Rare fifth-century burials of Germanic chieftains with dazzling weapons and warhorses discovered in France

Archaeologists found a small cemetery full of high-status burials, two of which may be the graves of Germanic chieftains.

Archaeologists excavating in northeastern France have unearthed a small fifth-century cemetery containing the graves of two Germanic chieftains and two warhorses. The burial ground is providing new information about the transitional period after the fall of the Roman Empire.

The burial complex was discovered near the city of Colmar, just a few miles from the Rhine River, which forms the border between France and Germany. This area had a Gallo-Roman village from the first to the third centuries, and archaeologists found several ancient houses, hearths, wells and craft areas, according to a Nov.…