Archaeological finds suggest that Roman-era sources portrayed the Germanic way of life as more primitive than it actually was. Instead, archaeologists have unveiled evidence of a complex society and economy throughout Germania. Germanic-speaking peoples originally shared similar religious practices. Denoted by the term Germanic paganism, they varied throughout the territory occupied by Germanic-speaking peoples. Over the course of Late Antiquity, most continental Germanic peoples and the Anglo-Saxons of Britain converted to Christianity, but the Saxons and Scandinavians converted only much later. The Germanic peoples shared a native script—known as runes—from around the first century or before, which was gradually replaced with the Latin script, although runes continued to be used for specialized purposes thereafter.
Archaeological finds suggest that Roman-era sources portrayed the Germanic way of life as more primitive than it actually was Instead archaeologists have unveiled evidence of a complex society and economy throughout Germania Germanic-speaking peoples originally shared similar religious practices Denoted by the term Germanic paganism they varied throughout the territory occupied by Germanic-speaking peoples Over the course of Late Antiquity most continental Germanic peoples and the Anglo-Saxons of Britain converted to Christianity but the Saxons and Scandinavians converted only much later The Germanic peoples shared a native script—known as runes—from around the first century or before which was gradually replaced with the Latin script although runes continued to be used for specialized purposes thereafter