Free Republic

A late Roman period body unearthed in Gloucester has stunned experts after tests suggested it was a Goth warrior from eastern Europe. The man, aged 25 to 30, who was dug up north of Kingsholm Square in 1972, had always baffled archaeologists. His elaborate silver belt fittings, shoe buckles and inlaid knife were believed to be from an area between the Balkans and Southern Russia. Chemical tests now prove he was from east of the River Danube. This has led historians to suggest he was a Goth mercenary in the Roman Army. Pirate warden? The large bones date to about...

A Visigoth in Kent? The excavations at Springhead uncovered a large number of brooches. One in particular has turned out to be a very exciting discovery. X-ray photography showed that the 5th-6th century iron bow brooch was of Visigothic design, of a type known as Estagel. The Visigoths (West Goths) were one of the German tribes. Settled near the Black Sea in the 3rd century AD, by the 6th century they had migrated west and reached Spain and northern France. Kent was probably the most cosmopolitan region in the country at this time and Saxons and Jutes have left evidence...

Kent was probably the most cosmopolitan region in the country at this time and Saxons and Jutes have left evidence of their culture here. In the last 30 years or so, a number of objects of Visigothic design have come to light, mainly in south-east England. Now this brooch adds to the evidence for connections between the people of Kent and the small number of Visigothic groups known to have lived in northern France at the time.