Cmentarzysko z wczesnej epoki żelaza w Szemudzie, powiat wejherowski, stan. 4

• Authors: Niedziółka Kamil , Jasińska Marta

Title variants

EN

The Early Iron Age Cemetery from Szemud, Wejherowo District, site 4

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

In memory of Tadeusz Dobrogowski, Pre-war Polish archaeologist, Researcher of cemetery in Szemud The paper presents result of rescue excavations conducted in 2014 on the cemetery from the Early Iron Age located on site 4 in Szemud, Wejherowo district (Fig. 1). During the excavations, 44 Pomeranian culture objects were recorded, including 2 cist stone graves (and probably one more with stone construction, however heavily damaged), one pit grave, 10 stone concentrations and numerous pits (Fig. 2). The most interesting object was cist stone grave no. 24 (Fig. 6: 1) with six ceramic urns (Fig. 5). Among them, vessel no.1 can be described as typical face urn with schematic image of face on its neck whereas the vessel no.2 had two ears with bronze and iron earrings. The rest of the urns did not contain any features of face. The second cist stone grave (no. 16, Fig. 4:1) contained only one urn (Fig. 5: 1, 2), however there were also another two ceramic vessels that can be described as a burial accompanying vessels – one was standing in direct neighbourhood of the grave – whereas the second (object no. 18) was located between this grave and objects no.31 and 28. Next burial – object no. 19 – can be considered as alleged cist stone grave which was heavily damaged by modern excavation. Beside stones, some number of pottery fragments, skeletal remains and one flint, a piece of bronze pin was found inside. The last object that can be considered as a burial is pit no.1 with small number of cremated bones and charcoal. Apart from burials, 10 characteristic stone concentrations were discovered (e.g. Fig. 6: 2-4; 7 – 2), among which five were described as a fire places because of the presence of traces of burning. These constructions can be treated probably as important elements of excavated cemetery. The rest of the recorded objects were mainly pits of different sizes, in some of them were fragments of pottery, flints or charcoal. Among these objects especially interesting was pit no. 41 because of the size (2.3 x 1.7 m; Fig. 7: 1) and the high amount of pottery (211 pieces probably from circa 16 different vessels) and flints (11 pieces). What is more, one piece of amber was also discovered inside this object, as well as bones. It is probable that this was a settlement pit, however the exact chronology, and hence its relation with the cemetery cannot be clearly evaluated. On the other hand, this object could be also a part of burial site’s structure, although its function is unclear. Analysis of all skeletal remains from the mentioned cist stone graves, pit burial and pit no. 41 can be found in a separate paper (Banaszak 2016, in this volume). According to the presence of face urn, and urn with earrings, together with cist stone constructions, the chronology of this cemetery can be determined at Hallstatt D phase, however the HaC phase cannot be excluded in case of burial no.16, because of its small size, individual character, and presence of burial accompanying vessels, especially if we take under consideration the results of earlier excavations that were conducted in direct neighbourhood of this area. Before the WWII young Polish archaeologist Tadeusz Dobrogowski (1949, 299-314) had discovered 21 cist stone graves in two neighbouring sites (no.I and II according to Dobrogowski and respectively no. 4 and 3 according to present archaeological protection service numbering) which can be currently dated mainly as Hallstatt D materials. However, some burials are certainly from HaC phase. Beside this in 60s and 70s of twentieth century another graves from Hallstatt D were discovered (Szymańska 1968, 371-372; Pietrzak 1977, 505-507). If we confront archival and current map of the area, where all mentioned here burials were discovered (Fig. 8, 9), we can assume that materials discovered in 2014, together with these recorded in the twentieth century were a part of bigger cemetery linked with Pomeranian Culture in Szemud that can be dated at Hallstatt C and mainly at Hallstatt D phases.

• Publisher: Muzeum Archeologiczne w Gdańsku
• Journal: Pomorania Antiqua
• Year: 2017
• Volume: Tom XXVI
• Pages: s. 105-138

Contributors

author

Niedziółka Kamil

• Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie, ul. Wóycickiego 1/3, bud. 23, 01-938 Warszawa

author

Jasińska Marta

• Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego, ul. Bielańska 5, 80-851 Gdańsk