Greuthungs

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The Greuthungi were a Gothic people of the Black Sea steppes (and forest steppes) in the 3rd and 4th Centuries CE. They had close contacts with the Thervingi, another Gothic people from west of the Dnestr River.

Contents 1 History 2 Archaeology 2.1 Settlement Pattern 2.2 Burial Practices 2.3 References

[edit] History

Jordanes, a mid 6th Century historian identifies the 4th Century Greuthungi with the 5th-6th Century Ostrogothi. Jordanes also describes a large Greuthung kingdom in the late 4th century, but Ammianus Marcellinus, a late 4th Century historian, does not record this. Many modern historians, including Peter Heather and Michael Kulikowski, doubt that it was ever particularly extensive (and suggest one or more smaller kingdoms).^[1][2]

[edit] Archaeology

Main article: Chernyakhov Culture

[edit] Settlement Pattern

Chernyakhov settlements cluster in open ground in river valleys. The houses include sunken-floored dwellings, surface dwellings, and stall-houses. The largest known settlement (Budesty) is 35 hectares.^[3] Most settlements are open and unfortified; some forts are also known.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Burial Practices

Chernyakhov cemeteries include both cremation and inhumation burials; among the latter the head is to the north. Some graves were left empty. Grave goods often include pottery, bone combs, and iron tools, but almost never any weapons.^[4]

[edit] References

1. ^ Heather, Peter, 1998, The Goths, Blackwell, Malden, pp. 53-55.
2. ^ Kulikowski, Michael, 2007, Rome's Gothic Wars, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, pp. 54-56, 111-112.
3. ^ Heather, Peter & Matthews, John, 1991, The Goths in the Fourth Century, Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, pp. 52-54.
4. ^ Heather, Peter & Matthews, John, 1991, Goths in the Fourth Century, Liverpool, Liverpool University Press, pp. 54-56.