Das Reitzeug aus dem spätmerowinger­zeitlichen Kammergrab der Dame von Aufhausen/Bergham (Stadt Erding)

Abstract

The Riding Gear from the Late Merovingian Chamber Tomb of the Lady of Aufhausen/Bergham (Town of Erding)

The early medieval chamber tomb of Aufhausen/Bergham (Lkr. Erding/DE) was disturbed perhaps less than a generation after its construction. Only a few bones of the buried woman and the mule remained in the grave. A number of grave goods were removed. The two saddles – a sideways saddle and an astride saddle – and the riding gear were apparently moved and partially relocated within the tomb when it was opened, but even so appear to have remained largely intact within the chamber. The splendid equestrian equipment probably emphasises the high social status of the woman not only through its purely material value, but also through the symbolic significance of the grave goods.