EN
The State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw has in its collection a damaged bronze plain neck ring with a hook-like fastening (Fig. 1), formerly owned by historian, philologist and collector Józef Tomasz Przyborowski (1823–1896). According to a description made early in the 20th cent. the neck ring is: ‘circular, with a circular cross-section. Both its terminals, of which one is at present missing, were flexed into hooks for fastening. A crack in its side, was repaired (...), also by coating with metal’ (A. Karpińska 1925, p. 27). The neck ring has a carefully smoothed and polished surface, dark gold in hue, with specks of dark green noble patina. At present, both terminals are missing, only the middle section with traces of repair survives. Diameter of neck ring: 17.0 cm, diameter of bronze rod: 0.5–0.55 cm. In Polish archaeological literature this kind of neck rings is considered typical for the Nordic environment (particularly, eastern Jutland and Danish islands – Zealand, Fyn and Lolland) and is dated to the close of the Bronze Age and onset of Hallstatt C. In Poland they are relatively rare (Fig. 2): 10 neck rings were noted in 5 hoards, 18 occurred at 13 gravefields, 1 is a stray find and another belonged to a set of bronze ornaments of unknown character. Neck rings presumably found their way to the area of Poland as a result of increasing trade exchange, also by sea routes, between the areas on the Odra River and areas of Denmark named above, registered starting from late periods of the Bronze Age. Most neck ring finds may be traced to areas which are thought to have lain on or close to junction points of communication routes. Others occurred in locations found within easy reach of these routes. Results of metallography analysis made of some of these neck rings indicates that the copper ore present in the bronze alloy may originate from the Alpine region (neck ring from Słupy) and the Balkan-Carpathian centre (neck ring from Kruchowo). This is interesting given the debate ongoing in literature on sources of raw materials which were used in Nordic centres of bronze metallurgy. The unprovenanced neck ring from State Archaeological Museum collection is a striking ornament, rare in Poland; analysis of origin and distribution of this class of finds could shed more light on the question of distant trade exchange during the period of transition from the Bronze Age to Early Iron Age.