One of the features of the burial mound necropolises of Pomeranian culture in the Kashubian Lake District is the presence, beside the mounds, of burial-free constructions. Their form resembles burial mounds or kurgans and their function can often raise questions. This may sometimes result from the fact that such structures are formed in distinct clusters in the cemeteries. At the current stage of research, it can be hypothesized that they represent an integral part of the necropolis.
The article presents results of the archaeological excavations conducted at a Pomeranian culture cemetery in Żakowo, site 3, Sulęczyno commune, Pomeranian Voivodship in 2014–2015. During this time, three barrows and two stone structures were excavated. Barrow V/2014 had the most elaborate form. Its base consisted of a four-layered stone rim 5.8 meters in diameter. Cremation burial of two people was found inside.
Rychłowice, site 1 is situated about 3 km to the south of Wieluń between Rychłowice and Nowy Świat valley. It is on the high hill which was partially destroyed due to gravel exploration there. Two seasons of rescue excavations uncovered 26 settlement pits. Five of them served domestic needs, one possessed a fire place, the other a fire place and postpits around it. Seventeen of them were farming structures. Four pits are difficult to be qualified for either group. The pottery assemblage consists of two-conical, and vase-like vessels, amphoras, egg-like pots, mugs, scoopers, bowls and plates. Bronze artefacts are worth mentioning, namely a little spearhead, ring and ear-ring. Pottery forms of Rychłowice and their ornamentation classify the site to the fifth period of Bronze Age (900-700 BC acc. to O. Montelius). At the site there appeared pottery material characteristic for Kępno undergroup of the Upper-Silesian-Little Poland Lusatian culture.
Along with typical mounds, the barrow cemeteries of the Pomeranian culture that were common in the area of the Kaszuby Lake District also yielded stone structures containing no burials. Their diameters were most often smaller than in barrows covering a centrally placed burial. Moreover, the discussed structures were typically not surrounded by a stone circle marking the perimeter. In terms of form, however, they resembled barrows: they were circular in plan and had mounds, and they undoubtedly should be regarded as an integral part of a given barrow necropolis. The structures were built of stones of selected size. Larger blocks were used for the base, while the mound was raised from smaller pieces. Burial-less barrows are interpreted as structures having a symbolic meaning. A good example is site 2 at Nowa Sikorska Huta in Stężyca commune, where structures of the discussed type occupied one of the two identified zones of stone structures occurrence. In the second zone they occurred along with barrows containing burials. A similar situation was recorded in the cemetery at Żaków, site 3, in Sulęczyno commune. In this case, the structures with no burials co-occurred with typical barrows in the lowermost part of the cemetery, at the foot of a moraine hill. In the higher parts (the slope and edge of the hill), however, the discussed structures were predominant.
The settlement from Early Iron Age in Czarnoszyce site 1, Człuchów commune was discovered accidentally in 2017. Earlier that site was known in the Polish Archaeological Record (AZP) as a primeval settlement trace. The excavation conducted in 2018 covered 100 square metres. The small acreage was the result of the need for the exploration of the aeolian layers. A total thickness of those layers was 1.3 metres and was a result of the deforestation process in late medieval period or modern period. A few tree windthrows were found in the trench. The excavation yielded 11 features. In fills of nine of them there were many fragments of pottery vessels associated with the Wielka Wieś phase. They suggest dating back to the Hallstatt C period. The place was probably later settled by the Pomeranian culture community. But in the case of one feature, one radiocarbon date shows it should be dated back to the Roman Period. The south-western part of East Pomerania in Early Iron Age clearly formed a settlement cluster of the Wielka Wieś phase. Fourteen km south of Czarnoszyce excavations led to the discovery of a settlement unit (a settlement and a cemetery) in Chojnaty, Chojnice commune. The next settlement unit was located a bit further south, in Ostrowite, Chojnice commune. There, a few graves of the Wielka Wieś phase, as well as probably remains of a settlement were excavated. Those sites undoubtedly indicate a stabilization of the settlement in the Hallstatt C period. Therefore, the settlement in Czarnoszyce is likely another sample of the Wielka Wieś settlement network.
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