The Merovingian graves of the basilica of Saint-Denis. The sciences in the service of archaeology. 50th anniversary of the discovery of queen Aregonde's grave, wife of Clothar I. and mother of Chilperic I. (1959-2009).
Place : Musée d'archéologie nationale (MAN), Château - Place Charles de Gaulle, 78105 Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France.
Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the discovery of queen Aregonde's grave (1959), the museum presents the recent findings concerning the alloy of the gold and silver jewellery, the origin of the precious stones, the costume and the health of queen Aregonde, who died in about 580.
On 135 square metres the exhibition shows finally all the Merovingian discoveries of the basilica Saint-Denis, among them fibulas with precious stones, belt buckles, needles and rings. Besides the exhibition commemorates the basic works of the archaeologists Edouard Salin, Michel Fleury and Albert France-Lanord in the 20th century.
Further information (French, English and Italian) : culturel.man@culture.gouv.fr