This decapitated horse, dating back about 1,400 years, was found next to the remains of a male rider.Image credit: State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in the Regional Council of Stuttgart/ F. Damminger
Posted on 02/06/2022 7:01:27 AM PST by SunkenCiv
The skeletal remains of a man buried 1,400 years ago near a headless horse have been discovered at an ancient cemetery in the town of Knittlingen in southern Germany. He likely was the horse's owner/rider when he was alive.
The man was buried at a time when the Merovingian dynasty (A.D. 476–750) flourished in the area, ruling a giant swath of territory in what is now France and Central Europe.
During his lifetime, the man likely served the dynasty's kings. "He stood in a 'chain of command' with the Merovingian kings on its top, which meant he was obliged to participate in the king's campaigns," Folke Damminger, an archaeologist in charge of research at the site, told Live Science in an email...
Why exactly he was buried near a headless horse is not clear, but "most probably the decapitation [of the horse] was part of the burial ceremony," Damminger told Live Science. The horse may have been placed near its owner as a 'grave good' for the afterlife rather than a sacrifice, Damminger said. The horse's head has not been found so far.
His family members would have wanted to portray him as a wealthy and important individual so that they could benefit from his status. "One function of this ceremony was the 'staging' of the deceased in his former status and wealth as a claim of his successors to maintain this status," Damminger said.
The archaeologists discovered the remains of several other people, who lived at around the same time as this rider, within the same cemetery. Some of them were buried with wealthy grave goods, such as a woman interred with a gold brooch. Some of the men were buried with weapons such as swords, lances, shields and arrowheads.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
This decapitated horse, dating back about 1,400 years, was found next to the remains of a male rider.Image credit: State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in the Regional Council of Stuttgart/ F. Damminger
Archaeologists don't know why the horse was decapitated? Aha! Maybe it was just born that way.
Does the rider still have it’s head? Just askin’.
the headless horseman...
but “most probably the decapitation [of the horse] was part of the burial ceremony...
—
The mafia was sending a message back in the day.
Perhaps Miles Standish could provide some insight...
They must be excavating “Sleepy Hollow.”
More cowbell!
That’s what I was thinking. In all the folklore I’ve seen regarding this, the horse was never headless.
Maybe he was a horseless headman.
Maybe he was the headmaster of a school that was requiring masking?
Ooooooooooooohhh.... The guy said “I saw a headless horse, man!”
The comma was lost to history.
The Godfather is that old?
Somewhere they'll find the ruins of a castle, and the taxidermied head will still be hanging over the fireplace.
Wouldn’t that make him a headlessmaster?
I’ve often thought how Miles Runnish would have been a more appropriate name for that guy.
Ich bod ein Crane? 😉
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