Wczesnośredniowieczne zapinki podkowiaste z ziem polskich. Uwagi na temat chronologii, rozprzestrzenienia i genezy

• Authors: Anna Olejarz

Title variants

EN

EARLY MEDIEVAL PENANNULAR BROOCHES FROM POLAND. SOME REMARKS ABOUT THIER DATING, DISTRIBITION AND PROVENANCE

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The earliest penannular brooch finds from Poland date back from the Roman Period, with a rare find or two datable to the Migrations Period. After a brief chronological break these forms are noted again from the 11th c. onwards, but they are associated with a different culture environment then previously. There is no doubt that in the Slav environment the penannular brooch was not a native form. At present from the territory of Poland we have over 60 finds of these brooches. Analysis of the chronological and geographic distribution of penannular brooches has revealed a number of correlations. Also notable are some characteristic features, e. g., the raw material, size (diameter), construction design and decorative motifs. Penannular brooches are present during the early medieval period almost everywhere in Poland. This is, first of all, the entire coastal zone of Baltic, Kuyavia and eastern Greater Poland Podlachia and Lesser Poland. Isolated specimens are known from Lubusz Land, Silesia, Subcarpathia, Polesie, Masovia, the regions of Suwałki and Częstochowa. To some extent finds of these brooches may be said to group along the largest rivers: Odra, Vistula, Warta, Western Bug, Narew and their tributaries. Another notable fact would be the occurrence of the oldest iron specimens in central and south Poland, mainly within earthworks and settlements. The dating of these brooches tends to be the period 9th-11th c. At the same time, the 9th c. chronology raises some reservations. On the other hand, starting from the 11th until the 13th c. penannular brooches are recorded in similar contexts mostly in central and northern parts of Poland. Moreover, brooches from silver hoards in Pomerania and Lubusz Land invariably have the form of hack silver, dated not later then 11th c. In inhumation cemeteries 10th to the 13th c. we observed a great diversity of these ornaments; they are present both in female and male graves, and a significant majority of specimens made in bronze have an engraved ornament. The brooches from grave finds are recorded in the north of Poland and in a zone running centrally across Poland all the way to Lesser Poland. From before the 10th c. we have no record of even a single penannular brooch made in bronze. This situation may be the result of the lack of precision in dating the oldest iron specimens or of the local production preceding the inflow of imports. By charting all the penannular brooch finds on a map and making an analysis of their culture attribution and chronology we can attempt to reconstruct the routes of their influx to our territory. The results of these analyses identified Scandinavia, Balt territory, and Rus’ as source areas of imported brooches. Their distributions suggests both a sustained popularity of these ornaments during the early medieval period and the long period they continued in use. Future studies, focused in particular on the chronology of individual assemblages in which penannular brooches were discovered, may provide new insight on these early medieval forms of personal ornament.

Keywords

EN

early medieval; penannular brooch; import; imitation; hack silver

• Publisher: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego
• Journal: Śląskie Sprawozdania Archeologiczne
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 53
• Pages: 231-258

Contributors

author

Anna Olejarz