Objects of Byzantine origin appeared in the Piast domain in Wielkopolska (Great Poland), that is, in the ruler’s residence on Ostrów Lednicki, in the 2nd half of the 10th c. (through the 1st half of the 11th c.). They included the oldest reliquary of particles of the True Cross (staurotheke) known from Polish territory, as well as a singular find of an ivory comb with openwork decoration in the form of lions’ figures. These objects are associated with the oldest phase of Christianization of Poland and attest to the importance of the church near which they were discovered. Excavations on Ostrów Lednicki have also yielded a coin of the Byzantine Emperor Basil II (after 985). These finds of exceptional quality point to the extensive network of ties linking the Piast domain in Wielkopolska (Great Poland) with contemporary centers of civilization.
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