
March 17, 2005
Digging Barbarians discusses the culture
of the Merovingians, a Germanic “barbarian” group in northern France, at the
end of the Roman Empire and in the following centuries (approximately
400–750 ce). Historically Romans and barbarians have been
thought of as distinct groups, but recent scholarship has shown
that the lines between them were often blurred, as the Merovingians
and other barbarian groups adopted Roman practices and were incorporated
into Roman culture and military units. Around 500, Clovis, who
is generally considered the first French king, converted to Christianity,
creating a further bond with the Roman elite.
The Spurlock Museum has a wonderful collection of Merovingian
pieces that come from one of the earliest scientifically excavated
sites in Merovingian archaeology, a burial site near Paris called
the Buttes des Gargans. The collection was purchased by the University
in the 1920s and contains not only the artifacts but also notes
and drawings made by the original archaeological team, providing
invaluable insight into the condition and context of the pieces.
More than 50 of these artifacts will be on display through July
30. Dozens of images of Merovingian artifacts, other primary source
documents, and archaeological reconstructions accompany the exhibit
on a slideshow on a computer kiosk in the gallery.
The exhibit is a feature of the Society
for Late Antiquity’s Shifting Frontiers in Late Antiquity
interdisciplinary conference, hosted by the University in
March, whose theme this year is “Romans, Barbarians, and
the Transformation of the Roman World.” The exhibit was
curated by Barbara Garvey of the Early
American Museum, who researched the collection for her doctoral
thesis, and Bailey K. Young of Eastern
Illinois University, with additional assistance from UIUC’s
Ralph W. Mathisen of the Department
of History and Danuta Shanzer from the Department
of the Classics.
Related Artifact: Visigoth
Buckle |

Map of Merovingian France.
Artwork by Brenda Coelho.

A drawing of artifacts by the nineteenth-century
archaeological team. These "whorl" fibulae
(clothing
fasteners) were found in a rich
assemblage in a woman’s
grave in
Butte des Gargans.
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