Researchers have examined the bones of a toddler from the Allgäu, which was buried in a spectacular grave together with weapons and jewelry in the Middle Ages. They have now clarified the boy’s death circumstances and some secrets of his short life. According to this, the boy from a wealthy family, known as the “Eisprinz von Mattsies” and died at the age of only one and a half years, died of the complications of otitis media, such as bone analyzes and grave goods.
In 2021, researchers in Mattsies near Tussenhausen in Unterallgäu discovered the bones of a toddler in an unusually well -preserved stone slab grave from the early Middle Ages. His grave was richly equipped with grave goods, which is why the remains have been examined in more detail since then. For this purpose, experts from the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments (BLFD) developed a new method with which the complete content of the burial chamber with liquid nitrogen shock frost and the children’s grave could be recovered and transported as a frozen block. In their workshop, they were able to melt, restore, analyze them in a controlled manner and to reconstruct the boy’s life and death circumstances, which they christened the “ice sprinkles of Mattsies” because of the shock frost.
Boy was only one and a half years old
The analyzes that have now been completed showed that the child probably lived between 670 and 680 AD and was therefore buried around 1350 years ago. In addition, the young blue eyes, light hair and grew in the area in Swabia, where his bones were found, such as DNA tests and strontium isotope analyzes of his teeth. Using his milk teeth, it can also be seen that he breast -milked breast milk and was only one and a half years old. The little boy died of a chronic infection that had developed from an otitis media – a frequent fate at the time, as the team explains.
But despite his ordinary death, the “Eisprince” was not an ordinary boy, but came from a wealthy and influential family, as his grave reveals. “The boy’s death may have shaken his regionally important family. Apparently, she has made great efforts to prepare the child a funeral that lived up to his social status,” reports Mathias Pfeil from the Blfd. Accordingly, the relatives set up a building in a former Roman estate as a funeral and memory room for the boy. “Experienced stonemasons built a stone burial chamber in it that was sealed with lime mortar – a remarkable performance because stone buildings were unusual during this time,” said Pfeil. The building was reconsidered twice after the child’s burial, as the examinations show. This suggests that the place was used over a longer period of time to commemorate the little “prince”.
Clothing and jewelry testify to wealth
In addition to the burial chamber, the inside of the grave is also remarkable, which was unexpectedly well preserved by the sealing: the boy was lying on a fur, dressed in leather shoes, pants and a long -sleeved top. The latter consisted of fine linen, decorated with stripes made of silk, as the team stated. Silk was a status symbol in the early Middle Ages, since the tissue could only be traded through contacts with the Byzantine Empire. In addition, the young silver arm rings and spores wore the shoes. A short cush sword was attached to his belt in a leather sheath, which was provided with elaborate decorations made of gold. On top of that, a cloth with a sewn -on cross made of gold sheet and a woven mat in the burial chamber testifies to the high status and the Christian faith of the family.
In addition, the researchers found a bronze shell in the grave of the “ice sprinkle” that was filled with different objects: a comb, a wooden shell, a drinking cup with silver fittings and remains of hazelnuts, apples and a pear. At that time, these utensils were used in representative grinding grinding: first the hair was combed and the hands were washed in bronze bowls, then it was eaten by turned wooden dishes and drunk out of cups with silver fittings. The objects also testify to the influence of the boy’s family. In addition to these objects, bones were from a disassembled piglet – not as initially accepted by a dog. Accordingly, this animal was probably not a playmate of the boy, but should possibly serve as a meal in the hereafter.
“The state office has entered new territory with the shock frosting of the children’s grave in 2021. The test results now show impressively how much information such an extraordinary grave finding with adequate rescue methods and an intensive analysis can be elicited,” says Pfeil.
Source: Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments
