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Southern and Western Slavs in the second half of the nineteenth century in Bulgarian historiography after 1989: research trends and directions

100%
Popek K.
Slovanský přehled: historická revue pro dějiny střední, východní a jihovýchodní Evropy (Slavonic Review: Review for Central, Eastern and Southeastern European history)
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2021
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vol. 107
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issue 1
87-115
EN
This article aims to present the main trends in the Bulgarian research conducted after 1989 into the history of the Southern Slavs (Serbs, Croats, Slovenians, Bosnian Muslims, and Montenegrins) and the Western Slavs (Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks) as well as various forms of cooperation between Slavs as Yugoslavism, pan-Slavism, and Neo-Slavism in 1848–1908. The review allows to recognize trends that have been developing after the fall of communism (Bulgarian relations with Serbs, Croats, and Czechs) and those that have been neglected to a greater or lesser extent1(Polish, Slovak, Slovenian, Bosniak, and Montenegrin issues). While we can easily explain this regress in Slovak, Bosnian, and Slovenian topics – after all, Bulgarians have only limited relationships with these nations – this cannot be said of Polish and Montenegrin issues, with which Bulgarians had strong relationships in the second half of the 19th century.
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Potrzeba rekonceptualizacji wczesnośredniowiecznych pochówków „wampirów” z ziem polskich

99%
Dec O.
Folia Praehistorica Posnaniensia
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2020
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vol. 25
63-70
EN
The aim of the article is to outline the need to reconceptualized the early medieval burials of “vampires” from Poland. These burials are understood as the remains of the so-called “anti- vampire” practices resulting from the social perception of bad death. These, in turn, are recognized as a socio-religious phenomenon, the assumption of which was to postpone the evil actions of the ‘vampire’ by means of certain measures. Due to doubts about the term “vampire”, concerning both the linguistic sphere and the cultural and historical realities, it is suggested not to use it. The proposed alternative, more precise terms would therefore be the terms “returning dead” or “(un)dead”. Another issue raised is the setting of ‘anti-vampire’ burials in an atypical framework. “Anti-vampirical” burials meet the criteria of atypicality on a macro scale, however, it is possible to consider them typical, assuming that they functioned in the culture of Western Slavs in the early Middle Ages as belonging to a specific social group.
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BODZIEC OSTROGI Z LUB NIEWIC. SŁOWIAŃSKA KUL TURA ELITARNA W ZA CHODNIEJ CZĘŚCI PAŃSTWA PIASTÓW

87%
Michalak A., Gardeła L.
Slavia Antiqua: rocznik poświęcony starożytnościom słowiańskim
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2020
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issue 61
135-161
EN
This paper focuses on a copper-alloy goad discovered in 2017 in Lubniewice in Lubuskie Voivodeship, Poland. An interdisciplinary analysis has shown that the goad was originally part ofa lavishly decorated copper-alloy spur representing a type known from high-status West Slavic graves (e.g. Lutomiersk, Ciepłe) and settlement sites. Because objects of this kind are made of costly material, and because expert skills were required to produce them, it is argued that they were commissioned by a very specific group of people who used them as “material markers” of their distinct cultural and religious identity. It is not unlikely that the owners of such spurs were members of the elite retinue of the Piasts who played important roles on and off the battlefield.
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Statistická analýza rytmického zúžení jako příspěvek k otázce rytmické stavby lidové písně u západních Slovanů

86%
Votruba A.
Studia Ethnologica Pragensia
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2018
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issue 2
103-147
EN
Rhythmic narrowing (Rhythmusverengerung) was first described by Hungarian ethnomusicologist and composer Béla Bartók. It is the specific structure of the melody of a song which is usually connected with rhymes repeated twice with the same syllable (aabb), while on the 1st and 4th rhymes have a larger number of bars than the 2nd and 3rd rhymes. A number of bars could be assigned to particular rhymes according to the scheme 3–2–2–3, 4–3–3–4, etc. Béla Bartók considered this phenomenon typical for Slovak folk songs. Similar ideas were proposed by Slovak musicologist Jozef Kresánek, who also proposed a hypothesis about the evolutional connection between the genesis of this structure and the development of harmonic thinking. The author of this study presents, on a larger body of statistically analysed material, that rhythmic narrowing is typical, not only for Slovak, but also for Czech song. The area whith the most abundant distribution is from Eastern Bohemia through Moravia to the Central and Eastern Slovakia border. Polish Silesia could be also added to this area — the part which was not settled by German speaking people before 1945. Rhythmic narrowing is much less widespread among the neighbouring nations — the rest of Poland, Hungary and the Ukraine. It has not been found at all in German, Sorbian, Lithuanian and Serbian folk song collections.
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Próba interpretacji zjawiska rytualnego składania ofiar z ludzi na Słowiańszczyźnie Zachodniej

86%
Pokorski M.
Folia Praehistorica Posnaniensia
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2021
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vol. 26
373-397
EN
The subject matter of the article concerns on ritual sacrificial practices related to human sacrifices among the Western Slavs, including the Polish lands and the Polabia region. The chronological range covers the early Middle Ages, from the 7th to the 12th centuries. Considerations on this subject include the review of anthropological and philosophical disciplines research including R. Girard studies in this aspect, an analysis of written sources, and above all the analysis of the occurrence of victims and sacrificial sites from an archaeological perspective. The aim of the study was to identify archaeological remains related to sacrificial rituals by presenting the occurrence of victims and sacrificial sites at selected archaeological sites. The study aims to discuss the issues with interpretations of various aspects of the human sacrifices from the early medival Western Slavdom territory sites. The work is interdisciplinary, as it takes into account and integrates the results of archaeological research, knowledge in the field of history, philosophy and cultural anthropology. The article presents the effectiveness of interdisciplinary methods in expanding analytical and interpretative possibilities of archeology regarding the rituals of sacrifice and sacrificial sites.
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Palą siebie w ogniu, gdy umrze im król lub wódz – I palą również jego wierzchowce. Wczesnośredniowieczny pochówek ciałopalny ze szczątkami konia z chodlika, pow. Opolski, woj. Lubelskie

86%
Miechowicz Ł.
Slavia Antiqua: rocznik poświęcony starożytnościom słowiańskim
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2021
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issue 62
147-169
EN
The article presents the results of research into an early medieval kurgan in Chodlik, Karczmiska county, where cremated human and horse remains were discovered. The settlement complex in Chodlik (8th-10th c.) forms a vast hillfort of more than 8 ha and the surrounding hamlets. For over a century, it has been subjected to archaeological excavations but it was not until recently that the related cremation burial sites were identified. The first kurgan, examined in 2010, contained buried remains of a human and a horse, most probably buried at a stake together. The other objects found in the upper part of the kurgan included pieces of clay vessels and bronze elements of a horse tack. By means of radiocarbon dating, the burial site’s chronology has been established as the 8th-9th centuries. The text presents comparative analyses with other famous discoveries of the type and considerations of the importance of horses to the early medieval Slavs.
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Słowiańskie ujęcia idei „modernitas” („Fabryka Słowian. Modernizacje”, red. nauk. Danuta Sosnowska, Warszawa: Wydział Polonistyki UW, 2017, ss. 407)

86%
Moroz-Grzelak L.
Slavia Meridionalis
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2018
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vol. 18
EN
Slavic visions of the modernitas idea A review of the new collective volume Fabryka Słowian. Modernizacje [Slavic Factory. Modernizations], ed. Danuta Sosnowska, Warszawa: Wydział Polonistyki UW, 2017, 407 pp., which is the first part of the research project envisaged for a four-volume series. The publication consists of an introduction written by the editor, the record of a discussion on the leading theme, and eleven articles concerning the titular modernizations, and may be seen as a part of the interdisciplinary trend of contemporary Slavic studies. Słowiańskie ujęcia idei modernitas Recenzja tomu zbiorowego Fabryka Słowian. Modernizacje, red. nauk. Danuta Sosnowska, Warszawa: Wydział Polonistyki UW, 2017, ss. 407, który stanowi pierwszą część projektu badawczego przewidzianego dla czterotomowej serii. Publikacja, składająca się ze wstępu redaktor naukowej, zapisu dyskusji nad tematem wiodącym oraz jedenastu artykułów poświęconych tytułowym modernizacjom, wpisuje się w nurt interdyscyplinarnych współczesnych badań slawistycznych.
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Wineta – literacka „przestrzeń utracona” Słowian Zachodnich? Rozważania na wybranych przykładach z literatur zachodniosłowiańskich

81%
Derlatka T.
Porównania
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2013
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vol. 12
177-192
EN
The purpose of the article is to present the selected West Slavic literary works that have taken the issue of the legendary Wineta. The author has made efforts to determine the extent of the occurrence of the motif of Wineta in particular literatures, to demonstrate mutual convergences and divergences, to present the most interesting modifications of the protovariation. The analysis of the subject showed profound differences in the sematisation of the Wineta theme between specific literatures. The most interesting elaborations of the Wineta theme are found in “small” West Slavonic literatures (Upper Lusatian and Kashubian). In the first one, the semantics of the Wineta, which was transferred onto a “national” plane and which is at risk of being flooded by the sea (first by the Germanic one [J. Bart-Ćišinski] of the post-1945 socialist realist industry [A. Stachowa]) itself becomes the diaspora. In the Kashubian literature, the Wineta motif was exploited as the basis for its own mythopoeia realized in the legend of the Old Hel swallowed by the sea. 
PL
Cel artykułu stanowi przedstawienie wybranych zachodniosłowiańskich utworów literackich, które podjęły problem legendarnej Winety. Autor podjął wysiłki zmierzające do: stwierdzenia zasięgu występowania motywu Winety w poszczególnych literaturach, wykazania wzajemnych kon- i dywergencji, przedstawienia najciekawszych modyfikacji protowariantu. Rozbiór tematyki wykazał głębokie różnice w semantyzacji motywu Winety między konkretnymi literaturami. Najbardziej interesujące opracowania motywu Winety przynoszą „małe” literatury zachodniosłowiańskie (górnołużycka i kaszubska). W tej pierwszej semantyka Winety przeniesiona została na płaszczyznę narodową – zagrożoną zalaniem przez morze (wpierw germańskie [J. Bart-Ćišinski], po 1945 r. socrealistycznego przemysłu [A. Stachowa]) staje się sama diaspora. W literaturze kaszubskiej motyw Winety wyzyskany został jako podstawa własnej mitopei zrealizowanej w legendzie o pochłoniętym przez morze Starym Helu.
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Treść przedstawień figuratywnych na kamieniu z Leźna

72%
Szczepanik P.
Pomorania Antiqua
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2020
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vol. Tom XXIX
s. 155-179
EN
Pomerania, Poland. The stone decorated with three reliefs is definitely a unique monument. Numerous interpretations - the oldest came from the 19th century - of the meaning of these representations associated the images and whole stone with religion of the Balts, Celts, Scandinavians or Slavs. The most recent interpretation linked the monument with pre-Christian religions of the North. In this text I try to present different interpretation and describe the sculpture and all reliefs in the context of pre-Christian beliefs of the Western Slavs. The low reliefs depicted on it are associated with Svantevit (Polish Świętowit). This interpretation is based on the analysis of the forms and the meaning of images. In this context we use a comparative archaeological materials and information from written sources. All images from Leźno stone refer directly to spheres of competence of this god. Person with ornithomorphic arms is related to the supreme character of the deity which was worshiped in the temple on Arkona. The most important pagan temple on the Western Slavs territory in the 12th century was described in detail by Saxo Grammaticus. From his chronicle we have also information about meaning of two next images. The horse rider shows his relationship with the military sphere as well as Svantevit's night wanderings and fights. The figure with the horn is related to the sphere of prosperity and fertility, and the annual divination using the level of alcohol in the horn. All these elements show a direct relationship betwen stone form Leźno with Svantevit and his mythical competences. However, the boulder itself is not a statue of a deity, although it probably would be associated with his worship and may have been originally placed on Sventovit's worship site. The stone from Leźno is very fascinating piece of early medieval Slavic art and a very important element for understanding pre-Christian Slavic religion.
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Ostrogi zoomorficzne z Ciepłego. Zachodniosłowiański model kosmosu?

58%
Gardeła L., Kajkowski K., Ratajczyk Z.
Pomorania Antiqua
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2019
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vol. Tom XXVIII
s. 65-152
EN
The present paper focuses on elaborately decorated zoomorphic spurs discovered in an early medieval cemetery at Ciepłe in Eastern Pomerania, Poland. Its primary aim is to discuss the spurs from Ciepłe in the context of other contemporary finds with similar decorative motifs and to unravel their symbolic significance. By referring to archaeology, textual sources, and folkloristic accounts, it is argued that the zoomorphic spurs contain references to Slavic mythology and that they could have served as portable models of the Slavic pagan universe and as expressions of pre-Christian worldviews. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part, entitled “Contexts” (Pol. Konteksty), is an attempt to determine the cultural provenance of spurs from Ciepłe as well as that of their parallels which have been discovered in various locations across Poland, Germany, and Scandinavia. The second part, entitled “In Search for the Key to Interpretation” (Pol. W poszukiwaniu klucza interpretacyjnego), seeks to provide a new reading of the symbolic meanings of the spurs. The beginning of the article pays significant attention to the famous early medieval cemetery at Lutomiersk in Central Poland. Archaeological excavations, conducted in the 1940s under the direction of Professor Konrad Jażdżewski from Łódź University, revealed two lavishly furnished graves (grave 5 and grave 10) which, among other things, contained elaborately decorated zoomorphic spurs. Because these items were poorly preserved, with some of their essential components missing (e.g. the goads), Jażdżewski was unsure if they had actually served as spurs and labelled them “saddle mounts”. Since relatively little was known about the material culture of West Slavic elites at the time when the finds from Lutomiersk were published, it was assumed that the spurs belonged to foreign immigrants, perhaps Scandinavian or Rus warriors who had come to Poland to serve in the retinues of the first Piasts. The opinion on the foreign origin of the spurs and, consequently, of the population buried at Lutomiersk prevailed in Polish academia for a very long time. When in later years fragments of zoomorphic spurs similar to those from Lutomiersk were found at other sites, they were immediately labelled foreign products. This was the case of the finds from the early medieval stronghold at Wrocław Ostrów Tumski and those from the early medieval cemetery at Cerkiewnik – in both instances, the fragmentarily preserved zoomorphic spurs from these sites were labelled by their discoverers as foreign (i.e. non-Slavic) objects. By conducting a thorough analysis of the contexts of the finds from Lutomiersk, Wrocław Ostrów Tumski, and Cerkiewnik, as well as examining the complicated and sometimes controversial history of their interpretations, the first part of this paper demonstrates that the previous views on the foreign provenance of zoomorphic spurs must be rejected. There is nothing in the design nor in the context of discovery of these items to indicate that they are non-Slavic items. After a comprehensive revision of previous academic views concerning the finds from Lutomiersk, Wrocław Ostrów Tumski, and Cerkiewnik, the discussion moves on to examine the more recent finds of zoomorphic spurs from an early medieval cemetery at Ciepłe in Eastern Pomerania. During archaeological excavations conducted in 2009 by Zdzisława Ratajczyk from the Archaeological Museum in Gdańsk, a richly furnished chamber grave was found (grave 42/2009). The grave contained the remains of a man buried in a supine position who was accompanied by a wide range of objects – by his right arm lay a sword and a spear, at the waist the man had a whetstone, and in the feet-area a set of stirrups and a large bucket were placed. Remarkably, the copper alloy spurs were worn on the man’s feet. The spurs from Ciepłe belong to exactly the same type as those from Lutomiersk, Wrocław Ostrów Tumski and Cerkiewnik, but in contrast to these earlier discoveries, they are preserved complete. The spurs from Ciepłe are adorned with a number of zoomorphic motifs; three animals resembling cattle are depicted on each of their arms and the arms themselves terminate with animal heads, probably of snakes. Another animal, most likely a horse, with its head facing backwards, is shown on the goad. Also the straps that allowed for fastening the spurs to the shoes have fittings and belt-ends in zoomorphic form, as well as a ring with a swastika motif which served as a kind of belt loop. In addition, each of the spurs has little bells attached to their arms. Interestingly, these bells still produce sound. In recent years several new fragments of zoomorphic spurs have been found in various localities in Poland, Scandinavia, Germany and Russia. Among them is a goad discovered at Skegrie in Skåne, Sweden, a buckle from Schwerin in Meklenburg- Vorpommern, Germany, a goad from Lubniewice in Poland and a goad from Kumachevo in the Sambia Peninsula, Russia. All these finds are briefly discussed in the present article and it is argued that they could attest to the mobility of West Slavic elites, who probably lost the spurs (or fragments thereof) during their travels. Ultimately, the first part of the paper ends with the conclusion that there are no reasons to consider the zoomorphic spurs from Lutomiersk, Wrocław Ostrów Tumski, Cerkiewnik, and Ciepłe, as well as their fragments found at other sites in Poland and beyond, as foreign products. It is argued that they should rather be seen as originating from the West Slavic area, probably from what is today Poland. Previous scholars who suggested that the spurs and their owners had come from Rus or Scandinavia worked at a time when West Slavic material culture was still poorly researched and vaguely understood. This led them to the erroneous assumption that the Western Slavs did not use zoomorphic motifs in their art. However, recent archaeological excavations conducted in Poland show unequivocally that zoomorphic motifs were actually widely employed in the material culture of the Western Slavs and that various animals also played significant roles in their pre-Christian beliefs. After establishing the cultural provenance of the spurs and demonstrating that they are unequivocally West Slavic products, the discussion moves on to the second part of the article which focuses on their symbolic meanings. Before providing a holistic interpretation of the iconographic programme shown on the spurs, an attempt is made to decode the symbolic content of their various individual details. Separate sections are therefore devoted to the ring with a swastika motif (Pol. przewleczka), the buckle and zoomorphic mounts (Pol. sprzączka i okucia zoomorficzne), the goad (Pol. bodziec), the arms of the spurs (Pol. ramiona ostrogi), the small bells (Pol. zawieszki dzwoneczkowate) and the strap end (Pol. końcówka paska). It is demonstrated that these different constructional details, both in a stylistic and conceptual sense, have close parallels in other finds known from the West Slavic area. Afterwards, the authors move on to argue that the spurs represent a model of the pagan cosmos, and that their different features refer to the motifs known from the Slavic cosmogonic myth preserved in nineteenth- and twentieth-century folkloristic accounts. In its most basic variant, the myth tells the story of the world’s creation and of the eternal conflict between the two divine antagonists who in folkloristic accounts are known as God and Devil, but who most likely represent pre-Christian deities Perun and Weles. Perun was the god of the sky and lightning while Weles, in some sources known as the “cattle god”, ruled over death and the underworld. According to the Slavic cosmogonic myth, the world was created from a grain of sand which the Devil/Weles picked up from the bottom of the primordial ocean (in some variants of the story, while doing so he took the shape of a waterbird). When Perun cast the grain onto the water, it immediately started to grow and turned into an island. Soon after the act of creation was completed and after the gods stepped out on land, Weles tried to kill Perun and take control of the newly-created world. The gods therefore engaged in a conflict of cosmic importance. As may be inferred from folkloristic accounts, at some point the two antagonists created supernatural helpers to fight this battle in their name – Perun had a flying serpent called Żmij which was capable of breathing fire or lightning, while Weles created snakes and dragons which had the capacity to absorb water causing draught and famine. These serpentine creatures – like the gods themselves – had opposite characteristics and the conflict between them obviously symbolised the cycle of life and the changing of the seasons – i.e. the coming of winter when everything died and when the soil was dry, and the coming of spring announced by the first lightning and rainfall that would fertilise the land. In light of the above, it is argued that the different features of the spurs can be seen as references to the motifs known from the Slavic cosmogonic myth. The ring with the swastika represents the sun while the wavy ornament on the spurs’ arms represents water. The horse on the goad probably plays the role of a psychopompos, i.e. a carrier of human souls that made their journey to the otherworld possible. This reading is also in line with the interpretation of the horned animals which are shown on the spurs’ arms, perhaps standing on an island. Based on what we know about the Slavic otherworld and about Weles – also known as the “cattle god” who presided over the dead – it seems that these horned animals could depict human souls grazing on an otherworldly pasture in animal form. The zoomorphic motifs on the buckles and strap mounts seem to allude to the everlasting conflict between Żmij and water-absorbing snakes or dragons. Finally, the bells attached to the spurs’ arms probably represent the grain of sand picked up from the abyss (or alternatively the cosmic egg from which – according to another variant of the cosmogonic myth – the world has hatched), while the belt end with a bird-like head is most likely a depiction of the Devil/Weles in his role as the “holy diver”. In conclusion, the detailed analysis of the zoomorphic spurs from Ciepłe (and their parallels) has helped to debunk a number of scientific myths that have long been present in Polish archaeology. By demonstrating that the zoomorphic spurs were West Slavic products – and not, as previously thought, foreign “imports” from Scandinavia or Eastern Europe – it has become possible to offer their comprehensive interpretation in the light of written, archaeological and ethnographic sources referring to the pagan beliefs of the Slavs. Establishing the Slavic origin of the zoomorphic spurs has also provided strong arguments confirming the same cultural attribution of a number of other objects of previously obscure provenance (e.g. the decorative parts of bridles from graves 5 and 10 from Lutomiersk) and has consequently led to the disenchantment of erroneous beliefs about the existence of graves of Scandinavian or Rus “mercenaries/ warriors/riders” at Lutomiersk. Ultimately, this study has shown that the West Slavic material culture was much richer than previously thought, and that animals played a very important role in pre-Christian worldviews. In addition to the above, the results of this research set out many new and exciting paths for future studies of West Slavic migrations and of the ways in which they expressed group identity and cohesion through the use of luxurious objects deeply saturated with symbolic meanings.
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