this, the team will be continuing to excavate and examine the other burials from the cemetery, with the remains and other artefacts being transported to Rastatt for analysis.