MEDIEVAL 'NEEDLE-HOLDERS' OF HORN AND ANTLER FROM POLISH TERRITORIES (Sredniowieczne tzw. igielniki z rogu i poroza odkryte na ziemiach polskich)

• Authors: Kuczkowski Andrzej
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

A few dozen alleged needle-holders are among the Medieval objects of horn discovered to date in Polish territories. They share a few characteristics in common: as a rule they are made of severed antler ends and most are richly decorated on all or part of the surface. Moreover, they share a specific find context, most of them having been discovered in the principal Early Medieval administrative and church centers of Polish lands. Presumably this is not a mere coincidence and a reflection of the state of research. It has been noted that identical objects appear in medieval illustrations of the interiors of scriptoria, either lying on the scribe's pulpits or hanging on the walls. They served as inkpots or containers for pigments that were used for the miniatures included in manuscripts. Relevant publications also include objects that are identical with these 'needle-holders', but which researchers have classified in other functional groups. The collected data has given the author grounds to suggest that the so-called needle-holders had nothing to do with needles, but were rather part of the furnishings of medieval offices and the personal equipment of individual scribes. By the same, the objects in question constitute a new source for reconstructing the organization of the Church and administration in Polish lands of the time.

Discipline

• ARCHAEOLOGY: ARCHAEOLOGY

• Publisher: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Archeologia Polski
• Year: 2010
• Volume: 55
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 107-118
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Kuczkowski Andrzej

• Andrzej Kuczkowski, Muzeum w Koszalinie, ul. Mlynska 37/39, 75-420 Koszalin, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

11PLAAAA096618