Quelques réflexions sur l’interprétation ethnique des sépultures habillées considérées comme vandales

Abstract

After a critical evaluation of the research history and the analysis based on the findings from the north african graves of the fifth and early sixth century, we can conclude that by using the criteria of germanic dress accessories and germanic names on epitaphs, given earlier by G. G. Koenig, only eight graves with dress accessories and jewellery belong to the ethnical heterogeneous group of “Vandals”. Due to the almost exclusive use of gold within dress accessories and jewellery, we can therefore classify them as the burials of the upper class, which are either located in an urban church or in a suburban necropolis. These graves were restricted to the roman province of Proconsularis, the centre of Vandalic power. These graves, as far as it is possible to date them back precisely, all belong to the middle of the fifth century and present strong signs of romanisation. This indicates that, at least after two generations, the immigrated “Vandals” with the adopted roman funeral behaviour could not be distinguished from the indigenous people.