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Ozdoby brązowe z Kruchowa, pow. gnieżnieński

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Drzewicz A.

Wiadomości Archeologiczne

2005

vol. LVII

issue 57

101-110

The State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw has in its keeping the following set of bronzes from Kruchowo, comm. Trzemeszno, distr. Gniezno, woj. wielkopolskie: neckring, bracelet, four armlets/anklets (PMA/III/5710). Originally, the group included two further pieces, at present lost: a spiral bracelet and another armlet/anklet (Fig. 1). The ornaments, originally in the collection of Józef Tomasz Przyborowski (1823–1896), presumably were discovered around 1850 but nothing more is known about their find-spot or closer time of discovery. The first bronze item from Kruchowo to be discussed is a bronze penannular neckring, fashioned from a circular-sectioned rod (Fig. 1:1), with tapering and hooked terminals. Close to one of the terminals there are traces of repair in the form of additional amount of bronze. The neckring is oval in shape, 13.0×16.0 cm, with rod D. of 0.3–0.5 cm. It is covered by dark green noble patina. Chemical composition of the bronze alloy is shown in Table 1, item 1. The described neckring form is considered typical for northern areas found west of the Odra river, dated to the close of the Bronze Age and onset of Hallstatt C. The four surviving circular or sub-oval annular armlets/anklets fashioned from circular-sectioned rod (Fig. 1:2–4.6) have the following dimensions: a) D. 10.0–10.7 cm, D. of rod 0.7–0.75 cm (Fig. 1:2); b) D. 10.0–10.7 cm, D. of rod 0.7–0.8 cm (Fig. 1:3); c) D. 10.1–11.4 cm, D. of rod 0.5–0.6 cm (Fig. 1:4); d) D. 10.3–11.3 cm, D. of rod 0.5–0.55 cm (Fig. 1:6). All are covered by dark green patina. Chemical composition of the alloy is shown in Table 1, items 2–5. The fifth, at present missing, armlet/anklet was similar in appearance and dimensions: D. ca 10.6 cm, D. of rod ca 0.75 cm (Fig. 1:7). In literature ornaments of the described type are considered as forms distinctive for the Odra region, longlived, but noted on a wider scale only during Late Bronze Age and Hallstatt C, lingering as far as Hallstatt D. Another item from Kruchowo is a bronze 6.3×7.15 cm oval-shaped annular bracelet fashioned from lentoid 0.3–0.4×0.4–0.5 cm rod (Fig. 1:5). Its colour is gold-brown. Chemical composition of its alloy is shown in Table 1, item 6. Similar bracelets occur in Late Bronze Age deposits but are noted also during both sub-periods of the Early Iron Age. The specimen in question may be an import from the Odra river region but alternately, it could have been produced locally by “Lusatian” craftsmen. The last bronze in the set from Kruchowo is the now missing bracelet – an unornamented specimen in the form of three coils of bronze sheet with tapering terminals (Fig. 1:8). Its diameter was 6.7 or 7.0 cm, the thickness of the plano-convex bronze sheet of about 1.0 cm. Chemical composition of the alloy is shown in Table 1, item 7. Similar bracelets are considered to be local “Lusatian” products, thought to occur from BA V until Hallstatt C. The ornaments of interest are all in tin bronze, with the tin content at 0.52%–10.81%. The examined pieces were fashioned by casting in temperatures over 1100ºC. The bronzes from Kruchowo are all fairly unassuming ornaments. However, it is unclear whether originally the set did not consist of a larger number of items. All the pieces of interest dated from BA V and Hallstatt C, and presumably this is also the time of their deposition. It is true, that similar forms are known to endure even until the later phase of the Hallstatt Period, but this presumably is associated with the practice of longlived use of bronze ornaments, particularly the more universal forms. Although the region of provenance of the discussed set lies within the boundaries of the Eastern Wielkopolska group of Lusatian culture only two of the bronzes appear to be local products. The majority – ie no less than six items – are considered imports from the region on the Odra river. It is difficult to establish at present the original nature of the Kruchowo bronzes. Given the structure of the find and fairly uniform chronology of its elements it may be surmised to represent a hoard or its fragment. This is because on the whole it corresponds to the description of similar deposits recorded during the same age in Wielkopolska and Kujawy. It cannot be excluded on the other hand that the objects originally belonged to inventories of one or a larger number of funerary deposits. Indeed, the archival record contains a reference to the discovery in 1889 of a Lusatian culture cemetery at Kruchowo. On occasion graves from the close of the Bronze Age may be fairly richly furnished in metal items, cf for instance the cemetery at Radojewice (Feature 51), distr. Inowrocław. The data at hand it insufficient to determine conclusively the nature of the find from Kruchowo, but it is more likely to have been a hoard.

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1 Wiadomości Archeologiczne

1 Drzewicz A.

1 2005

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Ozdoby brązowe z Kruchowa, pow. gnieżnieński