Srejach Early medieval equestrian graves

Early medieval equestrian graves

From 580/590 CE, the Slavic Carantanians ruled the country. The Slavs were a nomadic, horse-riding people, headed by a prince (knez). The ruling classes below them were the Ban and Župan. In Lower Carinthia, the town of Pfannsdorf is derived from the name Ban. In Grabelsdorf, south of the Gracarca River on Lake Klopein the grave of an inhumed man was discovered in 1966. His equipment, including a Frankish sword, Avar-Byzantine belt, and Frankish spur, points to a Carantanian leader (Ban). He was buried around 700 CE. At Srejach, five individuals were buried in three graves around 700 CE. Two graves were double burials. One contained a man and a young adult, the second two men. The third contained a woman. The grave goods – a sword (longsax), knife, and arrowheads – along with the horsemen‘s facets on the hip bones, indicate warriors. Sword-bearers are identified as Župans, the lowest Slavic ruling class. The buried individuals presumably belonged to a single family.