Four years ago, archaeologists from the Bavarian State Office for Monument Conservation (BLfD) discovered a child’s tomb at the Mattsies site in southern Germany. Inside was the body of a boy buried more than 1,350 years ago in an exceptionally well-preserved stone chamber.

The tomb was entirely extracted and transported for study using a novel technique: the archaeologists froze it to preserve all its contents and study it in the laboratory.

Now, with the research completed, experts have managed to reconstruct in astonishing detail the life, death, and funeral ritual used to bury this child, who was dubbed the “Eisprinz” (Ice Prince) by the press due to the preservation method employed.

medieval child grave iced
The hilt of the sword, seen in the place where it was found. Credit: BLfD

An Extraordinary Tomb for a High-Born Child

The boy lived between the years 670 and 680 AD and undoubtedly belonged to a family of high social status in the Allgäu region, as revealed by the objects found in his tomb. The burial chamber was made of stone and sealed with lime mortar—an unusual technique for the time—inside what had once been a Roman villa repurposed as a space of worship and remembrance for the child. The architectural effort and the quality of the materials show that his family wanted to honor him in an exceptional way, explained Mathias Pfeil, general director of the BLfD.

DNA analysis reveals that the boy had blue eyes and light-colored hair, and he was likely born in the same region where he was buried. The study of his teeth indicates that he died at around one and a half years of age, still nursing, and that his death was caused by an infection stemming from an untreated ear infection.

The child’s body was laid on an animal hide, dressed in an outfit that included leather shoes, trousers, and a long-sleeved linen tunic adorned with delicate silk strips. This last detail is especially telling, as silk—a material that at the time reached Europe only through the Byzantine Empire—was a luxury item reserved for the elite.

medieval child grave iced
X-rays reveal the sword’s decorations. Credit: BLfD

The boy wore silver bracelets on his wrists and silver spurs on his feet, while the scabbard of his short sword—more symbolic than functional given his young age—was decorated with gold inlays. Also found beside him was a cloth with a cross made from two strips of gold foil, an element that may point to early Christianization of the area, or at least the influence of Christian symbols among the upper classes.

At the end of the chamber, archaeologists found a series of objects arranged on a woven mat: a bronze bowl containing a comb, a wooden vessel, a spherical cup with silver reinforcements, and remains of dried fruits such as hazelnuts, apples, and a pear. At first, it was thought that the animal bones found included a dog, but later analysis confirmed that they belonged to a piglet, likely sacrificed as a food offering.

These objects, according to experts, were part of a funerary banquet ritual: the comb served for grooming, the bronze bowl for washing hands, and the turned wooden tableware and silver-detailed cups were used during ceremonial meals. Everything in this tomb speaks of prestige and cultural connections that transcended local borders, noted Pfeil.

medieval child grave iced
Gold-plated hardware on the sheath. Credit: BLfD

The building housing the tomb was remodeled at least twice after the burial, remaining a space of worship and remembrance for decades—perhaps generations. They not only buried the child with honors but also tended to his memory with great care, added the BLfD director.

The “Eisprinz” owes his name to the method used to recover his tomb: in 2021, the BLfD team instantly froze the contents of the burial chamber, encapsulating them in a block of ice that allowed for intact extraction and transportation to the laboratories in Bamberg for study. This technique was specifically developed for this site and has proven to be an invaluable tool for archaeology, as it preserves organic materials that would otherwise be lost.

This project has been a milestone. We have shown that, with the right methods, we can extract incredible information even from very fragile remains, said Pfeil.

SOURCES

Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege

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