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The early medieval settlement of Kirchheim: Excavation plan (above) and settlement structure (below). In the picture below, the grey rectangles indicate longhouses, the while sqares pit houses, the circles wells and the oval structures graves. Paths between the structures, as indicated from the excavation, are dotted in grey. The numbers refer to the house numbers in Fig. 2. "T" indicates pit houses with objects for textile production, "M" pit houses with finds that indicate metal working. Plan after Geisler 1993, Beilage 23, 41 and 43, with modifications.

The early medieval settlement of Kirchheim: Excavation plan (above) and settlement structure (below). In the picture below, the grey rectangles indicate longhouses, the while sqares pit houses, the circles wells and the oval structures graves. Paths between the structures, as indicated from the excavation, are dotted in grey. The numbers refer to the house numbers in Fig. 2. "T" indicates pit houses with objects for textile production, "M" pit houses with finds that indicate metal working. Plan after Geisler 1993, Beilage 23, 41 and 43, with modifications.

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Zitat: Doris Gutsmiedl-Schümann, Individual lifeworlds and social structured societies in Merovingian settlements of the Munich Gravel Plain. In: Liv Helga Dommasnes / Doris Gutsmiedl-Schümann / Alf Tore Hommedal, The Farm as a Social Arena (Münster 2016), 105-125. ----- Abstract: Cemeteries and graves from the Merovingian Period on the Munich Gr...

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Context 1
... is usually assumed that the big longhouses were used for dwelling. In Kirchheim, some of the ground plans indicate that they had two or more aisles (Geisler 1993, E I 1 c) (Fig. 3). According to archaeologist Helena Hamerow, this can be connected to the Lex Baiuvaiorum (see below), where the house of a freeman is described as having an inner and an outer zone (Hamerow 2002, 28). Unfortunately, no hearths or ancient floors survived (Dannheimer 1973, 158;Geisler 1993, E III 2), so it has to remain uncertain ...
Context 2
... excavation at Kirchheim also revealed a number of pit houses. Loom weights were found in many of the houses, indicating that some pit houses were used for textile production (Geisler 1993, C II 1 and appendix 14). Finds of slag in or near other pit houses indicate metal working (Geisler 1993, C I 4 and appendix 14) (see fig. 3 in this ...
Context 3
... quite common structure are wells. In the case of Kirchheim, 11 presumed wells have been excavated ( fig. 3). They are spread over the whole settlement area; therefore it has been discussed whether the individual farms can be identified by the wells. If we follow this argumentation, the number of excavated contemporary farms might be about the same (Geisler 1997, 470-471); however, two of the wells built close to each other might belong to ...
Context 4
... burials (Fries- Knoblach 2014, 180;Geisler 1997, 470). This might be the case for the buildings, but as indicated by the settlement plan, not every assumed farm in Kirchheim also shows farmyard burials: there are some at two possible farms west of the pathway, and some burials in the north-east, that may belong to one or two additional farms ( fig. 3). It is also possible that some structures like wells, working places in pit houses or similar, were ...
Context 5
... entities are missing. However, on the excavation plan of the settlement, a path can be seen, coming from the south and going to the north, which seems to be divided in two paths to the north-east and north-west in the upper part of the settlement. Thus, the settlement was divided into four parts, of which two also contain farmyard burials ( fig. 3). It is very obvious that especially the farms on the western side of the path oriented their farmyard burials on this path, while farmyard burials are usually missing on the eastern side of the path. Perhaps this was a way of communication for the inhabitants of the settlement: The farms on the western side built the graves of their ...

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