The 7th century CE Alemannic burial site at Niederstotzingen in southern Germany, used circa 580 to 630 CE, represents the best-preserved example of such an Alemannic Adelsgrablege. Because inclusion in familia during the Merovingian period was not necessarily based on inheritance or provenance, debate continues on the symbolism of these burial rites ( 5). The splendor of these Adelsgräber served to demonstrate the kinship structure, wealth, and status of the familia and also the power of the Franks ( Personenverbandstaaten, a system of power based on personal relations rather than fixed territory). From the 5th to the 8th century CE, integration between the Franks and the Alemanni was reflected by changed burial practices, with households ( familia) buried in richly furnished graves ( Adelsgrablege) ( 4). This event solidified the naming of the inhabitants of this region as Alemanni ( 3). With the defeat of the Alemanni by Clovis I of the Franks in 497 CE, Alamannia became a subsumed Duchy of the Merovingian Kingdom. This diverse nomenclature reflects centuries of interactions between Romans and other Germanic groups such as the Franks, Burgundians, Thuringians, Saxons, and Bavarians. The upheaval that occurred during the European Migration Period ( Völkerwanderung) partly explains the interchangeability of nomenclature with the contemporaneous Suebi people of the same region and periods of geographic discontinuity in the historical record ( 3).
Roman ethnographers mentioned the Alemanni, but historical records from the 3rd to the 6th century CE contain no regular description of these tribes ( 2). The Alemanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes that inhabited the eastern Upper Rhine basin and surrounding region ( Fig. These findings support the idea that not only were kinship and fellowship held in equal regard: Diverse cultural appropriation was practiced among closely related individuals as well. The genetic makeup of the individuals shares no observable pattern with their orientation in the burial or the cultural association of their grave goods, with the five related individuals buried with grave goods associated with three diverse cultural origins. Three other individuals were not detectably related two of these showed genomic affinity to southern Europeans. Genome-wide analyses were performed on eight individuals to estimate genetic affiliation to modern west Eurasians and genetic kinship at the burial. Eleven individuals had sufficient DNA preservation to genetically sex them as male and identify nine unique mitochondrial haplotypes and two distinct Y chromosome lineages. This study analyzed genome-wide sequences recovered from the remains, in tandem with analysis of the archeological context, to reconstruct kinship and the extent of outside contact. These artifacts support the view that the individuals had contact with France, northern Italy, and Byzantium. Excavations found 13 individuals who were buried with an array of inscribed bridle gear, jewelry, armor, and swords. The early 7th century CE burial at Niederstotzingen, discovered in 1962, is the most complete and richest example of Alemannic funerary practice in Germany. However, this kinship structure has not yet been directly tested at a genomic level on medieval burials.
From historical and archeological records, it is posited that the European medieval household was a combination of close relatives and recruits.
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