EN
In March 1876 Constantin Florkowski carried out amateur excavations of a stone circle near the village of Błędowo (former Blandau, Kr. Culm) (Fig. 1). He discovered human burials in its centre. This interesting stone circle is the only feature of that kind which was recorded on the eastern side of the River vistula. Its diameter was about 15m and it was composed of 26 small boulders, arranged regularly at the intervals of about 1 m (Fig. 2). In its centre, there stood a large stela which was 2.4 m high and 1.6 m wide, with smaller stones placed around it. Between them, there were two crudely made clay vessels, filled with ash and fragments of burnt human bones. Ca. 30 cm below, in the sand, there lay a human skeleton. It was deposited in a straight (possibly supine) position, and it was oriented along the E-W axis, with its cranium to the west. on its right side, near the chin, a coin of Theodosius I was found (Fig. 3). This coin allows to date this burial to Phase C3-D, that is considerably later than the circle itself. Based on analogies to similar constructions from Pomerania, the circle is to be rather dated to the younger phase ofthe Early Roman Period. The chronology of both clay vessels, which were referred to as cinerary urns in the source publication, cannot be determined. The inhumation burial differs from funeral rites which were used by the population of the Wielbark Culture in the Late Roman Period and the early phase of the Migration Period. At that time, however, graves oriented along the E-W axis are recorded in the Cernahov Culture and the Sintana de Mureę Culture. Moreover, they are also found in other areas of the European Barbaricum, although in smaller numbers. In the case of both mentioned cultures, similar graves are related to later phases of usage of cemeteries. As a rule, their furnishings are poorer than those of burials oriented along the N-S axis. This fact was interpreted by some scholars as evidence for the ap¬pearance of Christendom in these territories. Regrettably, this attractive hypothesis cannot be verified in the case of the burial from Błędowo. The presence of the coin from the end of the 4th c. AD in the grave of the Wielbark Culture is completely exceptional. The custom of depositing coins in burials of this culture is mainly dated to Phases C^-C2 and it gradually disappears at the end of this period. Later finds which can be related to burials are recorded only sporadically. The location of the find near the chin may imply that the coin fulfilled the role of a grave good, a so-called Charon’s obol. Finds of bronze coins dating from the last quarter of the 4th c. AD in the territory of the Wielbark Culture are rare. These are mostly stray finds. They concentrate almost exclusively in Pomerelia, in the Elbląg Heights and in the northern part of the Land of Chełmno. It seems that they may be associated not only with trade-related contacts. By virtue of peace treaties made at the end of the 4th c. between the Empire and the Goths, in exchange for protection of the frontiers and providing armed contingents, Gothic tribes were granted, i.a., an opportunity to settle within the frontiers of the Empire and received money subsidies. Perhaps the coin from Błędowo is a trace of subsidies paid to the Goths for their allied services, whose value reached its peak in the 5th c. AD. A similar possibility was mentioned in the context of finds from the Cernahov Culture. The burial from Błędowo should be most probably related to influences reaching the territory of Pomerelia from the territories of the Cernahov Culture or the Sintana de Mureę Culture. Numerous elements which point to intense relations of the Land of Chełmno with south-eastern Europe at the end of Antiquity testify to a significant role of the local society in contacts with the outer world. The inhumation grave discovered in the stone circle at Błędowo perfectly fits into this image.