Archaeological fieldwork attending the construction of motorway A4 led to the discovery of a number of settlements and cemeteries of Únětice Culture people. Some of these sites contained features of a form previously not recorded in this culture unit, including cattle burials and specially prepared animal bone deposits. The chronology of the former was determined only basing on radiocarbon dating. Cattle burials were identified at Wojkowice 15, Nowa Wieś Wrocławska 4, and at Milejowice 19 (distr. Wrocław). C14 dates obtained are respectively: 3690 ± 190 BP, 3515 ± 35BP, 3585 ± 35BP. Two burials were inside the settlement, the third, at Milejowice, was discovered in the cemetery. Every time the alignment of the skeleton was approximately in line with N-S axis, with the head towards the south. In addition, at Milejowice and Nowa Wieś Wrocławska, the position of the skull indicated prior decapitation. The chronology of yet another cattle burial, discovered at Szczepankowice, site 1, is not without ambiguity as it was determined based on the position of this feature within the cemetery of the Únětice Culture people. The animal was deposited in line with NS axis, its head towards the north. The skeleton was on its left side, with the neck vertebrae and the head flexed back, suggesting that the animal’s neck had been broken. Also recorded in settlements at Wojkowice and at Nowa Wieś Wrocławska were pits containing intentional animal bone deposits. Presumably they represent consumption remains. However, they differ visibly from similar finds originating from other settlement features. Very likely they represent the entire remains of a given animal, deposited in a specially prepared pit. The quantity of other bones present was negligible or there were none at all (Table 1). Thus, the feature was used only once. From Wojkowice site 15 we also have a find of five pits containing deposits of animal bone. One of them: 658-I-98, has a chronology based on a C14 date of 3510 ± 180 BP. Two similar deposits were discovered at Nowa Wieś Wrocławska. Cattle burials and animal bone deposits find close analogy in Mierzanowice Culture. Their presence our region intimates the existence during Early Bronze Age of rituals with an intercultural character.
A large number of animal bones, mainly dogs’ remains, were identified among features at the settlement in Polwica 4, 5/Skrzypnik 8. It was established that they were deposited in various ways. The bones were recognized as remains of sacrifices. They has been often discovered in wells, which suggests the existence of a repeated ritual of filling in the wells. An attempt was made to describe these finds structurally.
The economy of any community depends on the values which are considered to be the most important. Social organization and technologies are subordinated to their implementation. In traditional societies, including people of the La Tène culture, the most significant issues concerned the status of individuals and the resulting interpersonal relations. The position in rank was manifested and gained through participation in military expeditions. The economy was subordinated to military action. Nonetheless, new technologies and financial solutions created opportunities for military success. This, however, has its price in enormous social inequalities and almost permanent war.
During the Hallstatt period in Central Europe, profound cultural, economic, and social changes occurred. This is due to the emergence of new technologies ‒ primarily iron metallurgy. Another element is the vicinity of the dominant economic system, i.e., the broadly understood Mediterranean civi-lization, especially the Etruscan cities in Italy. These asymmetrical relationships forced social changes in the areas north of the Alps. An important factor was probably the slave trade, which forced violence and armed struggle. This resulted in a progressive militarization, which is visible through the construction of defensive settlements and the strengthening of farms. The consequence was extreme social stratification and the domination of aristocratic elites. Thus, the stability of such a system depended on the relationship with the dominant partner. In a situation of disruption of relationships, a crisis must have arisen, resulting in the collapse of this culture model.
In the early first century AC, in the north of Poland (predominantly in Pomerania), the Wielbark culture developed with its group of specific features. Among them were numerous items of jewellery. It seems that their use was related to an extended social hierarchy and distant inter-regional trade contacts. The raw material used by the jewellers was most probably obtained from melted Roman coins. Amber exports were at the economic basis of obtaining the coins. The most frequent forms of trinkets:snake- and adder-inspired bracelets, reverse pear pendants, S-shaped buckles and others, are of entirely foreign origin. Their prototypes can be traced back to the pre-Roman areas along the Danube occupied by the Thracians and the Dacians or the La Tène culture population.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth century in the vicinity of the village of Górzec was found a set of artefacts probably representing scattered treasure from the beginning of the Migration Period. Such deposits are an expression of the rapid changes in the circulation of capital and the perception of value in this period. The influx of large quantities of gold and changes in silver’s value resulted in rapid changes in the status of various groups and individuals. An unstable social hierarchy is a prerequisite for the existence of the phenomenon of the potlatch, i.e. the ostentatious consumption or removal of goods from circulation. It seems that the deposits of the Migration Period should be considered this way. In 2010-2011 in the area of Górzec, excavations were undertaken. The aim was to discover of the remains of settlements from the time of the deposition of the treasure. As a result of this work, the existence of a settlement from phase D-D2 of the Migration Period was revealed. Hence, it is most likely that it is slightly younger than the treasure, but this is still open to question.
The result of the military, political and economic activity of the Huns in Europe was the depopulation of vast areas, massive ethnic changes, and the destruction of many previous political organisms. The question arises as to why they were so successful. They had knowledge and skills that were alien to the European civilization of that time but perfectly known among the nomadic population of Central Asia and China. Therefore, their activity can be seen as a confrontation of different cultural models. In this sense, it was a clash of civilizations – almost in a sense proposed by S. Huntington.
In this article, an assumption has been made that in power centres, settlement concentration was accompanied by accumulation of goods, capital and weapons. Within the Przeworsk culture, the area in question encompassed the basins of the Prosna and the Warta. It remains uncertain if the area can be associated with the so-called Lugii Grove, a centre of political and religious power described by Tacitus.
The paper presents an analysis of bone remains from the settlement in Górzec, the site 13, in the Strzelin county. They were described within four distinct chronological horizons:1. the Lusatian culture (the V period of the Bronze Age), 2. the La Tène culture (the La Tène period, LTC1 phase), 3. the Przeworsk culture (the Migration Period, D1 phase), 4. the Middle Ages (the 12th and 13th centuries). The aim of the study was to identify the species of bone remains, and if possible to determine the age, height at withers and sex of the animal from which the remains came as well as identification of traces of human activity and a description of pathological changes observed in the bone material. On this basis, attempts were made to determine the origins of the analysed animal bones and the role of animals in economy as well as to reconstruct a probable human diet and the role and percentage of wild animals. Archaeozoological research has also became the basis for an attempt to reconstruct changes of the environment and partly of the landscape, too. Human beings, with the increase of their capabilities, modified the environment so as to it met their needs. The human activity was the source of changes in the environment. It seems that with the passage of time a destruction of areas of deciduous forests took place and the forests had been replaced by cultivated fields and meadows. The analyses have resulted in founding several characteristic phenomena in animal production at the site 13 in Górzec throughout history: 1. Most of the bone remains derived from domestic animals and they were post-consumer remnants, and except from the earliest period of the settlement they were dominated by cattle. 2. From the La Tène period, the level of agricultural production increased enough to supply feeding stuffs to the extent that it was possible to overwinter a basic livestock. 3. Wild animals were of only peripheral interest to the local community. 4. In the early period of the settlement, probable use of fur and meat of dormice has been noticed, which, however, completely vanished in the early Middle Ages. 5. Cattle breeding was primarily focused on the use of cattle for dairy production (milk and milk derivatives) and with the passing of time a modification of the model has been observed, involving the growth in the meat production while maintaining milk production. 6. The use of draught cattle had not left typical traces on the bone material, which may indicate that it was not too intense and did not play a leading role in the use of the cattle. 7. Bone remains of pigs as well as sheep and goats had been taking interchangeably the second or third place thorough the history of the settlement in Górzec, with the exception of the earliest period (possible forest grazing of pigs). 8. In the case of small ruminants (sheep and goats), the transition has been observed from a quite versatile production model, though largely aimed on meat production, to a specialized model focused on meat production. 9. The diversification of sources of animal protein has been observed, which manifests itself in the use of dairy cattle, the specialization of small ruminants breeding in the direction of the meat production, the increase of the percentage of pigs and poultry. It appears that the latter was bred mainly for eggs. 10. The characteristic feature of the site in Górzec is that the qualitative and quantitative analyses of bone remains have provided results which place it between typically “urban” character of big-city sites like Opole or Wrocław, and other smaller, typically “rural” centres from Lower Silesia.
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