Archaeologia http://journals.cambridge.org/ACH
Additional services for Archaeologia:
Email alerts: Click here Subscriptions: Click here Commercial reprints: Click here Terms of use : Click here
XVIII.—Some Account of the Merovingian Cemetery of Envermeu; also of certain Weapons of the Franks. By W. M. Wylie, Esq., F.S.A.: in a Letter to J. Y. Akerman, Esq., Secretary
W. M. Wylie
Archaeologia / Volume 35 / Issue 02 / January 1854, pp 223 - 231 DOI: 10.1017/S0261340900002824, Published online: 12 June 2012
Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0261340900002824
How to cite this article: W. M. Wylie (1854). XVIII.—Some Account of the Merovingian Cemetery of Envermeu; also of certain Weapons of the Franks. By W. M. Wylie, Esq., F.S.A.: in a Letter to J. Y. Akerman, Esq., Secretary. Archaeologia, 35, pp 223-231 doi:10.1017/S0261340900002824
Request Permissions : Click here
Downloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/ACH, IP address: 150.216.68.200 on 22 Apr 2015 223
XVIII.—Some Account of the Merovingian Cemetery of Envermeu; also of certain, Weapons of the Franks. By W. M. "WYLIE, Esq., F.S.A.: in a Letter to J. Y. AKERMAN, Esq., Secretary.
Bead November 24, 1853.
MY DEAR SIR, Oct 19,1853. THE progress of Archaeological discovery in Prance, elucidative of the Mero- vingian period, though always most important and interesting in itself, becomes yet infinitely more so when considered in connection with the advance we also have been able to make in the study of the remains of our own coetaneous Anglo- Saxon epoch. I therefore feel happy in being able to lay a few details on this subject before the Society, chiefly with reference to the Prankish cemetery at Envermeu, now under investigation by the Abbe Cochet in pursuance of his official duties.* The Abbe" has been engaged, at intervals, for some time past on this very inte- resting research, which was resumed last month as soon as the cessation of the labours of harvest gave access to the spot. The Abbess politeness prompted him to direct the ground to be prepared for a further examination of the interments, by the removal of the deep surface soil, and when this was done I accompanied him, by express invitation, to Enrermeu, on September 29th. Envermeu is a village with 1400 inhabitants, situate in the pretty Valley de l'Eaulne, three leagues from Dieppe, on the high road from that town to Neuf- chatel and Beauvais. The cemetery was accidentally discovered, a year or two ago, in cutting a cross road from Envermeu to a neighbouring village. But for this circumstance, it would •probably have ever remained unknown, so deep are the interments, and so perfectly devoid is the surface of any sepulchral indications. It lies just out of Envermeu, facing the south. The whole surrounding country is of the most undulating description, and, in the days when the Pranks sought there a resting-place for their dead, it was probably covered by dense woods, the remains of which still exist under the name of the Porest of Arques.
a As " Inspecteur des Monumens Historiques pour le department de Seine Inferieure." VOL. XXXV. 2 H 224 Merovingian Cemetery of Envermeu. The attention of the Pranks seems early to have been attracted by the rich soil and sheltered position of this valley, for their remains have also been discovered in the immediate vicinity, at Douvrend, Londinieres, Parfondeval, and Lucy. On arriving at the excavations, we found a long trench of eight feet wide and three deep already opened. The soil is rich and deep, lying upon chalk, and it is, therefore, tolerably easy to track out the interments, which, for the most part, seem to have been made in the chalk at the very considerable depth of from three to six feet. The weather was most unfavourable for our operations, but during our few hours' work we found no less than twelve interments. Occasionally two bodies had been laid in one grave, a circumstance I have before noticed in England, at the Anglo-Saxon cemetery of Fairford. The bodies too, as at Fairford, were interred in regular order, with the heads to the south, which would seem to have been the prevailing Pagan practice of the Teutons in general. This regularity of position, the numerous interments, and the almost crowded state of their array, which the Abbe has always observed here, would show that this ground had been the accustomed cemetery of a Prankish tribe, during a long series of years, after they had become the hereditary possessors of at least this portion of the Valley de l'Eaulne. The authenticated existence of these circumstances, both in England, in France, and also in Germany, clearly proves what importance the Teuton race, even in their days of Paganism, attached to the rites of burial. It is evident that their dead were not usually buried wherever convenience or caprice prompted; but that a certain, and that too a limited, spot of ground was allotted—perhaps, according to their pagan notions, consecrated—as the public burial-place, and a regular order maintained in the lines of graves. Another fact, too, was incontestably ascertained,—that the bodies had been interred in wooden coffins. Probably these were of oak, which, in its decay, has left a black stratum at the bottom and round the sides of the graves. This substance, in its present state, might easily be mistaken for charcoal. It is, how- ever, very commonly met with in Prankish graves, and on being submitted for analysis to M. Girardin, of Rouen, that distinguished chemist pronounced it to be " une espece de lignite, ou bois fossile, reste des cercueils en bois dans lesquels les cadavres furent inhumes."a Stone coffins have also been found. Cremation does not seem to have been practised. Unfortunately the relics found on this occasion with the skeletons were of no a Analyses de plusieurs Produits d'Art d'une haute Antiquite. 2e Memoire, par J. Girardin, Professeur de Chimie de la Ville de Rouen. Merovingian Cemetery of JEnvermeu. 225 great interest; we had not lighted on the sepulchres of the wealthy. By the hips of one skeleton were a few glass and amber studs or buttons; a bone comb, with an irregular pattern traced on it; and three Roman coins, all pierced to use as amulets. Of these, one bears a very rich patina, but is totally illegible; another much worn presents a Roman effigy, apparently female, and the loop of copper wire still remains attached; in the third, a bead of greenish glass has been in- serted by cutting the coin, which is of base silver, bearing the head of the Emperor Posthumus, and on the reverse a female figure holding a cornucopia. These articles had, doubtless, been deposited in a purse attached to the belt, the massive clasp of which also remained. It was of iron, much oxidised, but had once been tinned or silvered, a process which served at once for ornament and to protect the metal from corrosion. It was also further decorated with rounded knobs or projections of glass, of different colours, with a view to present a jewelled appearance. In another interment, where the skeleton had almost disappeared, were by the place of the hand two bronze rings, of the common Roman type, with several beads of glass, and one, apparently of porcelain, cut into various facets; these had formed a bracelet. By them was one of those curious implements not unfrequently met with in England, and which are supposed to have served the purpose of keys. It is of iron with a ring attached. This interment was at the considerable depth of nearly six feet, and no coffin appeared to have been used. One or two small knives of the common type and some spear heads were all we further met with. The usual type of the Envermeu spear is long, and slight for its length. An example in the Rouen Museum, found on a former investigation, measures 23 inches in its broken state; its original length cannot have been less than 25 inches. The blade at the widest point measures If inch. The spears had been placed here, as is usual also in Anglo-Saxon graves, with the heads pointing upwards by the skull of the deceased, and the ferrule of the spear-staff at the feet. In the Prankish graves at Selzen on the Rhine a remarkable variation in this respect occurs, and the plates illustrating Iindenschmit's work represent the spears reversed at the feet of the dead." Such a departure from the ascertained general custom of the race is not without its significance. We may perhaps venture to suppose that the vicinity of the Ripuarian Pranks to the Roman legions on the Rhine, and their occasional service under Roman standards, whether as mercenaries or allies, led them to adopt, in a spirit of imitation, many of the habits and customs a Germanische Todtenlager bei Selzen. Mr. Akerman has before alluded to this anomaly in his " Remains of Pagan Saxondom," p. 22, 226 Merovingian Cemetery of Envermeu. of their more civilized neighbours. How far this kind of influence extended we have no certain evidence; hut it must have had considerahle sway, since in the days of Julian we find the tribes nearest the Rhine constructing their habitations in direct imitation of the Roman villas.* Warriors, then, as the Pranks were, the usages of Roman military funerals would be one of the first things to attract their attention; and that the Romans, on such occasions, reversed their spears and fasces, we have the abundant testimony of Latin writers.b M. Cochet further informs me, that in those interments where the francisca occurs he has invariably found the spear reversed at the feet of the skeleton. The francisca or battle-axe is so completely the distinguishing weapon of Prankish warfare, that it is reasonable to consider interments where it is found to have been those of individuals of the military class—warriors par excellence." It would seem, then, that not merely the Ripuarian Pranks had acquired this custom of reversing the spear, in imitation of what they had witnessed at Roman military funerals, but that the Salii and Sicambri, also, had carried with them into Gaul the observances formerly acquired, in their intercourse with the Romans, on the banks of the Rhine. What precise date may be safely assigned to these Teutonic interments is difficult to ascertain, nor is it probable that further researches will afford a satisfactory solution. In common with all other sepulchral remains of their class, the absence
"• " Domicilia cuncta curatius ritu Eomano constructa." Ammian. Marcel, xvii. 1. b At the funeral of Pallas, Virgil, uEneid. xi. 93, versis Arcades armis. At the funeral of Germanicus, " prsecedebant incompta signa, versi fasces." Tacit. Ann. iii. 2. So, too, Albinovanus Pedo, " Quos primum vidi fasces, in funere vidi, Et vidi versos, indiciumque mali." Eleg. in Liviam, 142. c Oberlin (Museum Schceplini, p. 22, pi. 2, fig. 1, Argent. 1773) gives an account of a triumphal Eoman monument found at Niederbron, where the remains of a fortified camp (stativa) were visible. It is a bas- relief, and represents a captive following an equestrian figure bearing a francisca. The learned Oberlin ascribes this monument to either Magnentius or Julian; more correctly, perhaps, to the latter. The victor's form is juvenile, and Julian had thrice crossed the Rhine and triumphed over the Alemanni and the Franks before he became Augustus (Amm. Marc. xvii. c. 1 and 10, xviii. c. 2). There is no inscription, and the distinguishing emblem is the national weapon of the vanquished, borne in triumph by the victor. " Securis, vel bipennis," says Oberlin, " qua armatus comparat eques, cum bipenni, sive francisciS, Francorum e Merovingica stirpe regum, optime convenit." But if the monument is to be ascribed to Julian, it com- memorates the use of the Frankish weapon nearly a century before the time of Meroveus. The francisca so sculptured is not quite of the usual form ; but an example resembling it, found at Parfondeval, exists in the museum of NeufcMtel. Merovingian Cemetery of Envermeu. 227 of inscriptions bars chronological certainty. The interments evidently extend over a very long period, and may date from the settlement of Meroveus at Amiens, soon after the middle of the fifth century, down to the Carlovingian period. The best indicia of the data of each respective interment are perhaps to be sought in the character and artistic execution of its ornamental remains. When graves are found to contain rings, fibulae,&c . of evidently Roman, or Gallo-Roman workmanship, we are perhaps justified in assigning a very early date; for we may reasonably believe the relics to have been obtained from the conquered people by the first Frankish invaders. In such objects, it is not only by the eye that Prankish imitation is discernible from Roman art, but by the aid of chemistry we can detect a deteriorated metallurgy. M. Girardin's careful experiments have shown that the pure bronze of the Roman period, rich in its component proportion of tin, became debased in Merovingian manufacture. First, lead was introduced as an alloy, the presence of antimony and iron marking the impurity of the metals employed in the composition; while in other experiments lead was found to have been altogether employed in place of tin." Little can be gleaned from the examples of Roman money, which must have long remained the common currency of these provinces, after the destruction of the Roman power. The perforated state of the few coins found, and the wire loops, by which they were attached to the person, show the talismanic use to which superstition had applied them. Merovingian money has, I believe, been found on two occasions; it is valuable, not only as affording an approach to dates, but because we thereby obtain positive proof of the presence of the people to whom these graves have been ascribed. These Merovingian coins had probably been concealed in the dress of the deceased, and thus escaped the notice of the survivors. Possibly to avoid exciting the cupidity of the lawless it was that the custom of burying money with the dead appears to have fallen into disuse. On several occasions, indeed, M. Cochet has found that the tombs at Envermeu had been violated and robbed. The too frequent occurrence of this crime is attested by the penalties imposed on its commission by the laws of various Teutonic nations." The temporal power seems to have been unable to repress the crime ; for in a letter of Pope John II.C about the year 534, we find the weapons of the Church brought
* " II parait qu'a l'^poque Merovingienne, ou les arts de I'antiquit6 e'taient en decadence, on ne savait plus faire le beau bronze Grec et Eomain, et que le plomb 6tait substitu6, soit partiellement, soit meme en totalite, a l'etain." (Analyses, 2e Memoire, par J. Girardin, p. 19.) b Leg. Salicse, tit. xvii. lviii. Leg. Kipuariae, tit. lvi. lxxxvii. Leg. Longobard. Roth. tit. vi. c Epist. 1 Johan. II. ad Csesarium Arelatensem, Concil. Ant. Gallias, vol. i, p. 237, ed. Sirmond. 228 Merovingian Cemetery of Envermeu. into use for this purpose. " Violatores vero sepulcri licet Augustorum principum capitaliter damnet sententia, tamen si qui in hoc facinore fuerunt reperti super- stites, ab Ecclesiastica communione priventur. Quia nefas est," &c. Such are the few details of my visit to the cemetery of Envermeu. I have purposely abstained from further entering on the highly interesting results of M. Cochet's researches both before and since this occasion, as he himself is about to publish a detailed account. Enough, however, has perhaps been said to convince those to whom Anglo-Saxon remains are familiar of the striking assimilation of the Prankish tribes who entered Gaul, on the decline of the Roman power, with those of the Saxons who, in like manner, possessed themselves of Britain. As so frequently is the case with individuals of the same stock, though the relationship may be remote, and points of difference may have been created by disunion, yet the family likeness is unmistakeably evident. At present we are but on the threshold of our subject. "We see but darkly, but we see enough to encourage us to hope we are on the right quest, and that continued archaeological research will eventually clear up all doubt. It will lend no small assistance to the study of the dark ages, when we are able to interpret aright the records time has pre- served for us in the sacred depository of the tomb, and to pronounce unerringly, " here lived, or passed, the Erank, the Lombard, the Burgundian, or the Goth." In the Abbe Cochet archaeology has a most indefatigable ally, whose researches are rapidly furnishing the museums of Rouen, Caen, and also of Paris. Greatly indeed is it to be desired that there were established in England the wise and excellent system under which such men as M. Cochet act in the Erench provinces as " inspecteurs des monumens historiques," and which confers the proper powers, and furnishes the funds when required, for the proper collection and preservation of the national antiquities. The Museum of Neufchatel, in the neighbourhood of Envermeu, has also enabled me to adduce an interesting fact in support of history. In a former paper on " the angon of the Franks," which I had the honour of laying before the Society in January last, I indulged in the hope that, as we had found the weapon answer- ing exactly to the minute description given* of the angon by Agathias, " attentive observation would one day show him to have faithfully mentioned the srsAs^ei? aju. language of these writers as merely conventional; and in fact, in assuming his- torical obscurities to be merely myths, or unreal conventionalities, there is danger of striking at the root of all history.* Among the relics discovered in the Merovingian interments at Parfondeval,b now preserved at Neufchatel, are some battle-axes of unusual type, and among these the weapon a sketch of which I now submit, conceiving it to be the real Trexl^oy ajuKpta-TOjxoy. It is a double axe, of very solid and weighty proportions, measuring 8^ inches in the full length of its two blades. One blade is vertical, and shaped like a francisca; the other is smaller, and of horizontal form. There is no reason for assuming, as some have done, that the bipennis was necessarily the Amazonian axe of Grecian sculpture, and to which—at least to some double-axe—Horace alludes in his triumphal ode on the German conquests of Drusus.0 On one of the Etruscan vases in the British Museum an Amazon is a We have the direct testimony of Vegetius, lib. iv., that the bipennis was a real weapon, and used by the Romans. " Bipennis est seouris habens ex utraque parte latissimum et acutissimum ferrum." Corippus Africanus, also, in his vivid account of the court of the younger Justin, speaks expressly of this weapon. The troops who bore it were probably Teutonic mercenaries. " Et lasva, dextraque acies adstare videres Multaque ancipites splendescere luce bipennes, Terribiles, aetate pares." De Laudibus Justini Aug. Min. 1. iii. b. 177. b The Parfondeval cemetery was also accidentally discovered in cutting a new road, and examined by the Abb6 Cochet, who opened 150 tombs there. Parfondeval is a hamlet in a deep valley, as the name implies, branching out of the Valley de l'Eaulne. c " Videre Khseti bella sub Alpibus Drusum gerentem Vindelici, quibus Mos unde deductus per omne Tempus Amazonia securi Dextras obarmet, quserere distuli." Hor. Carm. lib. iv. 4, 17. 230 Merovingian Cemetery of JEnvermeu. represented combating with a double weapon, one side only of which bears the usual crescent-shaped blade, while the other is simply a long tapering point. On another beautiful vase (Theseus and Procrustes), Theseus is armed with a double- axe, not very dissimilar from a double francisca. We have no authority for any particular form; but it is impossible to doubt that the Franks, at one period, used some such double weapon. Agathias expressly tells us the war-axe used by the Franks, at the battle of Casilinum, was a double weapon—aju, a Procop. De Bell. Goth. 1. ii. 25. » Vol. xxx. p. 248. c Lib. iv. epist. 20. Archaeologia, vol. xxxv. p. 51. d Herodot. Clio ccxv. Merovingian Cemetery of JEnvermeu. 231 in the wilds of Asia that we must seek for the earliest seats of the Teutonic nations; and these Merovingian weapons, of so unusual and remarkable a type, possess a still higher interest if we may venture to regard them as proclaiming the ancient Oriental traditions of the race, steadily preserved, through so many ages of adventurous migration, from the shores of the Caspian to the valleys of Gaul. The kindness of the Abbe" Cochet allows me to present sketches of some other weapons found by him, at Envermeu, on a former occasion. The barbed weapon, and two examples of Eig. 1, were found beneath a skeleton in a position that induced the Abbe" to think them to have been the heads of arrows deposited in a quiver. Their size and weight, however, rather prove them to have been spicula, or darts; and, in connexion with the mention of the angon, the barbed example carries some interest with it. It is singular how rare are examples of barbed weapons of an early date, although there can be no doubt such were in common use. They are of slight construction, and would quickly perish by corrosion. A few have occasionally been found in England, strongly, if not precisely, resembling this from Envermeu, but unfortunately never under circumstances deemed suffi- ciently authenticated. Archeeologists have, therefore, properly hesitated to classify them; but the fact of thus meeting the weapon in a Merovingian grave will justify us in ascribing our own examples to the Anglo-Saxon period. Believe me sincerely yours, W. M. WYLIE. To J. Y. AXERMAN, Esq., Sec. S.A. VOL. XXXV. 2i