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1

Groby dziecięce w kulturze wielbarskiej

100%
Skóra K.
Światowit
|
2012
|
vol. Tom VII (XLVIII), fasc. B
139-164
EN
The aim of the study was to identify regular fea- tures in the funerary rites of the Wielbark Culture people, i.e., types of burial, grave furnishings, and the character of infant burials found in cemeteries of these people. Analysis based mainly on graves of infans I and infans II individuals (or children aged respectively 0-6 and 7-15 years). The investigated sample included 369 assemblages. Not all the known children’s graves were eligible for analysis, as close to 300 further graves could not be classified reliably to either age group due to their damaged condition and imprecise determination. The taboo which apparently existed in the Wielbark Culture limited in a significant manner the number of objects which accompanied the dead (i.a., weapons, tools). We have evidence that also burials of children adhered these general rules but it is notable that assortment and number of categories of grave goods were more modest. The main difference in comparison to graves of older individuals (imenis-senilis) is the smaller number of dress accessories which are represented mainly by a single fibula and a handful of beads. Dress accessories become increasing- ly more numerous in graves of older children. In some of these burials (of infans II individuals) several fibulae, buck- les and assorted ornaments are found, but it is only in the graves of iuvenis (15-19 year old) individuals that we see the adoption of adult costume. The presence or spindle-whorls, needles or awls, hook needles, whetstones or quern stones and knives, on many occasions, present also in graves of babies, suggests that the nature of these offerings was symbolic. Categories of objects which definitely did not belong to the world of children include, first of all, silver bracelets, metal neck-rings and spurs. Also absent from the analysed series were globe-shaped pendants and banded pendants, bronze vessels, glass counters, tweezers and ear spoons, as well as fire steels. The presence of damaged objects in childrens graves possibly meant to be used in their original or some other function suggest that the children’s world was recognised by the adults as being separate from theirs. Items which occur in the deposits just once or very rarely are more likely the expression of individual parental emotions than a reflection of some general funerary tradition. The only deposit featuring an element of weaponry (apart from spurs) which is noted in double graves of an adult male and child, are arrowheads discovered in a barrow at Kitki. Spurs in male graves make their appearance only in burials of iuvenis individuals and this was the age, also in case of girls, when they entered the adult world and acquired full rights. Burials of newborns or babies, admittedly not numerous, suggest that at least some of the infants were entitled to independent burial, perhaps, even right from the time they were born. We have no way of knowing at present whether limited evidence on the burial of these smallest of children results from neglect in burying them, some archaeologically elusive form of burial, or could it be that the death rate in this group among the Wielbark Culture people was lower than we think? In comparison to the Przeworsk Culture, double burials of children with another individual were common in the Wielbark Culture community. Next to a contemporary demise of two or three people which, presumably, would have been the main impulse to bury them in one grave, we have to take into account emotional motivation. Next to coterminous burials in cemeteries of the Wielbark Culture we find graves which were deposited in succession within a short time interval; this is suggested by the custom of inserting secondary graves into already existing ones. The tendency was to add to a skeleton grave of an adult a cremation or inhumation burial of a child, but the reverse is not uncommon either (Table 2). In terms of form, infant burials do not depart from the norms used in case of adult individuals. The remains of infants have been discovered in coffins or other sorts of stone or wooden structures. They are recorded also with burials of adults under barrows, and not rarely, as independent barrow burials (e.g. Nowy Łowicz, Barrow 41).
2

How much do we know about the opening of graves in the cemetery in Czarnówko? Some remarks on the basis of research in 2017

100%
Skóra K.
Przegląd Archeologiczny
|
2018
|
vol. 66
193-223
EN
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.
3
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"Muskets and handgonnes inlaid with bone” – ornaments of hand-held firearms in the 16th–17th centuries

63%
Strzyż P., Skóra K., Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii PAN Ośrodek Badań nad Dawnymi Technologiami
Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Archaeologica
|
2013
|
vol. 29
PL
Rozwój ręcznej broni palnej w XVI w. przebiegał w dwóch odrębnych kierunkach. Pierwszy to produkcja na potrzeby armii, drugi to broń wykonywana na potrzeby odbiorcy indywidualnego – szlachcica czy bogatego mieszczanina. Tutaj egzemplarze nie tylko powinny być niezawodne, ale przede wszystkim wyróżniać właściciela z tłumu jemu podobnych. W tym przypadku nie było więc miejsca na standaryzację, a raczej na kunszt i przepych zdobnictwa. Ich produkcją zajmowali się rusznikarze, sztyftarze ze snycerzami, sztyftarze-rytownicy oraz złotnicy. Wysoki kunszt ówczesnego rzemiosła widoczny jest szczególnie w przypadku zamków broni. Było to przede wszystkim rycie i wycinanie w żelazie, platerowanie innym metalem (brąz, mosiądz, srebro, złoto). Do ozdobienia nadawała się szczególnie blacha zamka kołowego, ale upiększano też poszczególne elementy składowe zamka, jak koło iskrowe czy kurek. Łoże broni też nie pozostało w zapomnieniu – wykładano je szlachetnymi odmianami surowców organicznych, jak kość, róg, masa perłowa. Obok rogu i kości tworzono także geometryczne wzory, wykonywane w wbijanych w drewno cienkich, żelaznych lub srebrnych drucikach, w których umieszczano kolorowe elementy kościane, rogowe czy perłowe. Do wykonania wartościowego łoża konieczny był odpowiedni materiał. Dominuje tu drewno liściaste, takie jak jawor, wiąz czy buk, oraz drzewa owocowe: czereśnia i gruszka, a od XVII w. także orzech. Do najprostszych motywów zdobniczych obecnych na elementach składowych broni zaliczyć można kompozycje ułożone z geometrycznie uformowanych płytek czy blaszek (różnego kształtu z rogu, kości lub z masy perłowej – niekiedy barwione na dowolny kolor). Najczęściej ozdabiano w ten sposób łoża. Z takich elementów układano dalsze kompozycje – różnokolorowe szachownice, kwiaty, gwiazdy itp. Częściej mamy do czynienia ze scenami rodzajowymi. Wydaje się, że na pierwszym miejscu należy wymienić scenki, które określiliśmy ogólnym mianem myśliwskich. Dynamiczny charakter posiadają też sceny batalistyczne przedstawiane na łożach. Czasami są to przemarsze wojsk lub pokaz musztry, niekiedy walka dwóch armii. Nie brak też wyobrażeń zamków i oblężeń. W pewnym związku z batalistyką pozostają sceny religijne, ograniczające się jednak właściwie do przedstawień Św. Jerzego walczącego ze smokiem. Bardzo popularnym motywem są także wyobrażenia fantastycznych zwierząt i postaci. „Faunę” reprezentują mityczne stwory, takie jak np. gryfy czy smoki. Ostatnia grupa tematyczna ma związek ze sztuką renesansu czerpiącej inspiracje w starożytności. Z tego względu wiele jest wyobrażeń postaci antycznych. Decydując się na zakup bogato zdobionych okazów ręcznej broni palnej, przede wszystkim starano się podkreślić osiągnięty status społeczny i wyróżnić się z licznego tłumu sobie podobnych obywateli. Z uwagi na wysoką cenę takich ekskluzywnych egzemplarzy, niejako przy okazji korzystnie lokowano kapitał. Zauważyć też należy, iż przeprowadzone zabiegi upiększające wzmacniały także walory bojowe broni, np. dzięki dodaniu okładzin łoże było bardziej odporne na działanie wilgoci, kurzu czy słońca, a wykładanie elementów składowych zamka zabezpieczało go z kolei przed żrącymi produktami spalania się prochu.
4

Nietypowe przedmioty w wyposażeniu dwóch pochówków z cmentarzyska wczesnośredniowiecznego w Radomiu, st. 4

63%
Skóra K., Kurasiński T.
Światowit
|
2012
|
vol. Tom IX (L), fasc. B
193-212
EN
The cemetery at Radom (Site 4) was discovered in 1923 on a rise of terrain situated near the River Mleczna, in the neighbourhood of the stronghold (the so-called Piotrówka), between present-day ul. Limanowskiego and ul. Przechodnia. Since then, excavation works have been undertaken at this site for several times. The most extensive excavations were carried out in 1966. In their course 82 graves were discovered, including two interesting burials which are discussed in this paper. The chronological framework of the cemetery can be defined as the 11th and the 12th c., based on numismatic finds, other furnishings as well as forms of graves. The hill itself was an attractive topographic point for centuries. It was already the population of the Cloche Grave Culture that buried their dead in this place. In the Early Middle Ages a settlement came to being here, and later on this place was used as a cemetery. In two Early Medieval burials (Nos. 45 and 62), situated alongside each other, apart from elements of grave furnishings which were typical for this period, finds of earlier date were discovered as well. Finds from Grave 45 (Fig. 1), which contained a skeleton of a woman (?) who died at the adultus age (22¬30), included i.a. a brass ring, an iron fire striker, an iron knife and a silver coin. The latter was minted in 1000¬1030. Some dozen sherds of clay vessels and slag come from the fill of the grave pit. Ca. 70 cm behind the cranium a small oblong artefact was found. It proved to be a damag¬ed iron belt-end fitting from the Roman Period (Fig. 3). This find belongs to Type 10 of Group V, according to the publication devoted to this part of dress by R. Madyda-Legutko (2011). On the other hand, finds from Grave 62 (a woman, juvenis) included i.a. two bronze S-shaped temple rings, four bronze and one silver ring, a few glass beads, bronze kaptorgas, two small fittings made of bronze, as well as kernels of wine grape (Fig. 2). A clay vessel was placed on the elbow of the left arm of the deceased woman. Above the bones of the left arm, at the level of the hip, burnt iron finds of earlier date were discovered: a rivet and a buckle. The latter (Figs. 4 and 5) is clearly related to Type H17 according to Madyda-Legutko (1987), with regard to the shape of its chape and its size. Buckles of this type are gen¬erally dated to the early phase of the Migration Period. There are several possibilities of the occurrence of the discussed belt elements and the rivet in Early Medieval burials. Analogies from the Roman and the Migration Periods, the fact that the buckle and the rivet were burnt, the location of the finds in the grave pit as well as the close neighbourhood of Graves 45 and 62 allow for an assumption that these artefacts found their way to the grave pits in an incidental manner, from damaged cremation burials of earlier date, which existed at Site 4. Such an interpretation is supported by the fact that the belt-end fitting was discovered far behind the head ofthe dead, almost at the edge ofthe grave pit. on the other hand, the buckle and the rivet were found above the bones of the left arm, a few centi¬metres from the pelvis of the buried woman. This may also imply an intentional deposition. obviously, it cannot be excluded that these artefacts also come from destroyed ear¬lier burials of the Przeworsk Culture. The fact that these finds were burnt may be considered as a proof for the rela¬tion of the buckle and the rivet to a cremation burial. on the other hand, as the belt-end fitting was not burnt, it may have been related to an inhumation burial. No graves ofthe Przeworsk Culture were discovered either at Site 4 or in its vicinity. However, due to the degree of destruction of the cemetery and the level of urbanisation of this part of the city, an existence of such a necropolis in this place cannot be definitely excluded. The discussed archaica may have also been acquired elsewhere by users of the cemetery at Radom. These artefacts may have been treated by their discoverers as objets trouves - as amulets or in another non-utilitarian way. It was perhaps in such a role that these artefacts were meant to be used for funeral purposes (see below). Deposition of artefacts from earlier periods in graves is a relatively common practice in the Middle Ages; however, we have not found any data on other burials with finds which are analogous to those from Radom so far. on the other hand, buckles and belt fittings with analogous chronology are known i.a. from Anglo-Saxon burials of the 5th-6th c. and from Merovingian Period graves in the terri¬tory of Germany. Among artefacts from the Roman and the Migration Periods which are found in Early Medieval burials in the Polish lands, we can first of all mention fibulae, glass beads and coins. It must be said that numerous artefacts ofarchaic date were deposited intentionally in Early Medieval graves. Such finds usually occurred individually (apart from sherds of prehistoric vessels and flint artefacts). This tendency can be seen not only in the Polish lands, but also at cemeteries in other regions of Europe. Against this background one of the burials from Radom (Grave 62) stands out, as it con¬tains the buckle and the rivet. Based on our hitherto considerations it can be said that in the Polish lands archaica in Early Medieval contexts are relatively rare finds. If we suppose that the discussed finds did not find their way to the graves incidentally, but were deposit¬ed there as broadly understood grave goods, we must con¬sider two equally probable ways of their acquisition. These artefacts were picked from the ground either as incidental finds or in result of intentional search. The issue of reasons for interest in archaica remains open, although it is possible that their unique forms and ways of manufacture attracted one’s attention. On the one hand, such traits must have provoked anxiety, as marked with the stigma of otherness. On the other hand, these traits were seen as power, which could prove useful. One should therefore take into account a magical significance of archaica, which probably first of all served as amulets. The presence ofexamined artefacts in graves (as well as in other Early Medieval features) allows to detect a universal need for a contact with otherness. This otherness, however, provoked contradictory feelings. Referring to the philosophy of religion according to R. Otto (1993), one can use the terms of tremendum and fascinans, which best define the attitude towards holiness (numinosum). In the discussed case, it manifests in culturally “strange” artefacts. From this point of view, the question whether the discussed finds were property of the dead and were used by them during their life or were deposited in the grave only during the funeral as a gift in the literal sense, seems to be of secondary importance.
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