The early medieval burial ground in Hainbuch an der Enns

Dating back to the eighth and ninth centuries AD, the burial ground was once on the border between the Frankish realm and the Avars settled in the east – which is reflected in the archaeological finds.
In 1942 and 1943, early medieval graves from the eighth to ninth centuries AD were found in the district of Hainbuch during the construction of Staning power station on the river Enns. In 1990 and 1991, more burial sites were recovered during an excavation, enabling at least 58 resting places in the flat burial ground to be documented. The dead were not cremated and were buried on their backs, predominantly in a west-east orientation.

The border between two empires
The Hainbuch burial ground was located in a border region that was at the same time a contact zone. Historically, the river Enns separated the Duchy of Bavaria, which came under the control of the Carolingian Empire in the late eighth century, from the adjacent Avar Khaganate – ‘khagan’ is a title equal to the status of emperor – to the east. From an archaeological perspective, the area of Bavarian row burial grounds is found in the western part of the Eastern Alps; these burial grounds gradually became Christian church cemeteries. In the territory of the Avar Empire, on the other hand, there are pagan inhumation (burial) cemeteries with characteristic burial objects.

Burial objects from east and west
The border location of the burial ground is also reflected in the archaeological finds. In addition to Avar metal bracelets, wire earrings (some adorned with small buttons), finger rings and typical clay vessels, the finds also include objects of western origin that are attributed to the Bavarians or Carolingians. Women primarily accessorized their clothing with necklaces made from colourful glass beads, chain drop earrings and characteristic headdress rings, while men in the west generally adorned themselves with winged lances, swords and spurs. One remarkable item is the sword from grave 28; known as a spatha, it has a triangular pommel with a damascened blade. Extremely high-quality swords of this kind are found across an area from the Netherlands to Schleswig-Holstein, Thuringia and Bavaria, and date back to the second half of the eighth century AD.