Ein Hippogreif im Rheinland?

Ein endmerowingisches Schmuckstück mit goldenem Pressblech aus einem Kindergrab in Euskirchen-Kuchenheim

Abstract

A Hippogriff in the Rhineland? An End-Merovingian Piece of Jewellery with Stamped Gold Foil from a Child’s Grave in Euskirchen-Kuchenheim

This article deals with a singular rectangular jewellery disc decorated with stamped gold foil from a child’s grave in the Merovingian cemetery of Euskirchen-Kuchenheim (Kr. Euskirchen/DE). After a typochronological classification of the find and the accompanying finds, the artefact and the pictorial representation on it are analysed. The unusual find as well as the indications of a secondary attachment of the pressed plate give rise to further considerations: on the one hand on its object biography and the temporal-spatial connections that can be shown by the artefact and comparable finds and representations, on the other hand on practices in connection with the reuse of objects, which are increasingly becoming apparent for child burials in the Early Middle Ages.