Der Stuttgarter Psalter - (K)eine Quelle für die Archäologie des Frühmittelalters?

Abstract

The Stuttgart Psalter – a (non-)Source for the Archaeology of the Early Middle Ages?
The numerous illustrations of the so-called Stuttgart Psalter, which allegedly originated between 820 and 830 in the scriptorium of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, are readily employed in German-language writings on the Merovingian and Carolingian periods for historical interpretations, e. g. on clothing. The depictions seem very real, so that the impression evolves that an object, a piece of clothing or the way of carrying a sword might be identifiable in the archaeological record. In some cases, such as shield-bosses or disc-brooches, this is so; however, some comparative types are often in evidence through finds before the emergence of the book and, thus, cannot be seen as a depiction of the contemporary material culture of the first half of the 9th century. The value of this source for the Carolingian period has not been picked up by art-historical research on the Psalter; instead, the Mediterranean models reaching back to Late Antiquity are emphasised. The analysis of various illustrations concluded that only in some rare cases can the objects depicted actually be deemed as typical for the Carolingian period. Since this dating is based upon archaeological finds, this means that the veracity of the content of an illustration can be proven through archaeology, but not vice versa.