A destroyed Wielbark Culture cemetery at Linowo was discovered in 1986, and excavated in 1991–93. At the cemetery 39 graves dated to the Roman Period were found (19 pit graves, 3 urn graves and 17 inhumation graves). The skeletons were orientated N-S, deceased were laid on back, heads toward north, what is typical for the Wielbark Culture. However, the skeleton from the grave 66 was laid on his left side with legs bent, and in three undisturbed graves (68, 69A, 69B) the skeletons were placed without any anatomical order, as if the dead were quartered before burial. The oldest graves from the cemetery came from the phase B2/C1 (grave 17 with brooches type A.96; fig. 2), or even from the phase B2c (grave 105 with abrooche type A.128, fig. 2). Grave 1 with a brooch type A.162 and a silver S-clasp type B may be dated to the phase C1a. Quite richly were furnished inhumation graves from the phases C1b–C2. Grave 89 contained abrooche to type A.168, a few clay vessels and a necklace with 6 silver lunula pendants, 12 amber beads and 26 glass beads (Fig. 4), while grave 66 produced a fibula similar to type A.167, a necklace of 14 amber eight-shaped beads, 22 glass beads and bronze bucket-shaped pendant (Fig. 3). The youngest grave at the cemetery produced the belt buckle with thickened frame typical for the phase D (Fig. 2).
The cremation cemetery of the Wielbark Culture located in Wielka Kletna Range in Białowieża National Park (Podlasie Province in eastern Poland) was discovered in 2003. During the archaeological excavations conducted in the strict reserve of Białowieża National Park, exploration methods minimising the disturbance to the natural environment were employed. Two trenches (23 m2 in total) were opened. Part of the cemetery was covered with a stone paving. Four graves, with no urns, containing bone fragments of four children and an adult man, were discovered. Burials were equipped with scarce ornaments (copper and bronze fibulae, glass beads), tools (spindle whorl), or elements of clothing (iron belt buckle), and – in one case – a set of five clay vessels. Moreover, in the surroundings of graves, over 200 potsherds (80% of them partly burnt), fragments of glass vessels and beads, and a few other artefacts (eg, a small copper knife) were also found. Both the artefacts found at the site and the radiocarbon dates of two charcoal samples from the graves pointed to the C1b–D phases of the Late Roman Period (ie, 3rd–5th c. AD).
Archaeological excavation of a settlement of the Olsztyn Group at Tumiany, distr. Olsztyn, in NE Poland (Fig. 1), led to the discovery of a stray find of a copper alloy brooch with a caterpillar bow, a form which in literature may be known better as Raupenfibel (Fig. 2). The specimen from Tumiany has a roughly lozenge-shaped plate on its head and a lozenge-shaped foot, details which classify it as variant 1b of II series (M. Tuszyńska 1988) and as ‘Wielbark’ design (A. Kokowski 1995). Caterpillar brooches are first documented during phase C2/C3–D but presumably most of them belong in phase C3–D. The map of their distribution indicates concentrations in the Kaliningrad exclave (Samland Peninsula), Poland (lower Vistula River, northern Mazowsze and Podlasie, Mazury and Suwałki area), Germany (Mecklenburg, on the Lower Elbe River) and West Slovakia. Isolated finds are known from the Baltic islands of Bornholm, Öland and Gotland, as well as from western Mazowsze and Lublin Region in Poland. Recovered from a settlement of the Olsztyn Group from the Late Migration Period the brooch of interest is more likely to be associated with the Wielbark Culture. This is indicated by the generally accepted dating of brooch forms with a caterpillar bow, decidedly earlier than the time of crystallisation of the Olsztyn Group. Even more importantly – all analogies to the find from Tumiany occurred in Wielbark cemeteries found in the region on the lower Vistula River to the west (Pruszcz Gdański, Węgrowo, Malbork-Wielbark) and northern Mazowsze to the east (Kozłówko, Kleszewo, Niedanowo). Accepting the above attribution of the brooch from Tumiany to the Wielbark Culture the author gives an overview of the settlement and culture situation in the eastern reaches of the Olsztyn Lake District (Pojezierze Olsztyńskie) during the Younger and the Late Roman Period as well as during the Early Migration Period. At the same time, analysis is seriously constrained by the fact that most of the sites of the period were investigated before WW II and information on their subject is laconic and scattered in German regional literature and in archival sources. Despite these limitation of the database there is justification to place the eastern part of the Olsztyn Lake district within the range of Wielbark Culture settlement of the Younger Roman Period, with no conclusive evidence on its continuation in phase C3–D. At the beginning of the Late Roman Period we see the disintegration of Wielbark Culture settlement in a wider territory found in the drainage basin of the Łyna, Pasłęka and upper Drwęca Rivers caused presumably by the departure of the population on a great migration to the southeast (Fig. 3). Did everybody go away? The lingering of small groups is documented by isolated sites in a vast area of desolation eg, Woryty, grave 4. At the current stage of research it seems most likely that the caterpillar brooch from Tumiany is a relic associated with a small group of Wielbark Culture people who decided not to risk the long trek into the unknown or at least, to put it off for a time.
The following paper focuses on an issue of a senilis age understood as a cultural construct in the Wielbark Culture. The main point of an article is not only analysis of a sets of artefacts or features of grave pits belonging to individuals in senilis age, but most of all the possible patterns of senility, which could be fulfilled by the Wielbarkian society. Research on the various age categories from cultural point of view is not easy, especially when it is carried out on the basis of such a specific data as archaeological sources. However, this type of analysis allows us to look at the „subject” of archaeological research from a completely new perspective.
The state of research on the Wielbark culure in the area of the Dobrzyń Land leaves much to be desired. Exactly thirty years ago Krystyna Hahuła wrote her MA thesis titled Early Pre-Roman and Roman period in the Interfluve of Vistula, Drwęca and Skrwa rivers. A few years later the author’s main findings were published in a small text called Wielbark Culture on the Dobrzyń Land. For almost three decades this work has served as a source of knowledge about settlements in the Roman period for this area. Research conducted since the beginning of the twenty-first century has shed some new light on the transformation of settlements of the region. This text does not claim to be comprehensive on the subject; it is merely an attempt to signal changes taking place in the Roman period in the Vistula, Drwęca and Skrwa interfluve in the context of the latest findings.
The paper discusses results of research on grave opening in the cemetery of the Wielbark Culture in Czarnówko. It is based on excavation works which were carried out in 2017 and were aimed at preparing a precise documentation of trenches which disturbed burials. Additional support was offered by geomorphologic, anthracological, and anthropological analyses. An interdisciplinary approach offers a chance to provide answers to questions concerning the time and methods of post-funeral interferences at Czarnówko and in other cemeteries of the Wielbark Culture. In the next stage, issues concerning the aim (robbery or ritual) and the cultural identity of originators of grave disturbances can be addressed.
The cemetery at Ostrowite was first published by K. Hahuła in her study of Wielbark Culture in the Dobrzyń Land. In this contribution this author mentioned a bronze brooch type Almgren 95, now considered as lost, and a fragment of a three-layer comb, using them to establish the dating of the grave-field as phase B2/C1–C1a (K. Hahuła 1988, p. 100, fig. 4, pl. VI:7). Recently, the rediscovery of a brief note referring on the site at Ostrowite in the archives of the museum in Grudziądz (Muzeum im. ks. dr. Władysława Łęgi) dating to 1948 was followed by the publication of a sketch (Fig. 2) and a description of an urned burial discovered at that location that same year (H. Błachnio, W. Błachnio 2016, fig. 155–157). With this input it is possible to reconstruct the history of this discovery, identify the inventory of the urned burial, and the assemblage of stray finds picked up from the surface of the cemetery (Fig. 3). Now lost, the burial ground used to lie in the village of in Ostrowite, Commune Brzuze, County Rypin, on a tract of elevated ground, now fully lost to a gravel mine (Fig. 1). Błachnio unearthed an urned burial (Fig. 2), consisting of pottery vessels: a bowl, type XaA (Fig. 3:1), two handled cups, type XVA (Fig. 3:4) and XVC (Fig. 3:2), two diminutive forms, type XVIB (Fig. 3:3) and group XVII (Fig.3:5), next to which there was also a fragment of a three-layer comb, presumably antler, retaining a bronze rivet (Fig. 3:6), a fragment of a small bronze cylinder originally covering the brooch spring (Fig. 3:7) and a clay spindlewhorl (Fig. 3:8). Stray finds picked up from the surface of the cemetery included three bronze brooches, type Almgren 95 (Fig. 3:9–11), a fragment of a solid spring from a bronze brooch (Fig. 3:12) and around 100 uncharacteristic potsherds (now lost). Another find, reportedly recovered at Ostrowite was a bronze crossbow brooch, type Almgren 161 at Ostrowite (J. Janikowski 1976b, p. 82) is far from substantiated. The urned burial and the two brooches lacking context are datable broadly to phase B2/C1–C1a, the third brooch (Fig. 3:9) could be older, possibly dating to the end of the Early Roman Period, stage B2c. While the newly disclosed sources helped identify the exact location of the cemetery within the village they have not altered in any major way its dating to phase B2/C1–C1a (K. Hahuła 1988, fig. 4). At the same time, the newly available record suggests that the grave-field originally had a great many graves, now lost, and as such it could have a much broader chronological span.
Two urned burials were discovered in the village of Parski, its western or south-western area presumably (Fig. 1:9.10), in 1900 and 1913 (see: W. Łęga 1930). Archaeological recovered at that time (Fig. 2, 3) entered the Stadtmuseum (City Museum) in Graudenz/Grudziądz (until 1920 in Prussia); of these only a bronze brooch, type Almgren 95, survived (Fig. 2:c) and is now in Muzeum Archeologiczne w Gdańsku (Archaeological Museum in Gdańsk); two cinerary urns and a glass jetton have gone missing. Further discoveries were made at Parski in 1939. At this time, the now Polish Muzeum Miejskie (City Museum) in Grudziądz acquired seven pottery vessels, some sherds and a bronze buckle; of these the buckle, type D29, one of the vessels (a jug, group IX), and a brooch possibly recovered the same year – type Almgren 162 (Fig. 5:a–c), are still in keeping of Muzeum im. ks. dr. Władysława Łęgi w Grudziądzu (The Father Dr. Władysław Łęga Museum in Grudziądz). In 1955, on a hummock in the north-eastern area of the village mined for sand (Fig. 1:1), the first head of the Muzeum w Grudziądzu after the war, J. Błachnio, collected a few dozen fragments of pottery, a jug (group IX), a bowl (type XaA) and two clay spindlewhorls (Fig. 5:d–l), provenanced to a Wielbark Culture cemetery. Fieldwork carried out in 1968 in the vicinity of the now obliterated hummock brought in an assemblage of pottery finds, daub, charcoal and animal bones, interpreted as the remains of Lusatian Culture and Wielbark Culture settlements (see: R. Boguwolski 1969; 1972). The materials recovered at Parski may derive from two separate cemeteries, in use in the Late Roman Period, phases B2/C1–C2, possibly even as early as phase B2 of the Late Roman Period. In the immediate vicinity of these cemeteries were two (or three) other grave-fields, of Roman Period date – one (possibly two) at Parski, in fields belonging to Reinhold and Hippke (identified in 1900 and 1913), another possible burial ground, at Nowa Wieś site 4a (Fig. 1:8), in use during phases B2–C1b, possibly as late as phase C2 (M. Kurzyńska, in print). Finally, a surface survey carried out in 1982 (R. Boguwolski 1982) recorded a group of settlements of Roman Period date (Fig. 1).
A copper alloy chape was found by chance by a detectorist, Ernest Buczkowski, at Silna – several kilometers to the east of Międzyrzecz. It is a unipartite form with an openwork crescent decoration on the front side fastened to the scabbard with the use of a nail. One should attribute the item to the Roman type Novaesium, dated to the late 2nd century and the first half of the 3rd century. Outside the Roman limes, it was popular in the Elbe Circle as well as the Isle of Funen and the Jutland Peninsula during Subphases C1a and C1b. Some of the chapes of the said type (specifically the multipartite specimens) may be treated as barbarian replicas of Roman originals. However, it is not the case for the finding from Międzyrzecz. It is the second find of this type from the territory of Poland. It should be associated with the Wielbark Culture, which was situated in the Międzyrzecz region in the beginning of the Early Roman Period. It makes the finding very intriguing, as this cultural unit is characterised by the lack of weapons among the grave goods; therefore, the one in question sheds some light on the problem of armament in the Wielbark Culture.
An uncharacteristic prong of a buckle cast in bronze was found in 1983 during a rescue excavation of a multi-phase cemetery of the Lusatian, Przeworsk and Wielbark Cultures at Siemiątkowo, Żuromin County (Fig. 1). One part of the prong has the form of a decorative plate, with two recessed sides and a central opening (Fig. 2:1.2). It continues into the prong proper – slender, triangular of section, with a bowed terminal. The unusual form of the prong identifies it as a fragment of a buckle, type 8 group B, in the typology of R. Madyda-Legutko (1987, p. 13–15, 213, pl. 5). Finds of these buckles are extremely rare. To date, they have been recorded in three sites of the Luboszyce Culture and in two sites of the Wielbark Culture: Niedergurig, Distr. Bautzen in Saxony, Marxdorf, Distr. Märkisch-Oderland in Brandenburg, Grabice, Krosno Odrzańskie County, Ulkowy, Gdańsk County, and Gródek nad Bugiem, Hrubieszów County (Fig. 2:3–5). However, none of these finds has an openwork prong. The only type B8 specimen with a similar prong comes from the locality Wyszka, Pisz County (Fig. 2:6), which may suggest Balt roots of the buckle from Siemiątkowo. Similar decorative motifs may be found on openwork elements of the so-called Samland belts (Fig. 2:7.8). This suggests that the buckle fragment from Siemiątkowo could be one more example of Balt influence on the area of northern Mazowsze. Among the cited analogies only the artefacts from the Wielbark Culture cemeteries have a closer dating. In both assemblages of this culture the buckles were found together with brooches type Almgren 168, characteristic for the younger phase of the Late Roman Period. Thus, it seems justified to date the buckle prong from Siemiątkowo in the same way, and to link it with the Wielbark Culture which by the Late Roman Period had moved into areas of Mazowsze.
The cremation burial dated to the Roman Period was discovered in 2014, during agricultural drainage work, at the village of Łazówek, ca. 100 km NEE of Warsaw, in Sokołów Podlaski County. The find spot lies on the high, left-bank flood terrace of the Bug River ca. 2,5 km to the east of the valley of a minor stream, the Cetynia (Fig. 1). The upper level of the grave pit had been partly ploughed out, and was damaged to small extent by the mechanical digger; the surviving fragment was documented and excavated in full (Fig. 2). Underneath the topsoil, the pit was detected as a circular outline, ca. 95 cm in diameter, its section basin-like, with a depth of ca. 35 cm. Cutting fully into the culture deposit of a Przeworsk Culture settlement layer, the pit had a uniform, dark brown fill, without charcoal. Inside it was a cluster of pottery fragments, most of them not affected by fire with, next to them and below them, a small quantity (ca. 120 g) of cremated bones of a woman (?) age adultus (25–35 years old), resting in a compact concentration suggesting deposition inside an organic container. The grave goods consisted of (Fig. 3): 1. Fragments (approximately a half) of a large, wheel-made pottery bowl, weakly profiled, not affected by fire. Surface light brown, carefully smoothed. H. 9 cm, D. 18 cm. 2. Fragments (approximately ¼) of a large, wheel-made bowl, weakly profiled, not affected by fire. Surface light brown, carefully smoothed with on the shoulder, a burnished triple wavy line. H. 10 cm, D. ca. 21 cm. 3. Small wheel-made vessel (ca. ¾ complete), affected by fire, deformed. Surface originally smooth, brown (?) with on the shoulder, a row of delicately engraved chevrons. H. ca. 7,5 cm, D. 7 cm. 4. Hand-made vessel (ca. ¾ complete) affected by fire. Surface dark brown, smooth, irregular. H. 8 cm, D. ca. 10 cm. 5. Uncharacteristic fragment of coarse, hand-made pottery. Surface rough, brown in colour. 6. Copper alloy wire ring with extremities coiled into a flat spiral bezel and wrapped around the shoulders; affected by fire. D. ca. 30 mm. 7. Globular or round bead in pale green, transparent glass, melted down and deformed. 8. Two polyhedral beads in purple, translucent glass, burnt through. 9. Small fragment of an antler plate from the grip of a composite comb, deformed by fire. 10. Biconical clay spindle-whorl, not affected by fire. D. 30 mm. The grave inventory recovered at Łazówek may be safely dated to the Late Roman Period and attributed to the Wielbark Culture. At the same time, wheel-made vessels are quite rare in this culture, especially as compared to the pottery recorded in the territory of the Przeworsk and the Chernyakhiv cultures. Most of the wheel-made vessels found in Wielbark Culture sites date to phases C1b–D1, and are recognized as imports from the territory of the Chernyakhiv/Sântana de Mureş Culture, transferred via the Masłomęcz Group. Each of the wheel-made bowls from Łazówek finds good analogies in Chernyakhiv Culture pottery, this applies also to the wavy decoration on one of them. In contrast, the miniature vessel has no closer analogies. The engraved chevron decoration is typical for the hand-made pottery of the Wielbark Culture but is very rarely seen in wheel-made pottery, this is true also of the Chernyakhiv and the Przeworsk cultures. The deposit from Łazówek is unique because of the presence inside a single grave inventory of three wheel-made vessels, given that Wielbark Culture burials usually hold one, more rarely, two vessels. Two large cemeteries near Łazówek – at Jartypory and at Cecele – yielded only individual wheel-made vessels or sherds of such pottery (respectively, 11 out of ca. 450 and 6 out of ca. 580 graves). Their larger number is known from graves from cemeteries in the southeasternmost reaches of the Wielbark Culture, graves of the Masłomęcz Group, and in particular, graves of the Chernyakhiv/Sântana de Mureş Culture. Characteristic of the wheel-made vessels from Łazówek, and the chronology of the glass beads attributed to type TM128, and – to some extent – chronology of the metal rings type Beckmann 16, allow us to refine the dating of grave from Łazówek to phase C1b and the older stage of phase C2. The grave must belong to a larger cemetery, given that in the light of our present understanding of the burial customs of the Wielbark Culture people it is unlikely that this was an individual, isolated burial. This supposed cemetery would be associated with the settlement microregion in the valley of the Cetynia River, known only from surface fieldwork and random discoveries (Fig. 4). Nevertheless, some traces of Wielbark Culture occupation have been recorded in several sites in the region, of which a few (Ceranów, Sabnie and Zembrów, also coins from Sabnie and Hołowienki) may be dated reliably, or at least with some confidence, to phases B2/C1–C1 (cf. Fig. 5). In the immediate vicinity, just on the northern side of the valley or the Bug River, we have two larger and partly investigated sites of the Wielbark Culture: the cemetery at Nur, and the settlement at Kamianka Nadbużna.
The village Kozłówko, commune Kozłowo, distr. Nidzica, voiv. warmińsko-mazurskie (former Klein Koslau, Kr. Neidenburg) lies some 20 km to the south-west of the town Nidzica, on a small elevation on the left bank of the Szkotówka, right-bank tributary of the Nida R. During the 18th century relics of an ancient cemetery were identified near this locality. In volume II of his work Versuch einer wirtschaftlichen Naturgeschichte von dem Königreich Ost- und Westpreußen, F. Bock recorded the presence of fifteen small circular pavements which were to be found in the vicinity of the village Klein Koslau. In 1890 the Prussia Museum at Königsberg added to its collections a grave assemblage unearthed during farming on one of the small hills close to the village. In the autumn of 1891 Kozłówko was visited by J. Heydeck, vice-chairman of Altertumsgesellschaft Prussia. The discovery of further artefacts during this visit and survey of the site led to a decision to excavate. Archaeological investigation covering a fragment of the southern slope of the elevation identified eighty or so flat graves and a barrow. The material from Kozłówko passed to Prussia Museum where it remained until the evacuation at the end of the second world war. Its present location is unknown. Perhaps this material was not taken out of the city at all – this is suggested by the discovery made in 2000 in Kaliningrad, of a buckle originating from grave XXXVII. Heydeck published the results from the fieldwork in a brief report, providing a general description of the site and listing 39 grave inventories, illustrating twelve of them. This brief report is supplemented to some extent by information found in later works – E. Blume and R. Schindler, and in the private files of German archaeologists. Most of the flat graves were unurned cremations; only four appear to have contained cinerary urns (graves XVI, XXX, XXXV). The grave pits were basin-like, with a diameter of up to 1.5 m and a depth in the range of 35–45 cm. Individual burials had an irregular distribution within the cemetery, with larger and smaller spaces between them. A number of grave outlines were in contact and, in a few cases, later burials intruded on older grave pits. At the time of Heydeck’s investigation most of the graves were in good condition, only a few of them, found at the highest level, next to the northern margin of the cemetery, had suffered damaged from ploughing. A few graves were under circular pavements of fieldstones. The grave goods were discovered in 40 graves. The largest group of metal finds (17) were bronze brooches. Fourteen originated from grave assemblages (A, VII, IX, X, XVI, XVII, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XXV, XXVII, XXXI, XXXIV, XXXIX) one was a stray find. Arguably the earliest form is the fibula type A 41 discovered in grave A; it is a form characteristic mainly for the area of the Odra and the Vistula basin during phase B2/C1–C1a. Tendril brooches, the largest group, were noted in eight graves, a ninth was a surface find lacking context. Specimens close to types A161–162 were discovered in four graves (X, XVI, XXV, XXXIV). Specimens recorded in graves XVI (Fig. 4/XVI:1), XXV and XXXIV, with an arched or a knee-shaped bow, belong in phases C1b–C2, and a fibula from grave X, with a flat ribbon bow, is datable to phases C3–D. The remaining five tendril brooches are specimens with the end of the foot hammered flat into a catch, types A172 and A168/172. Four of these come from graves (VII, IX, XXXI, XXXIV), one was a stray find. Type A172 brooches are characteristic mainly for deposits attributable to so-called Gothic cultures. They are dated starting from phase C2 until the early segment of the Migration Period although they are regarded by some researchers as forms restricted to phase C3. Nevertheless, fibulae A172 may probably be recognised as a form diagnostic for the final phase of Wielbark Culture occupation corresponding to phases C3–D. Grave XXII contained a fibula type A185 with “an openwork” foot. Its bow was decorated with cross-wise incisions to imitate coiled wire seen Almgren 1 series VI group brooches. Similar forms were discovered e.g., at Niedanowo, graves 539 and 549, and Pruszcz Gdański 6 (former Prauster Dreieck); their dating is confined to phases C2–D. Gave XXXI, datable to phases C3–D, contained a brooch with a lozengic foot, similar to type A175, known as Elbefibel. These forms are characteristic mainly for northern Europe where they are dated mostly to phases C2 and C3. In Wielbark Culture this fibula form is rare, is recorded at e.g., Bzowo, Malbork-Wielbark, grave 1334 [133?], Stary Targ, grave 241, and is dated mainly to phases C3–D. In grave XXVII there were two ‘caterpillar’ brooches (Raupenfibel), variant 1b, variety A, series II of M. Tuszyńska. This form is recorded mostly on the southern Baltic littoral, most often, in Wielbark Culture and in West Balt cultures, where it is dated mainly to phases C3–D. From grave XVII comes a fibula with a large half-round disc on the head, so-called Spiralplattenfibeln. This find from Kozłówko is related to type Soest-Ardey. The variant is observed mainly on the territory of Wielbark Culture and in the region between the Elbe and the Rhine; it is dated to the second half of the 4th and onset of the 5th century. Grave XXI contained a fragment of a brooch with a round disc on the foot, design ZG 47 of A. Kokowski. This form, quite popular in the Wielbark Culture, is dated to phase C3–D. Another group of finds from the cemetery at Kozłówko are ten bronze buckles – a single stray surface find and specimens originating from seven graves (VII, X, XIX, XX, XXI, XXVIII, XXXVII). Two specimens, type AC13–17, were discovered in grave XXVIII; graves VII and, probably, grave XX, contained type AD11 forms. Type AD30, dated to phases B2/C1–C2, is represented by the stray buckle discovered on the surface of the cemetery type AE4, from phases C1b–C2, is represented by a large specimen discovered in grave XXXVII. Grave XXI contained a buckle type AH11. A similar specimen, presumably, type AH14, was found in grave XX. A type AH16 or AH27 buckle was discovered in grave X. The three last finds are dated to phase C3–D. Fragments of thick-walled glass vessels, including types E 230 and E 237, were discovered in at least seventeen graves, not only in richly furnished burials but also assemblages with a very modest inventory. On most occasions they occurred in company of wheel-made vessels. This situation was recorded in no less than nine graves (IV–VII, IX, XI, XII, XXXI, XL). Hand-built pottery, mainly bowls from groups VI, XIV and XVIII of R. Wołągiewicz, were observed in twenty-seven features. Most of these vessels survived in fragmented form, their number in individual assemblages usually ranged from one to three, but in nine assemblages (VIII–X, XII, XVI, XXI, XXII, XXXI, XXIV) there were more of these pieces – up to no less than eight. These graves represented the best furnished burials in the cemetery. Finally, there were personal ornaments and dress accessories: a shield-headed bracelet (grave A), a finger-ring (grave XXXIV), bucket pendants (grave XXII), a bell pendant (grave XXXI), wire and bead pendants (graves VI, VIII, XXXI, XXXIV), glass beads (graves II, VI, VIII, X, XV, XVI, XVIII, XIX, XXVI, XXXI, XXXIV, XXXVII), and ornamental clay globular objects (grave XXXI). There was also a smaller group of items of everyday use: needles or awls (graves XXXVI, XXXIX, XXXVII), bone combs (graves VI, XXIX), an ear pick (grave XIX), spindle-whorls (graves VI, X, XXXI, XXXIV, XXXVIII, a stray find), fire-making tools (grave XXXII, a stray find) and metal casket mounts (grave XXXVII). The cemetery at Kozłówko was established during phase B2/C1–C1a, as is evidenced by the inventory of grave A. Very likely, graves XXX and XXXVI containing black cinerary urns also belong in this phase. The remainder of the reliably dated graves are younger and may be distinguished into two groups. Group I would include four graves (XVI, XXV, XXXVII, XXXIX) datable by the presence in their inventory of A161–162 brooches and a buckle with an omega-shaped frame to phases C1b–C2. Group II is larger and includes nine features (VI, VII, X, XVII, XX, XXI, XXVII, XXXIV, XXXI). The presence in them of brooches type A172, A VI series 2, glass bowls E 230 and E 237, and of buckles with a thickened frame, establishes the dating of this group fairly reliably as phases C3–D. The dating of late phase C2 or onset of phases C3–D is suggested for grave XXII by the presence in it of the fibula with the ‘openwork foot’ and of a glass bowl E 230. Left outside group I and group II, are seven assemblages furnished only with ceramic vessels and fragments of glasses which prevented their attribution to either of these groups. The exceedingly small number of graves attributable to the earliest phase of the cemetery and the domination of burials dating from a later period suggest that the investigation took in mainly the youngest fragment of the grave-site. What is striking is that a cemetery with such an large surface area contained so few features (on average, 3–4 graves per 100 m2); could it be that the boundaries of this site were identified incorrectly? The cemetery at Kozłówko belongs to a local micro-region of Wielbark Culture settlement defined as the Nidzica concentration which occupied the northern fringe of the present day province of Mazowsze, extended in the south to the Działdówka R., in the east, to the Nida R.; its northern boundary was defined by a series of lakes bordering on the moraine heights of Garb Lubawski. The western boundary is more elusive – the westernmost site attributed to the Nidzica concentration may have been recorded near the village Gródki, distr. Działdowo (former Grodtken, Kr. Soldau). Outside this relatively compact area we can probably attribute to the same group isolated sites identified on the left bank of the Nida R. – at Pokrzywnica Wielka, Szczepkowo Zalesie and Muszaki (former Muschaken, Kr. Neidenburg), all of them in distr. Nidzica. So far from this area we have a record on a dozen-odd sites of Wielbark Culture. Most were investigated before WW II and this affects the amount of data available at present. The beginning of Wielbark Culture settlement in this area started presumably during phase B2/C1. Numerous burials from this period were identified at nearly all the sites of the Nidzica concentration – at Kozłówko, Niedanowo 2, Turza Wielka, distr. Działdowo (former Groß Tauersee, Kr. Soldau), Litwinki, distr. Nidzica (former Littfinken, Kr. Neidenburg), Turza Mała, distr. Nidzica (former Klein Tauersee, Kr. Neidenburg), Wilamowo, distr. Nidzica (former Wilmsdorf, Kr. Neidenburg), and possibly, also Pielgrzymowo, distr. Nidzica (former Pilgramsdorf, Kr. Neidenburg) and Sławka Wielka, distr. Nidzica (former Groß Schlaffken, Kr. Neidenburg). During phase C1b–C2 most of the cemeteries already established earlier were still in use – as documented by substantial evidence from this period recorded at e.g., Kozłówko, Niedanowo 1 and 2, Litwinki and Sławka Wielka. Also noteworthy is the rich barrow burial no. I identified at Pielgrzymowo, which is placed mostly in late phase C2, or possibly at the onset of phases C3–D. At the close of the Roman Period and the beginning of the Migration Period the number of graves in some cemeteries visibly increase, e.g., at Niedanowo and Kozłówko. The presence of numerous objects foreign to the Wielbark tradition, e.g., glass vessels, suggest that the people inhabiting in northern Mazowsze took part in exchange with the outside world. The special role of the Nidzica concentration is confirmed by the grave inventories recorded at Kozłówko. The higher than average number of glass vessels and wheel-made wares discovered at this cemetery documents the existence of intensive exchange between the community of users of this grave-site with the Black Sea region. Individual finds (e.g., A175, A185 brooches), which may be referred to materials characteristic for western Pomerania, lands on the Elbe R. and Scandinavia, attest to connections with the south-western region of the Barbaricum. Both directions of exchange may be attributed to the existence at the close of Antiquity of a network of extensive contacts, in which – it seems – the local populations had a significant share. Connections with the eastern Baltic region are evidenced by the find of an iron pendant discovered in grave XXXI, a form distinctive above all for Dollkeim-Kovrovo Culture.
The cemetery at Jartypory, distr. Węgrów in eastern Poland1 (Fig. 1), is one of the largest known gravefields of the Wielbark culture in right-bank Mazowsze and in Podlasie. So far, the excavated area of ca 1550 m2 yielded almost 400 graves, both inhumation and cremation, dated to phases B2/C1–C2 of the Late Roman Period; stray finds indicate that the site continued in use until the early phase of the Migration Period2. A cremation pit grave 106 (Fig. 2, 3) contained ca 50 fragments of terra sigillata, dispersed within the pit fill. They were reassembled into a bowl – H. ca 10 cm, R. 18 cm and B. 7.5 cm (Fig. 4a.b). The same grave assemblage also featured fragments of melted pale yellow glass from an undetermined vessel, sherds of locally produced hand--built pottery vessels (Fig. 5c–f), fragments of a tri-layer antler comb (Fig. 5a), and a bronze belt buckle (Fig. 5b). A small quantity of heavily burnt and very poorly preserved bones belonged to a male (?), 30–50 years old (adultus−maturus)5. Dating the assemblage is quite difficult. The only diagnostic element is a large and solid elbow handle (surviving length ca 11 cm!), presumably from a type IXA jug (Fig. 5d), datable to phase C1b–C28–16. Grave 106 partly intruded on the pits of graves 122 and 126 (Fig. 2, 3a,). Of these, grave 126 cannot be dated more closely and grave 122 is placed in phases C1b–C217. In any case, the top layer of grave 122 yielded two fragments of a terra sigillata vessel and further isolated fragments occurred in graves 102B and 107, with some stray pieces discovered in the direct neighbourhood of grave 106 (Fig. 6). It is interesting that a terra sigillata rim sherd, perhaps from the same vessel, was discovered at the bottom of the humus layer ca 22 m (!) to the west of grave 106. Since all these fragments may be refitted with the vessel from grave 106, presumably they must have become relocated from the upper layer of that grave. Grave 102B may be dated only broadly to the Late Roman Period, it is possible to define the chronology of grave 10719 reliably as phase C1b, which, at the same time, is the terminus ante quem of the burial in grave 106. All of which ultimately places grave 106 in phase C1b. The reconstruction of the terra sigillata vessel as a Drag. 37 bowl22 is beyond question. Bowls of this type prevail among finds of terra sigillata from the area of Middle European Barbaricum, in Poland they make up almost 95% of vessels determined morphologically. What is exceptional is ornamentation of the bowl from Jartypory. It includes (cf fig. 4a): 1. The raised potter’s stamp, (STA)TVT(VSF) (?), similar to the one published by W. Ludowici26 (cf fig. 7a); 2. Ovolo, Ricken-Fischer25 E28 (cf fig. 7b); 3. Bull turned right, Ricken-Fischer T119a (cf fig. 7c); 4. Deer turned left, Ricken-Fischer T82a (cf fig. 7d); 5. Lioness turned right, Ricken-Fischer T35a (cf fig. 7e); 6. Archer, Ricken-Fischer M174g (cf fig. 7f); 7. Unidentified animal turned left. Both the stamp and the surviving set of ornaments help in tracing the vessel from Jartypory to the wares of STATUTUS I from Rheinzabern, classified to group IIIb acc. to H. Bernhard27. The time of production of the bowl can be determined broadly as the second terce of the 3rd c. (AD 233–260/275). Most of the fragments of the terra sigillata bowl from Jartypory are burnt, but a few show no trace of fire or only light discolorations of its dark red slip. Combined all the bowl fragments from grave 106 comprise only 20–30% of the vessel, which must follow from the failure to recover all of the mortuary furnishings from the remains of the burnt pyre. At the same time it is hard to say whether the fact of the deposition in the grave of fragments of an incomplete vessel results from the application of the principle of pars pro toto or from other elements of the funerary ritual unclear to us at present. Finds of samian wares in the Wielbark Culture territory are exceedingly rare (Fig. 8): so far from 20 sites (including Jartypory) we have just 22–24 vessels. For comparison, the area of Przeworsk Culture has yielded not less than 395 terra sigillata vessels so far. To the list of samian wares from Wielbark Culture4 may be added also a new find from Czarnówko, distr. Lębork, grave 37345, a fragment from Warzawa-Dotrzyma46, and perhaps, also a fragment from Lubartów, distr. loco, both fragments attributed previously to Przeworsk Culture48. In the case of fragments of samian wares from Opoka, distr. Puławy50, and from Gościeradów, distr. Kraśnik51, it is possible equally well to link them with Przeworsk Culture as with Wielbark Culture. At the same time, it is necessary to remove from the list of Wielbark Culture finds the fragment from Masłomęcz, distr. Hrubieszów, grave 41754, which in reality is a sherd of a hand-built vessel of local make, and an unreliably dated and attributed fragment of terra sigillata from a southern Gaulish workshop discovered at Kopyłów, distr. Hrubieszów53. The Drag. 37 bowl from Jartypory, produced AD 233–260/275, is the latest terra sigillata find from the area of Wielbark Culture, younger than samian wares from Pfaffenhofen dated to the first and the beginning of the second terce of the 3rd c. known from a grave from Janowo30, and from a destroyed grave from Pomielin, distr. Iława31. At the same time, all the three sigillata finds come from assemblages dated reliably to phase C1b. The vessel from Jartypory is also one of very few pieces of evidence on the coming to the territory of Poland of terra sigillata from Rheinzabern produced after AD 230, noted, until recently, only on territory of Przeworsk Culture.68–70 The structure of terra sigillata finds from the area of Wielbark Culture does not show any regularity when it comes to the participation of individual workshops and gives an impression that the collection is quite random; at the same time, selection of vessels suggests that emphasis was placed on pieces of better quality. In most cases samian wares in Wielbark deposits are intact vessels from the furnishings of rich inhumations (region of Gdańsk88 [?], Gronowo, distr. Drawsko Pom., grave 1/2657, Odry, distr. Chojnice, grave 42357, Pomielin31, Weklice, distr. Elbląg, grave 20862, Malbork-Wielbark, distr. loco93) or – which is quite interesting – urns in cremation graves (Domkowo, distr. Ostróda95, Leśno, distr. Chojnice, site 196, Sadłowo, distr. Rypin33). In six cases (Ciemniewko, distr. Ciechanów58–60, Czarnówko45, Janowo30, Jartypory, Kleszewo, distr. Pułtusk, grave 150103, Warszawa-Dotrzyma46) occurred in cremation graves as burnt fragments; the remaining terra sigillata finds are from earlier discoveries, badly documented or not at all (Dębice, town of Elbląg65, Iława, distr. loco39), or from destroyed features (Gostkowo-Folsąg, distr. Toruń105, Sopot, distr. loco106). Urns from Leśno and Sadłowo are vessels from the workshop COMITIALIS SECUNDIN.AVI from Rheinzabern. A single vessel from this workshop is known from the area of Przeworsk Culture (Opatów, distr. Kłobuck98); similarly as only a single find of a late Severan complete Rheinzabern vessel (Lisów, distr. Opatów99). A context of discovery of sigillata definitely similar to the one at Jartypory was noted at Janowo and Kleszewo, and perhaps also at Ciemniewko; the grave from Czarnówko was decidedly much richer, with a bronze vessel, gold ornaments and glass gaming counters. The number of terra sigillata vessels in Wielbark Culture and the character of these finds suggests a greater importance of this category of imports as a mark of status than in case of Przeworsk Culture, perhaps due also to the smaller availability of samian wares in the Wielbark environment. At the same time, all our conclusions in this regard are seriously limited by the fact that in case of Wielbark Culture die wiederentdeckte Kultur is represented almost exclusively by cemeteries and stray finds. Nevertheless the differences in the number, dating of the influx, centres of production of terra sigillata vessel finds from the area of Wielbark and Przeworsk Culture are quite significant and – apparently – not random, even if compare only the material from graves and cemeteries.
Waplewo lies about 11 km to the south of Olsztynek (Olsztyn distr., warmińsko-mazurskie voiv.). The archaeological site is situated near the rim of the valley of the Marózka, left-hand tributary of the Łyna River (Fig. 1). Archaeological excavation of 6300 m2 made in the spring of 2011 helped in recording a total of 49 features of different use (storage pits, post-holes and hearths) and chronology among which there were just four graves from the Roman Period of interest to us here (Fig. 2). One grave is attributed to Przeworsk Culture (feature no. 4 – the pit cremation of an adult individual). The rest were Wielbark culture burials (2 cremations: male, aged 25–50, and of undetermined sex, age 15–50; and an infans II inhumation, age 7–8 years). The cremation graves were furnished with pottery only. The inhumation (no. 49) next to a number of vessels contained a silver fibula, close to A VI 161–162 (Fig. 5:1). The grave pit retained traces identified as remains of wooden shoring, or some other timber construction, and stones from a setting or from a destroyed stone construction. Fragments of the cranium and long bones of a child lay at the bottom of the pit in its northern area, their arrangement evidently disturbed. Intruding on the inhumation was a feature containing stones and an upper layer of dark coloured humus which yielded animal bones and ceramics (see Annex). Its purpose is hard to determine, other than robbery it may document some ritual practices which are not unknown from Wielbark Culture cemeteries. At the same time, these are rarely observed in case of burials of children. Basing on the four surviving graves it is hard to establish the actual chronological confines of the cemetery all the more so because they mostly yielded ceramic material. A Przeworsk Culture cemetery presumably is documented by feature no. 4, dated by the form and ornamentation of its pottery inventory to phase B2, whereas features nos. 25 and 49, and possibly no. 23, may be associated with a later, Wielbark culture use. In this case an object useful for dating was the fibula from feature no. 49 (grave 4). Its chronology fits in phases C1b–C2. The form and ornamentation of the pottery is typical for phase B2/C1, and the idiosyncratic zigzag motif, for phases C1b–D. Thus, we have insufficient data to establish when the grave-field ceased being used by the Przeworsk community and the time of appearance of the first Wielbark Culture burials. The construction of the inhumation grave pit and the surviving items of its inventory such as the silver fibula suggest high social status of the dead child. Material symbols of special status within Wielbark culture society are not a common occurrence in the burials of children.
In archaeological literature Elbląg Heights, in the eastern reaches of Vistula River delta, have been considered for some time as an important meeting ground for different peoples settled on the Baltic Sea during the Roman Period. This was suggested by the dense network of settlements and cemeteries dating from that period and grave inventories rich in prestigious local ornaments and Roman imports. Of 20 sites clustered along the margin of the upland (Fig. 1, 2) of special interest is the Wielbark Culture cemetery at Weklice, comm. and distr. Elbląg, site 7 (former Wöklitz vel Woeklitz, Kr. Elbing). In 2006 excavation was made of more than 1900 m2. Jointly with graves identified before 1945 the investigation produced 529 features; among them, 478 cremation and inhumation burials; a large percentage of grave deposits had been destroyed still during antiquity or the modern period. The dominant form of burial was inhumation (308); of 170 cremation graves the majority were urned, with no legible traces of the grave pit; pit burials were much less common. A special feature at Weklice was that graves crowded in a relatively small area, and – except in a small number of cases – there was no legible planigraphy. Many of the inhumation graves cut into other similar deposits and were themselves similarly disturbed; many cremation graves cut into inhumation graves and there were several robber trenches both of the antique and later periods. A preliminary analysis of cemetery chronology helped distinguish six phases (I–VI) early phase B1 to C2 (possibly even C3–D1?). Inhumation burials no. 208 and 495 belong the small number of well-preserved richly furnished graves dated to phase III of the cemetery, synchronized with phase B2/C1–C1a. Grave no. 208 (Fig. 3) discovered on the S slope of an elevation, disturbed in its upper layer by later burials. Rectangular 3.6×12 m outline of the grave pit, aligned NW-SE, detected at the depth of 1.2 m, ca 20 cm above the level of the burial. Traces of an oak box coffin survived at pit bottom; originally a stela had stood in S part of the grave pit. Incomplete skeletal remains of a senilis woman: teeth, fragments of the cranium and fragments of bones of forearms. Dress fittings in their original position within the outline of the skeleton. Above the cranium in N corner of the coffin, three imported vessels. 1.2. Pair of silver brooches type A II 41 (Fig. 4:1.2). 3. Silver brooch, group A VII, series 1, similar to type A VII 201 (Fig. 4:3). 4.5. Pair of silver snake-shaped bracelets, type Blume B, similar to type Wójcik IIIBb (Fig. 4:4.5). 6.7. Pair of silver wave-shaped bracelets (Wellenarmringe) (Fig. 4:6.7). 8. Gold S-clasp, type B (Fig. 4:8). 9.10. Two gold conical beads (Fig. 4:9.10). 11. Bronze needle fragment (Fig. 4:11). 12. Gilded silver disc brooch: round silver sheet disc wrapped in gilded foil, soldered on with tin-lead solder, on gilded foil, impressed image of emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, foil with its own soldered on border of gilded foil impressed with laurel wreath pattern (Fig. 5:12.12a). 13. Bronze belt buckle with buckle plate, type similar to AG29 (Fig. 5:13). 14. Bronze strap end, group JII, possibly type JII3 (Fig. 5:14). 15. Terra sigillata bowl, Dragendorff 37, variant of profile 168,14. Handsome good quality pure dark orange glaze (Fig. 6). 16. Cantharos (discovered inside the terra sigillata bowl); green slipped with light gold glaze; on the body, three horizontal rows of barbotine (Fig. 7). 17. Bronze kettle, type E 48, fractured handle mounts: the original stylised swan’s head mount, probably soldered flush with the handle; the other – quite crude, riveted on (Fig. 8). In Central European Barbaricum finds of imported Roman disc brooches are exceedingly rare. Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus identified on the fibula from grave 208 were co-emperors in AD 161–169. Here they are shown in high detail in an official double portrait expressing the idea of Concordiae augustorum. According to the analysis of this particular composition the image could have been impressed onto the foil from an intaglio while the laurel wreath motif was impressed from a different object, presumably, a medallion. The provenance of the brooch is unknown. A small group of disc brooches ornamented with foil decorated with the image of an emperor have been traced to Roman provinces and areas across the limes. The belt buckle differs from local bronzes discovered at Weklice by its unusual olive green patina, excellent casting and perfect polish of its surface. It finds correspondence in imitations of provincial Roman buckles, type Třebusice. The strap end was cast from similarly high class copper alloy and was equally well polished. Characteristic stylistic features of the entire decorative ensemble seen on the terra sigillata bowl suggest its origin as Central Gaulish workshops centred on Lezoux active in the latter half of the AD 2nd c. as well as association with the potter Cinnamus. Finds of glazed cantharoi north of the Danube are rare. Only six specimens are known from territory of Poland. Similarity of form, ornamentation and glaze suggests that the vessel from Weklice belongs to a group of vessels produced in central Italian workshops, in Latium or northern Campania. Their time of influx to Poland was probably ca AD 150, which corresponds to the wave of influx of Central Gaulish terra sigillata. Bronze kettles type E48, variants with oblique grooves, are the most popular form recorded in Barbaricum. Their two largest concentrations are known from the Danish Islands and the Vistula delta. Provenance of E 44–49 kettles is not fully clear given the almost complete absence of these vessel finds in Roman provinces. Grave no. 495 (Fig. 9) discovered on top of the elevation; the northernmost burial in the cemetery so far. Grave pit, aligned N-S, sub-rectangular, with rounded corners. Two small pits of irregular shape in NW and SE corners of the pit (resp., pits 495b and 495a) contained stones. The central part of the grave destroyed by animal burrow. Upper layer of grave pit contained a small number of tiny burnt human bones, charcoal and 10 heavily burnt sherds. An incomplete burial of a maturus female and grave furnishings found ca 62 cm below ground level; no burnt bones found in this layer. Local ‘Barbarian’ dress elements (brooch and amber bead) discovered on a secondary deposit; in the N part of the pit in situ deposit – set of imported vessels arranged around the remains of wooden casket still retaining metal fittings. 1. Bronze brooch, type A II 41 (Fig. 10:1). 2. Bronze needle or brooch pin, two fragments (Fig. 10:2). 3. Amber disc bead, hand-polished, type TM 389 (Fig. 10:3). 4. Glass bead fragment, transparent yellow glass (Fig. 10:4). 5. 10 sherds of miniature vessel (Fig. 10:5). 6–10. Wooden casket. Traces of two sides and two fragments of lid. On underside of lid, bronze rectangular lock mount fastened to wood by 4 bronze rivets (Fig. 10:6.7a–e); 2 further bronze rivets attached to both edges of lid (Fig. 10:9.10). Under the lock mount, rectangular bronze sheet plaque (Fig. 10:8), presumably part of the lock mount covering one of the key holes. At centre of casket, bronze lock spring with double wing made of two separate rods; in the longer wing at ⅔ of its length an opening, presumably for attaching the spring to casket (Fig. 10:11). 12. Bronze saucepan, type E 142, with stamp of manufacturer TALIO.F. (Talio fecit) on the handle; tinned inside and outside on upper body (Fig. 11, 12). 13.14. Bronze ladle and strainer set, type E 161 (Fig. 13). 15.16. Two glass cups, type E188a, transparent light green glass; ornamented on body with two applied glass threads interlaced in a figure-of-eight pattern (Fig. 14). According to a new system of classification of vesselsstamped with their maker’s name the Roman bronze saucepan, type E 142, from grave 495 is classifiable to type V,4b (grouping types Eggers 139–142), specimens having a deep bowl a ring handle. The find from Weklice has only two known parallels in Poland: variant V,4c, from Łęg Piekarski, distr. Turek (phase B1c) and variant V,4b, from Żegocino, distr. Sławno (phase C1). The bronze saucepan from Weklice is one of only six specimens stamped TALIO.F known from Barbaricum and Roman provinces (Fig. 15). A craftsman by the name of Talius may have been associated with early 2nd c. AD Gaulish metalworking workshops. The bronze ladle and strainer set, type E 161, belongs to the so-called late forms which arrived to Poland by sea from the mouth of the Rhine by way of Danish Isles. Production of such sets in Gaul intensified around AD 150; similar sets may have been manufactured also in Pannonia. Outside the Empire the largest number of complete ladle and strainer sets is recorded in Scandinavia, mostly Zealand and Fyn. Taking into account the Weklice find, type E 161 forms are now represented in Poland by 23 items, complete sets or otherwise. Glass cups, type E 188, are extremely rare in Barbaricum. A pair analogous to the specimens from Weklice occurred at Linówiec, distr. Starogard Gdański, in an assemblage from phase B2/C1–C1a. The deposit of imported Roman vessels from grave 495 represents a typical Roman wine-drinking set which included a bronze bucket, cauldron or a pan, a ladle and wine-strainer set as well as a pair of metal or glass drinking vessels. The set of ornaments discovered in grave 208 – 10 local forms in the so-called ‘Wielbark baroque style’, and three items apparently imported from the Roman Empire – are of great value for refining the chronology of phase III of the cemetery at Weklice, corresponding to phase B2/C1–C1a. Especially significant are the paired silver brooches, type A II 41, and the silver crossbow brooch with a high catchplate, similar to type A VII 201. The gravefield at Weklice yielded 63 brooches which by their attributes correspond to type A II 40–41, all the variants recently distinguished by Jan Schuster (Fig. 16–19). Additionally, site produced 12 brooches less easy to fit into the typology which correspond by their parameters and details of construction both to type A II 38, and type A II 40–41 (Fig. 20). In their majority they are in bronze, but in no less than 15 cases – in silver. Different variants of type A II 40–41 brooches occurred in association with brooches of having an ‘Early Roman’ construction (type A V 126–128 – graves 250, 452, 467; type similar to A V 130 – grave 252; type A V 132 – graves 402, 434) but also others which had a ‘Late Roman’ construction (type A VII 201–202 –graves 208, 256, 342, 455; type A VI 161/162 – graves 192, 353; type similar to A VI 167 – grave 452). This second group evidently define the younger horizon of phase III of the cemetery; other local forms also co-occurred with Early Roman and Late Roman finds. It is notable that all of type A II 40–41 specimens recorded in association with Late Roman fibulae have a relatively high catchplate, a detail characteristic for group VII brooches; this is also true of the brooch type A II 40–41 from grave 495. The large number of cases of co-occurrence at Weklice of ‘Early Roman’ and ‘Late Roman’ brooches lend weight to the proposition made in the past by Ryszard Wołągiewicz that in Wielbark Culture. Early Roman brooches continued in use until phase C1b. It is worth noting that grave assemblages no. 208 and 495 from Weklice define the later chronological sub-phase of phase B2/C1C1a with a greater affinity with the Late Roman Period which at the present stage of research cannot be specified in greater detail.
The article reports on a group of 22 flint artefacts (Table 1, fig. 1–4) recovered in 2012 and 2013 from the fill of graves and a feature (graves nos. 586, 587, 588, 590; feature 590A – a robbery tunnel leading to grave 590), and from a layer [100A-B] underlying the bottom of the pits of the graves named above. The flint assemblage is marked by the diversity of its raw material in terms of colour, translucence and lustre (Table 1). Most specimens were struck from a local resource (Baltic erratic flint, Pomeranian flint). Flakes form the largest group, followed by, blades and flint waste. The absence of diagnostic flints and core forms prevents closer chronological determinations. The flints could be the remains of activity by prehistoric communities spanning the Final Palaeolithic through to the Early Bronze Age. A more outstanding find in the group is an endscraper struck from Baltic erratic flint recovered from layer [100B] below grave 586 (Fig. 1:8) and a side crested blade of Pomeranian flint – recovered from layer [100B] below grave 586 (Fig. 1:5). However, the chronological and cultural attribution of these finds cannot be determined basing on their metric and technological attributes. The most interesting in the presented assemblage is a retouched blade discovered in grave 588 (Fig. 1:12). Its material is Cretaceous flint (Volhynian flint?). Basing on its metric parameters, its material and the presence of trough-like retouch this piece may be assigned to Eneolithic flint working (A. Zakościelna 1996, p. 105). Similar retouched blades struck from Cretaceous flint with a stepped and trough-like retouch are known from the assemblages known from the Lublin-Volhynian, Funnel Beaker and Tripolye Cultures (A. Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa 1979; J. Libera, A. Zakościelna 2006). The stratigraphic situation not understood sufficiently enough to allow more general conclusions on the character and dating of the layer containing the flints. Nevertheless, the presence of worked flints in a Roman Period cemetery suggests a number of possible interpretations: 1) the flints are residual artefacts, introduced into the fill of the Wielbark Culture graves when they were cut into an older stratigraphy; 2) the flints are part of Wielbark Culture flint working; 3) they are flint artefacts from an earlier age that were deposited intentionally in the graves by the Wielbark community.
A more remarkable feature of the burial customs practiced by the Wielbark culture people during the Younger and the Late Roman Period and early phase of the Migration Period are distinctive barrows recorded in the right-bank Mazowsze and Podlasie, described in the Polish research tradition as Rostołty type. According to their rather general definition these are large barrows (diameter range of c. 20–60 m), some set apart by the presence of one of more of the following structural elements: internal, round core of several layers of stone, an overlying earth mound and an additional layer of stones laid over the mound, so-called “mantle” (cf. Fig. 2, 5). In earlier analyses barrows of Rostołty type most often were treated as a regional phenomenon (J. Jaskanis 1976; 2012), this despite the occurrence in Wielbark culture territory of one more area with barrow cemeteries, namely, in Pomerania and in the northern reaches of Greater Poland (Fig. 1). In fact, the tumuli of the Wielbark culture from the two zones display a close relationship, one that was pointed out at one time by R. Wołągiewicz (1977; 1986). This fact does not surprise because the area of present day northern Poland is where we have to locate the source area of the migration Wielbark culture people to south-eastern Europe, so well confirmed by the archaeological record and the written sources. The aim of the present text is thus to find out whether the appearance of the barrow cemeteries in Mazowsze and Podlasie may be interpreted as an expression of translation of certain elements of the burial tradition by the migrating Wielbark culture communities. The first requisite step towards grasping the relationship between the barrow cemeteries of northern and eastern Poland was determining the chronological frames of their use. Chronological analysis of the precisely dated cemeteries showed that, except for the cemetery at Nowy Łowicz, the youngest burials from northern Poland have a dating of phase B2/C1–C1a, while the earliest burials in eastern Poland date from stadium C1b. Also known from both these zones of Wielbark culture settlement are assemblages with artefact dated within the broader frames of phase C1 indicating that the date of the decline of the barrow-building tradition in Pomerania may be moved to stadium C1b (cf. Fig. 7), and the time of appearance of the first tumuli in Mazowsze and Podlasie – to stadium C1a (cf. Fig. 8–9). This surmise becomes more plausible once we include in our analysis flat graves, for example, those at Odry (Pomerania) which are dated at least until stadium C1b, and at Cecele (Podlasie) as early as starting from phase B2/C1–C1a. The chronology of barrow cemeteries presented here corroborates the argument that Wielbark culture communities migrating from northern Poland carried the custom of barrow-building to the eastern region. This hypothesis had to be tested by studying the similarities and differences displayed by the barrow cemeteries known from the two settlement zones of Wielbark culture. The analysis focused on several questions: the siting of the cemeteries, their surface area, number of barrows in a cemetery, presence of flat graves between the barrows, use of the cemetery space, barrow size and construction design, burial rite and grave goods models. The result of the study was identification of a series of similarities shared by the barrow cemeteries of northern and of eastern Poland. One example would be two models of siting of the cemetery observed in both zones: the first, near rivers, and at the same time, at a relatively small elevation above the floodplain, the second, at some distance from the watercourse, on a prominent elevation (Fig. 11–13). Similarities are observed also in the main rules of construction design of the tumuli, as is shown e.g., by the presence of stone circles around the cores (type 4 acc. to Wołągiewicz; cf. Fig. 16, 24) or at some distance from them (type 5; cf. Fig. 16, 18). Also recurring in the northern and the eastern zone of barrow cemeteries are elements of the burial rite: the occurrence of graves in the so-called flat areas (Fig. 14), bi-ritual character of most cemeteries, identical types of cremation and inhumation graves (also of the more rare types, as e.g., burials in the form of a cremation spread out in a layer at the base of the barrow) or the remains of similar ritual activities (ritual hearths; Fig. 30). Analysis of the grave inventories, unfortunately rather limited due to the destruction of many tumuli, reveals similar models of grave furnishings as well as differences in their wealth, both in northern and in eastern Poland. At one end of the scale are burials without grave goods altogether or with their limited selection (cf. Fig. 8, 9), at the other end - graves with elaborate inventories intimating the connection of the dead individual to the ruling elite (cf. Fig. 31–33). Next to the prevailing similarities shared by the barrow cemeteries in northern and eastern Poland in some specific aspects differences are also visible. Most notable is the different frequency of specific features of the barrows in the two zones, something that is well apparent during the analysis of their size and construction design. In northern Poland the dominant form is a small mound (less than 15 m in diameter) with a stone core covering almost the whole base of the barrow, whereas in eastern Poland the prevalent form is a large tumulus (over 15 m in diameter) with a visibly domed and centrally situated core. In Pomerania and in Greater Poland barrows with a stone core are encountered only exceptionally, but despite this it is possible to indicate a series of constructions which presumably are their prototypes (cf. Fig. 19, 20). We mean here arrangements in the form of flat stone pavements surrounded by a stone circle, or pavements and circles covered by earth mounds which resemble in their form the construction of mounds known from Mazowsze and Podlasie. This suggests that differences between northern and eastern Poland may have been caused by evolutionary change at work in the burial ritual of the Wielbark Culture people during the Younger Roman Period. The comparison made of Wielbark Culture barrow cemeteries recorded in northern and eastern Poland presented here definitely does not exhaust this complex and until now very superficially understood problem. But it does indicate without ambiguity the close relationship of barrow cemeteries from their two zones of occurrence and undermines the legitimacy of isolating a regionally confined Rostołty type. What is more, a closer look at the criteria used in separating this type makes it evident that a large group of barrows, assigned in earlier literature to Rostołty type, do not meet one, or even several, of the criteria. We mean here first of all small mounds with a several layers of stone covering nearly the entire base of the tumulus (cf. Fig. 18:2, 24), not infrequently laid over a grave containing only average grave goods, showing the greatest similarity to Wielbark culture barrows known from Pomerania and Greater Poland.
The article presents an analysis of the settlement pottery of the Oksywie and Wielbark Cultures obtained during excavations of the medieval town hall at Plac Wolności (Liberty Square) in Puck in the county of the same name in the years 2007–2010 (Fig. 1). The works yielded 988 potsherds, the majority of which represent the Oksywie culture and are dated to the Late Pre-Roman Period. Wielbark culture pottery from the Roman period was recorded in smaller numbers, as were the sherds characteristic of the Lusatian and Pomeranian Cultures not included in this study. Ceramic material occurred in a single layer under the primary humus, with only a few secondarily displaced fragments found in medieval layers. Neither settlement features nor distinct pottery clusters were observed in the prehistoric layer. The pottery of the Oksywie and Wielbark Cultures was classified based on the findings of A. Strobin (2011) and the study by R. Wołągiewicz (1993), respectively. Most of the very fragmented ceramic material consists of rim sherds and upper body sherds from large (Fig. 2:1–4, 3:1.2), medium (Fig. 3:3. 4:1), and small (Fig. 4:2–4) vessels of different forms and with mouth diameters smaller or equal to the greatest diameter of the body. Among the few identified specimens, there is a medium-sized, Oksywie Culture type V.L vase (Fig. 3:3) and a type VI.C cup (Fig. 4:5) acc. to A. Strobin (2011). A fragment of an inturned rim (Fig. 4:6) probably comes from a handleless type IA pot acc. to R. Wołągiewicz (1993), a form prevalent throughout the entire Roman Period. The shape of the rims (Fig. 2, 3, 4:1–5, 5:2–10) of the Oksywie and Wielbark vessels is characteristic of the pottery made from the end of phase A2 / beginning of phase A3 to the beginning of phase B1, which would indicate continued settlement of the both cultural units at the turn of the era in the area of the present-day market town square in Puck. The few ornamented sherds decorated predominantly with vertical, horizontal, or oblique grooves (Fig. 5:12–14) came from the vessels of both the Oksywie and Wielbark Cultures. The sherd with an obliquely incised applied band of clay separated from an ornament of grooved oblique chevrons forming a zigzag by a smooth band (Fig. 5:11) as well as another fragment covered with lines made with a comb (Fig. 5:15) are typical of the Wielbark Culture. An interesting find is the ceramic disc (Fig. 5:16). Until recently, such objects of unclear purpose have been encountered solely at the Przeworsk culture settlements and have appeared in the features associated with the Wielbark culture only at the multicultural sites in Juszkowo-Rusocin, Gdańsk County (J. Bednarczyk, A. Romańska 2011, 181, fig. II:4.5.8–11, pl. II:4.2) and Lipianki, Kwidzyn County (A. Strobin 2015, p. 138–139, figs. 14:2, 20:4, 33:9). The settlement of the Oksywie and Wielbark Cultures in Puck was situated near a cliff over the Bay of Puck (M. Starski 2011a, pl. 66, fig. 2); such a location is characteristic of the Kashubian Coast sites from the Late Pre-Roman Period (K. Przewoźna 1974a, 172; 1974b, 37). It could have belonged to the Oksywie Culture settlement cluster, composed of the settlements in Jastarnia, Ostrów, Białogóra, and Tupadły and the cemeteries in Karlikowo, Krokowa and Połchowo, all in the County of Puck. Unfortunately, it is difficult to characterise the settlement of the Oksywie and Wielbark Cultures in the area of Kępa Pucka and its surroundings in more detail, as for most of the local sites we only have very sparse information at our disposal.
Tripartite bronze belt hooks of type Kostrzewski III are indicators of female attire in the Late Pre-Roman Period in Pomerania. Here, belt hooks from 31 sites have been collected, all of them related to the Oksywie or Wielbark Cultures, or to the Oder Group of the Jastorf Culture. Finds from outside of Pomerania are also included as comparative objects. The most common form of such belt hooks in Pomerania was type IIIb, being in use from phase A2 of the Late Pre-Roman Period. Roughly at the same time, these belt hooks appeared in Brandenburg. Belt hooks of type IIIa are somewhat older, while belt hooks of type IIIc are younger, as they were in use from phase A3 up to phase B2 of the Roman Period. Chronology of the artefacts, indicates that Pre-Roman traditions persisted in the Roman Period, even though belt buckles had been already introduced.
In my paper, I intended to present the interpretational possibilities of a selected theoretical model, taken from the comprehensive landscape current, focusing on three burial grounds with stone circles in Pomerania, which present considerable analytical potential. These sites have a long standing record of research, relatively well explored acreage, substantial literature and, fortunately enough, some data on the possible past natural environment, provided by palinological research. I have conducted phenomenological analysis of the space according to the tenets of its creator, Ch. Tilley. It is a two-stage analysis, combining empirical description and theoretical interpretation. The sites I have selected, i.e. Odry, Węsiory and Grzybnica, approached as phenomena found in the Wielbark culture, were, in my opinion, perfectly suited to be subjected to such analysis. The latter confirmed the sacral and symbolic character, while thanks to the detailed description at the interpretation stage, I managed to outline their significance as an important site where the worlds of the living and the dead came into contact. A site chosen in the past by the human chiefly due to its location in the natural surroundings, which points to presence of an important relation between man and environment, a relation which made burial grounds become sites, experienced and created by man in the landscape. I am of the opinion that the work in which I utilised phenomenological analysis advanced by Ch. Tilley provides a positive answer to the question concerning the relation between man and his surroundings. The model proved valid in my research, allowing to obtain something in the shape of a picture of the past landscape. At the beginning, I wrote that “I would like to find man behind the silent stones of forgotten necropolises.” I have no doubt that I have managed to accomplish it. Even if the discovered, yet unspeaking man, who lived almost 2000 years ago, was presented by means of contemporary language of the researcher. No theoretical model can produce concrete, verifiable and conclusive answers. Thanks to my analysis I arrived at a probable depiction of past reality, which nevertheless will remain yet another interpretation of the same research material. In my opinion, this is precisely what constitutes the work of an archeologist, who ceaselessly poses questions and looks for the answer, trying to divine the silent past and to revive it in his/her words.
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