Analysis of archaeological sources from the second half of the 5th and early 6th centuries concerning the presence of cultural elements originating from the Danube in the Roman-barbarian West and their comparison with bioarchaeological data and the accounts of ancient authors suggest that the movements of “Eastern” barbarians at that time took place within a military framework involving heterogeneous groups, as shown by the Merovingian and Burgundian graveyards in Gaul. Most of the grave goods of “Danubian” tradition belonged to the “middle class”. Their diffusion can be explained in part by the imitation of “princely” fashions by ordinary people. This “democratisation” of elite customs is particularly noticeable in Hispano-Visigothic burial grounds.