Niederdollendorf stone

A Frankish graveyard was discovered about north of the boundary of Niederdollendorf in 1901 during construction work. No proper excavation took place other than the sporadic uncovering during this work and therefore the inventories of many of the graves have been lost. The graveyard (in use between the latter half of the 6th century and the 8th century) consisted of burials with oriented slabs and, in some cases, with grave goods buried within. The specific grave the Niederdollendorf stone belonged to had no grave goods and was dated to among the later of the graveyard's burials. The stone is currently on display at Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn. ==Appearance and interpretation==

The stone measures 42.5 cm by 22–25 cm by 16–19 cm (17" by 8–9" by 6–7") and was carved from Lorraine limestone. It was made in the 7th century and reused later (around the 8th century) as a gravestone. The original purpose is unknown, so the common reference to it as a "gravestone" is slightly misleading. German archeologist was the first to conjecture that this image is a depiction of Jesus, an interpretation that has since been widely adopted. German prehistorian also identified the figure with Odin, an interpretation which was in vogue in Germany during the Nazi era. The other broad side has been described as "one of the best-known examples of Frankish sculpture". It depicts a man with a sword or scramasax and what is perhaps a comb. A circular object near his legs is perhaps a canteen. Three serpent heads menace him from both sides. The comb and the serpents, respectively common pagan grave goods and grave symbols, are the main reasons that this side has so often been thought to show a pagan (or only semi-Christianised) Frankish warrior in his grave. Böhner saw the figure in this light, further contextualising the comb within the pagan Frankish association of hair with power. However, in more recent scholarship, Sebastian Ristow has contested this interpretation on the grounds that associations like these were by no means exclusively pagan, and would have been carried into later Christian cultures. The narrow sides and top are decorated with a serpent and various geometric figures. ==Gallery==