The „second ethnogenesis” of the Alamans
It is the end of the 3rd century the Alamans appear for the first time in written sources. There have already been recurring invasions of Germanic groups in the Roman Empire the decades before and as a consequence the Roman frontier in today south-western Germany was withdrawn to the rivers Rhine, Danube and Iller. By this the former parts of the Roman Empire were now free for Germanic settlement. More and more groups coming from the Germanic area between Mecklenburg and the Bohemian Forest infiltrated.
It was now, when they arrived on former Roman territory in today south-western Germany, these groups formed the Alamannic “tribe” – with new groups coming and being integrated permanently. However, until the middle of the 5th century the Alamans have been closely bound to the Roman Empire by contracts and, living in the territory in front of it, they also had to fulfil their duty in the defence of the frontier. But with the decline of the Roman frontier at the river Rhine the situation changed completely. Whatever the economic relations with the Roman Empire have been, which helped the local elite to save her pre-eminence, now they didn’t exist any longer.
Apparently in this situation the balance of power within the Alamannic society changed. “Warlords” organized alliances operating successfully. They now had the power to expand their domain nearly without any restriction. Written sources mention raids as far as Troyes in the West and Passau in the East. By this parasitic form of “economy” the Almans elite came to conspicuous wealth; in the 5th century the Alamannia was in her prime. For this the region attracted people from adjoining areas to settle there; extensive groups came especially from the Middle Danube.
The archaeological evidence of this process is so clear to recognize, that it can almost been taken as model. For the short period of one generation foreign burial customs, foreign costume elements and foreign weapon and weapons parts appear in the Alaman territory. Between there and the places of origin of this foreign elements a gapes a vacancy about a distance of 500 km within they are almost missing.
Particularly by the grave-finds the changes brought from the foreigners can clearly be recognized. Until the middle of the 5th century the Alamannic territory only knew single graves or small grave-groups concerning rarely more than five graves. Only after it at small cemeteries appear at numerous locations. In the beginning the number of finds from the Lower-Bavarian and Bohemian area (archaeological groups: “Friedenhain-Přešt'ovice” and “Vinařice“) is relatively important; the finds are concentrated at the estuary of the Main.
But the foreigners coming from the middle Danube, from the Moravian, Slovak and Pannonian areas and Carpathian basin are much more conspicuous, both in quantity and quality. Mainly they appear until about 460-480 in the whole Alaman area, but they are very rare in the Frankish territory.
Whereas the graves of foreign women can be recognized by special elements of the costume, concerning the graves of men it’s the weapon and the weapon belt that can shed some light about the origin of the deceased. For a long time the belts contained in these graves are called “Danubian” within archaeological research. But at least some of the weapons-belts (and the weapons hold by them) have been produced in the Byzantine Empire. The people who came to the Alamannia in the years about 460 – 480 lived at the middle Danube before, near the frontier of the Eastern Roman Empire. Therefore they surely had served as mercenaries in the Roman army, as many other Germanic persons. In this way they acquired Byzantine weapons and weapons belts.
As the archaeological evidence the written sources indicate an immigration of people of the middle Danube into the Alamannic area. Hagen Keller propagated some years ago an integration of Danube Suebes into the Alamannic alliance between the years 470 and 480.
The settlements of the Danube Suebes are localized in the 5th century in northern Pannonia and in Slovakia. After recurring combats in the years 455 – 470 against the Goths they suffered a crushing defeat against the Goths. In 470 the Suebs had been allied with the Alamans.
Whereas “Suebs” and “Alamans” always have been mentioned as independent tribes until the end of the 5th century (the last explicit reference to the Suebs dates in 477), since the 6th century the “Alamanni” and “Suebi” were equated.
The significance historians attach to this “integration” becomes evident in the use of the term “second ethnogenesis of the Alamanns”. The archaeologist easily can proof an immigration of people into the Alamannia, coming from the middle Danube and the Carpathian basin, but it is difficult to determine their clanship.
The detailed examination of some grave fields used in the second half of the 5th century in the Alamannia, on which the integration can be pointed up in detail, led to interesting conclusions. Apparently they have been used by separate ( farm/court) groups. Each association hold its own area to bury their death on it. The mapping of locals and foreigners on the cemeteries plans shows that mostly they used different areas – but anyhow they used one graveyard together. Strikingly the two groups can only be distinguished for the period of one single generation. Afterwards they had grown together. In the written sources this people are called “Alamanns”. This name, “All men”, was obviously a program and worked already one century ago to characterize a very dynamic tribal alliance.
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