The determining the level of past technologies forces contemporary archeology to focus not only on the provenance or the function of items, but also the technology of their production and the structure of the material. The artefacts’ properties can be defined basing on data on their chemical composition and microstructure. Therefore, in the archaeological study of medieval metal objects it’s important to understand the physicochemical properties of iron and steel as well as the general blacksmithing techniques, especially in view of the widespread use of these materials. Such knowledge is useful in understanding medieval Wroclaw society in two aspects: the development of the craftsmen skills and the economic level of the inhabitants. The tools that were used for the study are the optical microscopy and the hardness tests. Both of these techniques provide a number of complementary research data to distinguish the different technologies of knives production in medieval Wrocław. The results indicated that Wroclaw craftsmen produced knives of various raw materials (iron and steel) and using different blacksmith operations (carburizing, welding and hardening). They resulted in various properties of the knives (mostly various hardness of the cutting edges). It is worth noting that both the knives with hard or soft blades were produced during whole Middle Ages. The early medieval sites (the Cathedral Island and the Benedictine monastery at Ołbin) provided both soft-edged knives with a hardness of just over 100HV, but also knives with blades of hardness of about 500HV. The same hardness values in the blade region were measured for the later chronology artefacts. The difference between early and late medieval sites corresponds with the ratio of the hard and soft knives. For early medieval site, the number of harder knives is lower, while in late Middle Ages, knives are harder and more of them have steel blades.
The article describes two bronze artefacts discovered without context in the Lublin region. The first one is a fragment of a knife blade found in Kornie. This item can be associated with the onset of the Lusatian culture. The second artefact, the cheekpiece of the Kamyševach type, probably comes from the Carpathian Basin from the Thraco-Cimmerian environment in the late Bronze Age.
The material culture of the so -called Eastern Aegean–Western Anatolian Interface during the Late Bronze Age has so far been analysed mainly through the prism of ceramic production and funerary evidence. Both of these classes of evidence indicate its special character. To test this proposition, this contribution focuses on a group of possibly indigenous metal finds. In particular, discussed here is the so -called Siana Group of flanged swords and knives with a characteristic narrow tang at the end of the handle. They were first categorised by Nancy Sandars in 1963 and show an interesting mixture of Aegean and Near Eastern typological traits. Both the Siana swords and the Siana knives occur almost exclusively in the Eastern Aegean–Western Anatolian Interface, although some of the knives have been found also outside this particular region. The Siana Group, originally dated to LH IIIB–IIIC, can now be more securely dated to the LH IIIA2–IIIB periods. It seems that most of these metals came from graves, while some knives were retrieved from settlement contexts as well. It is argued here that this group presents a unique local product of the area of the Eastern Aegean–Western Anatolian Interface, incorporating and transforming both Aegean and Near Eastern influences. Moreover, other examples of earlier or contemporary Western Anatolian finds of swords that have shapes that did not typically occur in the Aegean are presented here as well, as they illustrate the local background of weapon styles the LH II/III turn in the area.
Kultura luboszycka rozwijała się w okresie od fazy B2b do fazy C3 (poł. II w. n.e. – II poł. IV w. n.e.) na obszarze obejmującym środkowe dorzecza Odry i sięgającym aż po prawy brzeg Łaby. Charakterystyczną cechą zaliczanych do niej zabytków są niezwykle liczne zapożyczenia od sąsiadujących z nią jednostek taksonomicznych. Oprócz wpływów z terenów kultury przeworskiej, wielbarskiej czy kręgu nadłabskiego daje się zauważyć wyraźny horyzont przedmiotów nawiązujących do terenów północnoeuropejskich. Wspomniany trend jest bardzo wyraźny wśród znalezisk uzbrojenia, ale też występuje w mniej prominentnych kategoriach zabytków, takich jak chociażby noże. Niniejszy artykuł omawia dosyć szczególną grupę tych narzędzi i elementów uzbrojenia, a mianowicie noże z tzw. pełnym trzpieniem, czy też dokładniej, z trzpieniem przechodzącym przez całą długość rękojeści. Cecha ta jest niezwykle rzadko spotykana wśród noży znanych ze środkowoeuropejskiego Barbaricum, za to niemalże dominująca wśród egzemplarzy znajdowanych w Skandynawii. Szczegółowa analiza inwentarza kultury luboszyckiej wykazała nie tylko zauważalnie wysoką na jej terenie frekwencję tego typu artefaktów, ale również dostarczyła znalezisk, które mogą posłużyć jako przesłanki do bardzo wczesnego (tj. sięgającego nawet okresu wczesnorzymskiego) datowania początków omawianego zjawiska w interesującej nas jednostce taksonomicznej.
Analysing gothic motifs in Joanna Bator's novel, the author finds uncanny objects like a key or a knife. However, the most terrifying motif connected with the "dismemberment" of the body of the Wałbrzych prophet is deprived of the uncanny because of its satirical approach. However, it can be found in motifs related to motherhood.
PL
Autorka analizując w powieści Joanny Bator motywy gotyckie odnajduje niesamowite przedmioty jak klucz czy nóż. Jednak najbardziej przerażający wątek związany z „rozczłonkowaniem” ciała wałbrzyskiego proroka ze względu na ujęcie satyryczne pozbawiony został niesamowitości. Natomiast można się jej doszukać w motywach związanych z macierzyństwem.
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