Archaeologia Baltica

Between 2000 and 2003, near Frienstedt, Kr. Erfurt, in central Germany, a settlement, graves, and what is presumably a cult site from the Roman Iron Age, were partly excavated. The habitation of the settlement started at the end of the first century AD, and ended around 400 AD. From the middle of the third century, ten inhumation graves were set out, surrounding a Bronze Age graveyard in a loose circle with a radius of about 120 metres. Two of these are little chambers of a ‘princely couple’. In the centre of the site are several shafts with a presumed ritual function. About 1,500 bronze fragments show a distinct connection with the Roman Empire in the third century, possibly in part due to Germanic soldiers recruited by the Roman army.