page_title: Elbe Germanic peoples
section_title: History of research
hierarchical_section_title: Elbe Germanic peoples / History of research
caption_attribution_description: English: Disc fibula from the grave field of Schwanbeck District of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany The discovery site is in Schwanbeck, on the western edge of a Germanic settlement of the late imperial Roman and Migration eras. Corpse grave, Find 959 Grave of an adult woman, oriented north-south, who was apparently buried in a small wooden chamber covered with three layers of boulders. Unique cloisonné disc fibula of gold with almandines on a honeycombed gold foil. Photographed while on display from 22 August 2008 to 11 January 2009 in the exhibition "Die Langobarden. Das Ende der Völkerwanderung" at the Rheinisches LandesMuseum Bonn. On loan from the Archäologisches Landesmuseum Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schwerin, Germany. Deutsch: Fibel vom Gräberfeld von Schwanbeck Landkreis Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Deutschland Der Fundplatz liegt in Schwanbeck, am Westrand einer germanischen Siedlung der späten Römischen Kaiser- und Völkerwanderungszeit. Körpergrab, Befund 959 Nord-Süd orientiertes Grab einer erwachsenen Frau, die vermutlich in einer kleinen, mit drei Lagen Rollsteinen bedeckten Holzkammer bestattet wurde. Einzigartige Cloisonné-Scheibenfibel aus Gold mit Almandinen auf gewaffelter Goldfolie. Exponat in der Ausstellung „Die Langobarden. Das Ende der Völkerwanderung“ vom 22.08.2008-11.01.2009 im Rheinischen LandesMuseum Bonn. Leihgabe vom Archäologischen Landesmuseum Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schwerin.
context_page_description: The Elbe Germanii or Elbe Germanic peoples were Germanic tribes whose settlement area, based on archaeological finds, lay either side of the Elbe estuary on both sides of the river and which extended as far as Bohemia and Moravia, clearly the result of a migration up the Elbe river from the northwest in advance of the main Migration Period until the individual groups ran into the Roman Danube Limes around 200 AD.
context_section_description: The term 'Elbe Germanic' (German: Elbgermanen) was first used in 1868 by Paul Gustav Wislicenus (1847-1917), but it was especially popularized by the German prehistorian de:Walther Matthes in 1931. The term was based initially on partially speculative derivations from ancient Roman sources.
  For example, numerous Roman authors mentioned the tribes such as the Suebi and the Irminones, and some other Germanic tribes of the late antiquity on the Danube limes of the Roman Empire.
  In the second half of the 20th century, more archeological evidence has emerged. In 1963, the Czech archaeologist Bedřich Svoboda took up the term and postulated an Elbe Germanic connection with the finds in Bohemia and Bavaria, which was later confirmed.
  Archaeological finds make it possible to differentiate between the different settlement areas of the Elbe Germanic tribes. There is a northern group around the mouth of the Elbe and in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a middle group in central Germany that reaches as far as the Oder, and a southern group in Bohemia, an area that was entirely Elbe-Germanic during the time of the Roman Empire.
  Based on the linguistic and archaeological evidence, it is believed that the major Germanic tribes of the Alemanni, Thuringii, and the Bavarii mainly developed from the smaller Suebic groups that were part of the Elbe Germanic peoples.
caption: Elbe Germanic disc fibula from Schwanbeck, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "2048", "Image ImageLength": "1536", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "FUJIFILM", "Image Model": "FinePix F31fd", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2012:12:04 08:55:28", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0]", "Image ExifOffset": "332", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1014", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5029", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "1600", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:08:26 15:22:54", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:08:26 15:22:54", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "737/100", "EXIF ApertureValue": "23/5", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "159/50", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "24", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1575", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1181", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "888", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "2662", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "2662", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0"}