Early medieval stone-lined graves in Southern Germany: analysis of an emerging noble class.

Objectives: Stone-lined graves, which first appear in Bavarian territory during the 7 century AD, are assumed to be tombs of emerging nobility. While previous research on stone-lined grave goods supports their status as elite burials, an important factor defining nobility-kinship-has not been examined so far.

Materials And Methods: Morphological analysis of the commingled skeletal remains of 21 individuals from three archaeological sites was carried out.

Infrared images of the transiting disk in the epsilon Aurigae system.

Epsilon Aurigae (epsilon Aur) is a visually bright, eclipsing binary star system with a period of 27.1 years. The cause of each 18-month-long eclipse has been a subject of controversy for nearly 190 years because the companion has hitherto been undetectable.