Gisela Ripoll1

The Archaeological Characterisation of the of Toledo: The Question of the Visigothic Cemeteries

The well-deserved homage that is being offered to Professor Jörg Jarnut today covers various subjects and chronological periods, thereby reflecting his own research . The construction of the new Western kingdoms is of particular interest to Jörg Jarnut from a historical and an archaeological viewpoint, and, for this reason, I would like to demonstrate my gratitude for the teaching I received from him by considering one of the key points for the archaeological characterisa- tion of the Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo, that of the cemeteries . Professor Jarnut’s attitude demonstrates that scientific knowledge and human warmth and cordiality can go hand in hand . Vielen Dank Jörg!

1 . Definition of the problem: the in the West2

The study and analysis of the Visigothic cemeteries is linked to two historical questions: the Visigothic settlement in the and the identifying criteria for this people, directly related to their ethnogenesis . Both questions have concerned various scholars in recent years and have been a subject of debate on different occasions . Three important meetings that have given rise to their respec-

1 Universitat de , giselaripoll@hotmail .com . I should like to thank Dr . Isabel Velázquez and Dr . Javier Arce for reading this work and for their always opportune observations . This text is one of the activities arising from the Plan Nacional I+D+I (the Spanish National Plan for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation) HUM2005-00268/Hist and HAR2009- 13104/Hist (FEDER funding) . I should also like to express my gratitude to Dr . R . Le Jan for her bibliographical suggestions, as well as to Dr . K . Bowes for making these works available to me, and Dr . P . Banks for having translated this text from Spanish into English with his customary care and kindness . 2 The text presented here is derived from various previous publications: Ripoll, Gisela: Symbolic Life and Signs of Identity in Visigothic Times, in: Heather, Peter (Hg .): The Visigoths from the Migra- tion Period to the Seventh Century: An Ethnographic Perspective (Studies in Historical Archaeo- ethnology 4), Woodbridge 1999, S . 403–431 (Discussion S . 431–446); Dies .: Romani e Visigoti in : problem di interpretazione del material archeologico, in: Delogu, Paolo (Hg .): Le inva- sion barbariche nel meridione dell’Impero: Visigoti, Vandali, Ostrogoti, Cosenza 2001, S . 99–117; and represents a revised version of Ripoll, Gisela: Las necrópolis visigodas . Reflexiones en torno al problema de la identificación del asentamiento visigodo en Occidente según los materials arque- ológicos, in: Hispania Gothorum . San Ildefonso y el reino visigodo de Toledo, Exhibition Catalogue, Toledo 2006, S . 59–74 . Taking part in ‘The Transformation of The Roman World’ project and the many discussions with the researchers of the ‘Imperium, Gentes et Regna’ group, especially with Javier Arce, Walter Pohl and Jörg Jarnut, led me to reconsider some of the most problematic points relating to the archaeological characterisation of the Kingdom of Toledo and particularly the question of the cemeteries . 162 Gisela Ripoll tive published volumes should be mentioned . All three formed part of the project entitled The Transformation of the Roman World, and they emerged from within the group led by Walter Pohl, which examined various problems relating to the ethnogenesis of the barbarian groups, their integration, identity and the passage from gens to regnum . The first book in the TRW series published by Brill was that coordinated by Walter Pohl entitled ‘Kingdoms of the Empire: The Integration of in ’.3 A year later, Walter Pohl and Helmut Reimitz’s edition of ‘Strategies of Distinction . The Construction of Ethnic Communities, 300–800’ appeared as the second volume in the TRW series .4 The third volume, although its origins lay in the heart of this undertaking, saw the light of day when the project itself had come to an end . Three historians who can be considered to be the leading specialists on these matters, Hans-Werner Goetz, Jörg Jarnut and Walter Pohl, were responsible for this work, entitled ‘Regna and Gentes . The Rela- tionship between Late Antique and Early Medieval Peoples and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World’ 5. The matters discussed within this group, in which other scholars also participated, are directly linked to the question of the identity and the settlement of the Visigoths in the Iberian Peninsula . The cemeter- ies are a key aspect within this debate . This text will consider questions arising from the archaeological record and its possible interpretation in the light of the texts .

2 . The textual sources

The first point that should be considered is that of the historical sources, the ones that refer to the arrival and settlement of the Visigoths in Hispania . These sources cannot be ignored by any researcher dealing with this period who, at one moment or another, has been faced by them, in particular the source that used to be known as the Chronica Caesaraugustana, now called the Consularia . TheConsularia Caesaraugustana indicate the entry and settlement of the Visig- oths in Hispania at two moments, namely the years 494 and 497 .6 The two, almost

3 Pohl, Walter (Hg .): Kingdoms of the Empire . The Integration of Barbarians in Late Antiquity (The Transformation of the Roman World 1), Leiden/Boston/Köln 1997 . 4 Pohl, Wa l t er / Reimitz, Helmut (Hg .): Strategies of Distinction: The Construction of Ethnic Com- munities, 300–800 (The Transformation of the Roman World 2), Leiden/Boston/Köln 1998 . 5 Goetz, Hans-Werner/Jarnut, Jörg/Pohl, Walter (Hg .): Regna and Gentes . The Relationship between Late Antique and Early Medieval Peoples and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World (The Transformation of the Roman World 13), Leiden/Boston/Köln 2003 . 6 Cardelle de Hartmann, Carmen: Victoris Tvnnvnensis Chronicon cum reliquiis ex Con - sularibus Caesaraugustanis et Iohannis Biclarensis Chronicon (CCL 173 A), Turnhout 2001; Kulikowski, Michael: Late Roman and its Cities, Baltimore/London 2004; Arce, Javier: Bárbaros y romanos en Hispania (400–507 A . D .), Madrid 2005; Koch, Manuel: Gotthi intra sedes acceperunt . Consideraciones sobre la supuesta inmigración visigoda en la Península Ibérica, in: Pyrenae 37/2 (2006), S . 83–104 . Manuel Koch has recently considered the possible inter- pretations that these two passages in the Consularia should be given as regards the Visigothic set- tlement; although his hypotheses are thought-provoking, they are not conclusive; see ibid . I should