Archaeologists have unearthed the 1,500-year-old tomb of a Germanic lord with the skeletons of six women aligned around him, prompting speculation that they may have died in a death cult.
The tomb held the remains of 11 horses, cattle and dogs and was surrounded by 40 to 60 other graves. Gold and silver artefacts were also found at the burial site, discovered by builders near Brücken-Hackpfüffel in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The graves are believed to date from between AD480 and AD530 and an analysis of clothing fibres showed that they were Saxons, Thuringians and members of the Alemanni group of Germanic tribes on the river Rhine.
The site is one of the most exciting finds of the past 40 years in Germany, Susanne