Anthropological analysis was applied to burnt bone rudiments coming from an accidental discovery in Dzierzążenko-Lisia Góra village. The discovery was made in July, 2011. For the analysis bone material from a single cremation grave was delivered. Using J. Strzałko et all method it was stated that the deceased was a male of age 18-19, mid height of approximately 166-170cm.
PL
Analizie antropologicznej poddano przepalone szczątki kostne pochodzą z przypadkowego odkrycia w miejscowości Dzierzążenko - Lisia Góra, gmina Złotów, powiat złotowski, województwo wielkopolskie. Odkrycia dokonano w lipcu 2011 roku. Do analizy antropologicznej dostarczono materiał kostny z pojedynczego grobu ciałopalnego. Posługując się metodą J. Strzałki i współautorów ustalono, że zmarły był mężczyzną, w wieku 18-19 lat wzrostu średniego ok. 166-170 cm.
The osteological material obtained during the renovation and restoration works carried out in 2016 in the crypt of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Franciscan Fathers in Gniezno was subjected to anthropological studies. Numerous human remains located loosely in the crypt were examined and put in order. In the course of the analysis, it was determined that they came from no less than 41 individuals, who died at various ages and who were of different sexes. The ossuary was also examined, where the deposited human remains belonged to no less than 111 individuals.
PL
Opracowaniu antropologicznemu poddano materiał osteologiczny pozyskany podczas prac remontowo-konserwatorskich prowadzonych w roku 2016 w krypcie kościoła oo. Franciszkanów w Gnieźnie pw. Wniebowzięcia NMP. Przebadano i uporządkowano znajdujące się luźno w krypcie liczne szczątki ludzkie. W toku analizy uznano, że pochodzą one od nie mniej niż 41 osobników, zmarłych w różnym wieku i o różnej płci. Przebadano również ossuarium, w którym zdeponowane szczątki ludzkie należały do nie mniej niż 111 osobników.
1Since the dawn of history humans have been interested in using stones for a variety of purposes. The use of rocks and stones as shelters, building material or resource for the production of tools or weapons is a cultural phenomenon. One of the categories of stone objects recorded in graves at early medieval cemeteries includes whetstones. The present study is devoted to whetstones registered in graves at the cemetery at Dziekanowice, site 22 (gmina Łubowo, województwo wielkopolskie). This early medieval necropolis is located on the east shore of Lake Lednica in the direct vicinity of one of the major stronghold centres of the Piast dynasty. The stronghold itself is situated on Ostrów – an island on Lake Lednica. Out of 1585 skeletal graves recorded in situ at the studied cemetery, 847 (53.4%) burials contained altogether 1868 objects considered as grave deposits. In the group of those artifacts were 28 whetstones found in 27 graves (one grave contained 2 whetstones), which account for 3.2 percent of the total number of burials with equipment. In addition, 7 whetstones were recorded loosely at the border between layer I and II (they were damaged by ploughing), and in settlement features; however, these objects are not included in the study. The majority of graves with whetstones unearthed at the cemetery at Dziekanowice were male burials. As many as 21 graves belonged to men, 5 to women and only one to a child. Previous research and publications on cemeteries do not facilitate an ambiguous interpretation of the function of whetstones recorded in graves, although utilitarian character of these objects is unquestionable. It can also be asserted that whetstones were buried more often in male graves, and most often in adult graves. They occurred both in “richer” burials and in those characterized by modest equipment. The new light on the function of some whetstones has been shed by the results of analyses carried out by Martin Ježek from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. His recent spectral analysis of whetstone surfaces has allowed the hypothesis that whetstones (particularly phyllite ones) may have been used as touchstones. The analysis based on scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS method) revealed residues of metals on the surface of the examined objects. The microanalysis has proven the existence of micro-traces of metals such as gold, silver, tin and copper. In sum, the hypothesis about a special function of the whetstones cannot be excluded. This may apply particularly to the objects with scant traces of polishing, in contrast to whetstones with strongly polished and characteristic concave surfaces resulting from frequent sharpening. The whetstones with scant traces of polishing may have been used not only as sharpening tools, but also (and maybe primarily) as items against which a precious metal was rubbed in order to check its value and the quality of alloy. Identifying the function of whetstones as touchstones creates new possibilities for discussing the problems associated with social stratification and with distinguishing between “richer” and “poorer” graves. A whetstone-touchstone found in a grave gives its owner a different rank in the society than we previously assumed interpreting the object only as a sharpening tool. Undoubtedly, the analysis of social stratification should involve by far more elements than is widely regarded as vital. In addition, whetstones-touchstones may also become important objects for the analysis of trading places and exchange in the Early Middle Ages.
The article presents the analyses and descriptions of two graves in the Dziekanowice grave field, site 22 (dated back to the late 10th – the late 13th centuries) located on the eastern coast of lake Lednica, approx. 90 m from the eastern bridge leading to Ostrów Lednicki. The isle hosts a hillfort regarded a seat of the then ruler, the sedes regni principales. Within the gord, in the second half of the 10th century, a complex of residential and sacral buildings was raised: a baptistery, a palas and a church. The burial rite as of the late 10th and the early 11th centuries, which appeared in what is now Poland’s territory, is typically associated with Christianity encroaching the area. The issues under discussion, which are not fully explained, include both the ways in which the dead were buried before skeletal burials were introduced and popularised, the methods used to promote the changes, acceptance thereof, the rate and the prevalence of the new mode of burying the dead. In the course of extended excavations in the Dziekanowice 22 grave field, 1,665 graves have been discovered with preserved bone material, among them two graves where cremated bodies were laid (cremation burial). The graves have been dated back to the early Middle Ages (the time of the grave field’s operation).
This study presents and discusses the results of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes analysis of individuals belonging to the social elites buried in chamber graves from the area of the first Piast state (the 2nd half of the 10th and the 1st half of the 11th c.).
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.