Rozwój i zmiany kulturowe, które zachodziły po obu stronach środkowego biegu Niemna, na terenach znanych jako Litwa Zaniemieńska (lit. Užnemunė) oraz Litwa Południowo-Wschodnia, są w dalszym ciągu słabo poznane (Ryc. 1–3). W niniejszym artykule omawiam przemiany kulturowe tego regionu między końcem I a przełomem VI i VII wieku n.e., opierając się na analizie obrządku pogrzebowego i zabytków pochodzących ze stanowisk sepulkralnych. W litewskiej historiografii archeologicznej, w której przeplatają się dane historyczne, lingwistyczne i archeologiczne, kwestia genezy i rozwój kulturowego regionu Litwy Zaniemieńskiej i Litwy Południowo--Wschodniej jest dość złożona. Autorzy piszący o Litwie Zaniemieńskiej zazwyczaj uznają ten obszar za zamieszkany przez społeczności praktykujące zróżnicowane zwyczaje pogrzebowe, które to ludy później weszły w skład plemion kultury sudowskiej – Sudowów vel Jaćwięgów. Dyskusyjna jest jednak kwestia spójności kulturowej terenów południowo-wschodniej i wschodniej Litwy, a zwłaszcza pytanie, czy kurhany z południowo-wschodniej Litwy, z kopcami kamiennymi, oraz wschodniolitewskie kurhany z kopcami otaczanymi przez wieńce kamienne, są zespołami kulturowo odmiennymi (Ryc. 3). W historiografii litewskiej dominuje pogląd, zgodnie z którym obie te grupy tworzą spójną całość. Kurhany z nasypami oraz konstrukcjami grobowymi, do których budowy używano kamieni, spotykane są po obu stronach środkowego biegu Niemna, stanowiąc miejsca grzebalne typowe dla okresu późnorzymskiego i okresu wędrówek ludów (Ryc. 6–8). Kamienne kurhany i groby rozpowszechnione są w różnych częściach wysoczyzn nadbałtyckich – w Litwie Zaniemieńskiej i Litwie Południowo-Wschodniej tworzą one trzy główne grupy: północną (grupa 1), południowo-wschodnią (grupa 2) i południowo-zachodnią (grupa 3). Cmentarzyska grupy północnej zajmują teren Wzniesień Dzukijskich. Na północy kurhany z południowo-wschodniej i wschodniej Litwy rozdzielone są niewielką strefą niezasiedloną (Ryc. 2, 3). Zespół kurhanów z południowo-wschodniej Litwy (grupa II) skupia się na równinie w rejonie Ejszyszek (lit. Eišiškės), pomiędzy rzekami Ūla i Verseka. Kilka cmentarzysk, które mogłyby należeć do tej grupy, znanych jest z północno-zachodniej Białorusi (Rys. 2:2). Stanowiska grupy północnej (1) i południowo-wschodniej (2) tworzą małe, wyraźnie widoczne zgrupowania (Ryc. 4). Grupa 3, południowo-zachodnia, obejmuje duże terytorium na Litwie Zaniemeńskiej, a jej cmentarzyska są rozproszone pomiędzy Szeszupą a środkowym biegiem Niemna. Północny skraj tego obszaru, na granicy Równiny Środkowolitewskiej i rozległych lasów w rejonie dzisiejszej Kozłowej Rudy (lit. Kazlų Rūda), pozostawał jednak niezasiedlony praktycznie aż do połowy XIII wieku. Na terenach rozciągających się po obu stronach środkowego biegu Niemna w okresie wpływów rzymskich i okresie wędrówek ludów w obrządku pogrzebowym dominowała inhumacja. Groby ciałopalne, popielnicowe i bezpopielnicowe, na Litwie Zaniemeńskiej mogą być datowane na II i początki III wieku (fazy B2–C1a). Na południowo- -wschodniej Litwie pierwsze ciałopalne groby jamowe pojawiają się w fazie C1b, natomiast liczba grobów ciałopalnych zwiększa się w fazie C2. Większość tych pochówków była jednak niewyposażona, dlatego trudno ustalić ich datowanie. Na południowo-wschodniej Litwie ciałopalenia zsypywano do różnej wielkości jam, wkopywanych bądź to pod podstawą kurhanu, bądź w jego nasyp. Groby były często otaczane kamiennymi wieńcami, kamieni używano też do budowy samych grobów. Większość grobów ciałopalnych z południowo-wschodniej Litwy nie zawierała żadnego wyposażenia. Od końca okresu wczesnorzymskiego, a zwłaszcza fazy przejściowej do okresu późnorzymskiego (faza B2/C1), oraz w okresie wędrówek ludów, wyrazistą cechą obrządku pogrzebowego ludów bałtyjskich są groby ludzkie z końmi lub pochówki końskie nie związane z żadnym konkretnym pochówkiem ludzkim. Pojedyncze groby koni, które są powszechne w kulturze bogaczewskiej, zarejestrowano na cmentarzyskach w Liepynai i Stanaičiai na Litwie Zaniemeńskiej. W południowo-wschodniej Litwie grób człowieka i konia odkryto na kurhanowej nekropoli w Moša-Naujasodai (Ryc. 12). Wspólne dla kultur bogaczewskiej i sudowskiej są brązowe ozdoby – naszyjniki z trąbkowatymi zakończeniami i łyżeczkowatymi zapięciami, tzw. zapinki oczkowate (typu Almgren 60–61), podkowiaste zapinki emaliowane, kuszowate zapinki różnych typów, zawieszki ósemkowate i w kształcie szprychowego koła, szpile typu Beckmann A, B, H, L i typu Szwajcaria oraz bransolety mankietowe (Ryc. 9, 11, 15, 16). Podstaw dla atrybucji kulturowej materiałów z okresu wpływów rzymskich i okresu wędrówek ludów oraz rozpoznania kontaktów, jakie utrzymywała ludność zamieszkująca Litwę Zaniemeńską i Litwę Południowo-Wschodnią dostarczają znaleziska masowe, a mianowicie ceramika. Bliskie podobieństwo ceramiki z Litwy Zaniemeńskiej do ceramiki kultur wyraźnie świadczy o wspólnocie kulturowej tych obszarów (Ryc. 5, 13, 17–20). W Litwie Południowo-Wschodniej można wyróżnić północne (grupa 1) i południowo-wschodnie (grupa 2) skupienie stanowisk z kurhanami kamiennymi, natomiast w Litwie Zaniemeńskiej południowo-zachodnie (grupa 3) skupienie stanowisk sepulkralnych. Konstrukcje grobowe, obrządek pogrzebowy oraz materiały zabytkowe z okresu wpływów rzymskich i okresu wędrówek ludów pozwalają uznać je za peryferia grup suwalskiej, a częściowo gołdapskiej i augustowskiej, kultury sudowskiej, bądź przyjąć, że stanowią one odrębne grupy tej kultury.
Iron bloom was obtained as a result of an ancient iron smelting process carried out in slag-pit furnaces, apparently in use during the Roman Period in the Central European Barbaricum, more notably in the territory settled by the Przeworsk Culture people. In the 1970s, prompted by the reflections of M. Radwan (1963) and by the insights gained from the study of archaeological traces of the iron smelting process found in the great centre of iron metallurgy in the Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Mts. in central Poland, K. Bielenin developed the concept of the free solidification process (Polish acronym PSK) to describe the process of the formation of the iron bloom and slag blocks inside the slag-pit – the underground part of the bloomery furnace. Bielenin found that iron obtained in these furnaces had to contain only a minor amount of slag, non-ferritic inclusions and non-carbonized ferritic inclusions. Only then would the iron have the right degree of malleability needed for successful forging. Archaeological studies of the Holy Cross Mts. centre of iron metallurgy have yielded a very modest amount of iron bloom finds, mostly in the form of flattened lumps, the product from the working of the bloom with hammers. Obviously, the obtained iron, a highly valued and prized resource, was taken out of the production site. What remained was the debris of the bloomery furnace slag-pits, filled to a various extent with slag, and iron making residue, so-called gromps, from the process of forging and consolidating raw iron blooms. Alternately, M. Radwan has interpreted these finds as debris from the smelting process claiming that this residue had formed in the shaft of the furnace during the iron smelting process. Given that the process of smelting iron in furnaces with a slag-pit is poorly documented in the archaeological record more comprehensive data had to be obtained from experimental studies. In Poland the first of these experiments were made in the late 1950s. Furnaces with a variously designed shaft (the above-ground structure) were used in the experiments (cf. Fig. 1, 4). Unfortunately, the product obtained tended to be a slag-iron agglomerate (Fig. 2, 3) markedly different from what is available in the archaeological record. To solve this problem the experiments were modified to employ K. Bielenin’s conception of the free solidification of slag blocks. This concept would be tested in practice only in the second decade of the 21st cent. during the experimental studies of A. Wrona made with modern replicas of a furnace referred to as type Kunów with a slag-pit canal (Fig. 6). The research findings outlined here mostly draw on results of an experimental process carried out during the 1st Bloomery Seminar held in Starachowice in October 2013. Similar results had been obtained by A. Wrona in 2012 and 2013, and during experiments carried out by a specialist team in 2013–2015. Their results help to supplement the analysis presented here. During the experiment made in 2013 a block of slag was obtained (Fig. 11) and iron bloom separated from the surface of the slag-block (Fig. 12). Weighing 3.65 kg the bloom had a ferritic structure appropriate for subsequent working. The experimental smelt had used 40.6 kg of iron ore and 50 kg of charcoal. The ore was locally obtained siderite (Fig. 7) and hematite imported from Bosnia and Herzegovina (Fig. 8), at a ratio of 1:1. The process was carried out in two stages, in an artificial blast furnace, with air injected under pressure from bag bellows (Fig. 9). During the first stage waste rock was reduced to slag and the formation of the iron bloom initiated. Next, air was allowed into the slag-pit canal of the furnace draining the iron bloom from the slag (Fig. 10). The iron bloom (Fig. 12) and the block of slag (Fig. 11) were next subjected to specialist studies. Observations of the microstructure of the bloom obtained during experiments made in Starachowice in 2013 identified a solid zone (Fig. 14) and a filigree zone (Fig. 13, 16) as well as a net-zone of iron formation (Fig. 17). The presence of these zones has been confirmed in blooms deriving from the earlier experiments of A. Wrona (Fig. 18–21). Furthermore, the study of the microstructure of the bloom helped establish that in a bloomery furnace equipped with a slag-pit the metallic iron is mostly obtained through processes of secondary reduction and disproportionation within the sponge gob of slag formed earlier near the tuyeres of the furnace. Throughout the process the iron bloom is in constant contact with liquid slag, which not only prevents the bloom from undergoing a secondary oxidation caused by air injected through the tuyeres, but also has an active part in the process of the gradual accretion of the bloom. Upon examination, the microstructure of the slag (Fig. 22–24) formed during the experiment was found to be consistent with the chemical composition and structure of ancient slag discovered in the Holy Cross Mts., except for compounds formed when Bosnian ore was used; the 0.07% content of K2O (cf. Fig. 11) in this ore led to the formation of leucite K2Al2Si6O16, identified during the microstructural analysis as black dendrites (Fig. 23). Similarly as experiments carried out in 2012–2015, the Starachowice experiment confirmed the validity of the assumptions made by K. Bielenin. Furthermore, observations made during these studies prompted a series of conclusions on the organization of the operation of a slag-pit furnace cluster, the feasibility of the use of artificial blast during the process (Fig. 9, 27) and the impact of atmospheric factors on the process flow. The results presented here prove that it is highly advisable to continue the experimental work to obtain a more detailed understanding of the stages of the iron smelting process, and to carry out these tests using local iron ores only. It was found also that the technical purity of the experimentally obtained iron is sufficient to classify this stage of product to working phase. Consequently, the procedures described in the literature as a post reductive stage should not be understood as a stage aimed on the removal of impurities but rather as a phase aimed on shaping the metal obtained in the process of reduction. It is also important to note the new data possibly of use in our studies of the bloomery process furnished since 2010 by the investigation of well-preserved bloomery fields in site (wilderness) Wykus in forest inspectorate Suchedniów, Kielce County.
An iron sword was found during the deepening of the Warta river bed in the mid-1960s. It was recovered from the river at the level of the former village of Kurów, presently a district of Konin (Fig. 1). The artefact is stored in the District Museum in Konin. The artefact was preserved in a good condition (Fig. 2). Its total length is 87.3 cm (originally 90 cm). The blade is double edged, tapering slightly towards the point. The cross-section is faceted, almost flat near the point. The flats are even. The cut of the edges is flat. The point is short, beveled into a sharp arc. The length of the blade is 78.6 cm; the length of the point is 5.3 cm; the width of the blade at the hilt is 5.3 cm; the width of the blade at the point is 4.3 cm. The blade corresponds to type B.II.1, cross-section type 11 in the classification of M. Biborski (Fig. 3), and the sword itself represents type Ejsbøl-Sarry, subtype 2 (M. Biborski, J. Ilkjær 2006, p. 259–271, fig. 117). Macroscopic observations (Fig. 5, 6) and a X-ray photo (Fig. 4) indicate that the pattern welding technique was used in making the blade. The ratio of the length of the blade to the hilt and the location of the center of gravity indicate that the sword was intended mainly for fighting from horseback. The most numerous finds of swords of the type Ejsbøl-Sarry come from the bog deposits in southern Scandinavia (Illerup and Ejsbøl), but they are also known from the territory of the Przeworsk Culture. Their chronology is quite wide. The earliest specimens found as it happens at the sites of the Przeworsk Culture are dated to the phase C2. The vast majority, however, comes from a later period – phase D. The stray find of the sword from Konin-Kurów should be associated with the Przeworsk Culture and dated generally to the phase C2–D. It is noteworthy that the sword from Konin-Kurów was found in a river. In the case of individual objects found in lakes or rivers, it is difficult to establish unequivocally whether we are dealing with an accidental loss, e.g., during a crossing, or with a sacrificial deposit.
The Przeworsk Culture existing for over 600 hundred years was, and actually still is recognised because of its chronological and territorial stability as an archaeological unit quite unique in Barbaricum. However, some peculiarities of the east-Przeworsk areas were noticed already although they hardly could have been analysed or even determined explicitly (T. Dąbrowska 1981a; 1981b; T. Dąbrowska, T. Liana 1986). Excavations on the Przeworsk Culture area east of the Vistula of the last 25 years have revealed a great number of well-dated sites, including several large cemeteries of some hundreds grave each (e.g. Niedanowo, Modła, Kołoząb, Kleszewo, Krupice, Kamieńczyk, Łajski, Nadkole, Oblin, Arbasy, Załubice). However, the most part of uncovered material still remains unpublished, or even not worked up. In the light of these surveys eastern Mazovia and Podlasie densely settled in the early Roman Period, particularly in the end of phase B1 and in phase B2 seems to be mostly interesting (Fig. 1). Although archaeological data from this territory corresponds in general with the standard of the Przeworsk Culture, it differs from the latter by some individual traits. However, the area cannot be recognised neither as an archaeological culture standing apart from the Przeworsk Culture nor even as a distinct local group of the latter. To define it I suggest the name the eastern zone of Przeworsk Culture, attributing to this term both cultural and geographical meaning. Distinct features of the eastern zone of Przeworsk Culture are expressed most of all in female costume, remarkably rich in comparison with western part of the culture. In phase B2 objects of copper alloy were preferred in this costume, while in western reaches of the Przeworsk Culture flourished manufacturing of iron ornaments based on local stylistic patterns. Distinction of the eastern zone of Przeworsk Culture is exemplified by distribution of particular fibula types. For instance, in the east-Przeworsk zone there is a large number of eye brooches of Prussian series – over than 220 specimens have been recovered there so far (Fig. 2), of which cemeteries at Niedanowo, Modła, Kamieńczyk and Nadkole yielded even 30–40 specimens each. Number of distinct varieties of these brooches confirms their local manufacturing and stylistic evolution (Fig. 3). Eye fibulae dispersed all over much larger remaining territory of the Przeworsk Culture make no more than 30% of the number of brooches found east of the Vistula. Fibulae combining attributes of Almgren’s group IV and eastern series of group II make a local type distinctive for the eastern zone of Przeworsk Culture (Fig. 5), where they were worn by adult women (J.Andrzejowski 1994a). Most of these brooches have the free end of the spring attached to the aperture on the head and formed into an ornamental knob. Such feature is also a common element of some early spring-cover fibulae of type Almgren 38-39 chiefly from the east-Przeworsk zone and the Wielbark Culture (Fig. 4). Bronze brooches derived from profiled trumpet--headed specimens (T. Dąbrowska 1995a), make another distinctive regional group. As a result of local evolution two variants arose: older one with still close affinities to the trumpet-headed fibulae, referred to as their type 5. (Fig. 6), and younger one with apparently simplified profile, referred to as their Mazovian variant (Fig. 7). In the western reaches of this zone some solid iron fibulae, being local varieties of Almgren’s group II and V. As a characteristic feature they have a spring hidden in a tubular encasement. However, the main area of their distribution locates west of the middle Vistula river (Fig. 8). Typical trait of the east-Przeworsk female costume is a large number of ornaments, mostly bracelets and long necklaces of diverse beads and pendants. Besides numerous melon-shaped beads of so-called Egyptian faience preserved in the cremation graves in relatively good condition very often are recovered beads of many-coloured glass usually, however, melted down or crushed. Probably the east-Przeworsk necklaces had been completed with some amber beads, which apparently gone during cremation. Interesting ornament feature so-called banded pendants made from a core (e.g. Cowrie shells, glass beads and balls, nuts, glass dices) winded with a narrow strap of bronze sheet. They were taken until now explicitly as result of the Wielbark Culture influences (T. Dąbrowska 1981a; 49; J. Andrzejowski 1992, 168f.). However, the earliest banded pendants from phase B1 came first of all from the Przeworsk Culture and the most part of their finds well-dated to the early Roman Period concentrate in the eastern zone of Przeworsk Culture (Fig. 9). Apparently from this zone originates characteristic triangular pendants with a spring-like loop (Fig. 9) probably being a local, somewhat simplified variant of banded pendants. The Wielbark Culture or more broadly northern connections reveal large bipartite globular beads from bronze sheet decorated with engraved lines or embossed ornament (Fig. 10), like banded and triangular pendants. In the east-Przeworsk zone relatively common are also gold ball--shaped pendants and beads of silver filigree (Fig. 11). It is also Wielbark Culture where from wire S-clasps for fastening bead strings were borrowed (Fig. 12). The majority of them were produced locally from bronze, but also from silver and iron. Such iron S-clasps applied with junction loops (Fig. 12) were a local invention to secure a narrow thong used both in male and female dress (J. Andrzejowski 1997a, 110ff.). Ornament clearly differing female costume from the eastern zone of Przeworsk Culture and its remaining territories are bracelets (J. Andrzejowski 1994b). Over a hundred of unprofiled bracelets found in the east-Przeworsk zone makes about 80% of all early Roman Period bracelets from the entire Przeworsk Culture (Fig. 13). Full adoption of bracelets in the standard female fashion in the eastern zone of Przeworsk Culture is verified both by a diversity of bracelet types, besides unprofiled including also Pomeranian type of shield-headed bracelets, and a locally invented variant with profiled endings, so-called type Kamieńczyk (Fig. 13). Numerous bronze elements are also characteristic for the belts used in the eastern zone of Przeworsk Culture, first of all strongly profiled belt-end fittings and belt links. Solid specimens mostly with reduced profile, dated chiefly to the phase B2 and known both in female and male belts predominate there (Fig. 16), unlike in the western reaches of Przeworsk Culture (cf. R. Madyda 1977, 380ff.). Very characteristic are also bronze belt links coming exclusively from the assemblages of phase B2 (Fig. 17). These elements are frequently combined to create a rich set of belt mountings dissimilar to one known from the western part of Przeworsk Culture (R. Madyda-Legutko 1984; M. Tempelmann-Mączyńska 1989, 65ff.). One may expect some northwestern affinities also in the case of uni- and bi-partite iron belt clasps from the Early Roman Period (R. Madyda-Legutko 1990). The weapons from the east-Przeworsk zone follow in general all types known from the entire Przeworsk Culture, nevertheless, some peculiarities are to be mentioned. In this zone lance points decorated with punched triangle motifs usually in so-called negative pattern seems to be relatively more frequent. This pattern amazingly resembles well-known pattern of the Early Roman Period pottery of the Wielbark Culture (Fig. 18), what was already noticed (P. Kaczanowski, J. Zaborowski 1988). It is also striking that most of the oldest Przeworsk lance points with silver inlay dated to phases B1/B2a came from its eastern zone (Fig. 20; cf. P. Kaczanowski 1988). The eastern areas of Przeworsk Culture produced also relatively many find of weapons made of bronze or with bronze elements. In this zone concentrate rare shield bosses type Jahn 7 with edges fitted in bronze and rivet-heads with bronze appliqué, quite common in the Elbian Culture and in western Scandinavia while almost missing in the western reaches of the Przeworsk Culture (T. Dąbrowska 1981a, 49; 1997, 91f.; J. Andrzejowski 1998a, 69; cf. N. Zieling 1989, 318ff., map 11). Single specimens with edges fitted in iron make a local Przeworsk Culture variety of such bosses (Fig. 19). Some features distinct for the eastern zone of Przeworsk Culture are to be noticed in funeral pottery also. Among urns from phase B2 black smoothed or polished vases usually single- or three-handled seems to prevail. Ovoid or S-shaped coarse ware thick-walled urns with brownish body very common in the western part of the Przeworsk Culture are much less frequent in its eastern zone. Chronology of the large cemeteries confirms cultural meaning of this difference rather than chronological. A very typical for the eastern Przeworsk zone form of black ware urns is large, three-handled biconical vase with a triple-zone complex composition of designs consisting of three different motifs bounded by and interrupted by the handles (Fig. 21a, 22). Three handles are after all a pottery feature much more common in the territories east of the Vistula than in the remaining Przeworsk Culture area (T. Dąbrowska 1981a, 46). Another feature of the east-Przeworsk pottery is a rich ornamentation of the urns often in form of wide band of various motifs, what shows affinities to the Oksywie and early Wielbark Culture pottery (T. Dąbrowska 1995b; 1996). A variant of complex band ornamentation is the so-called narrative ornament consisting of an uninterrupted sequence of different motifs alternating in a fluid manner (Fig. 21b). Handles supported by a well-defined applied cordon sometimes forming a kind of profiled “tendrils” are also borrowed from the Wielbark Culture pottery (T. Dąbrowska 1981a, 46, fig. 2). Burial rituals of the east-Przeworsk zone follow cremation rite typical for the entire Przeworsk Culture. Lack of weapons in graves of Nidzica and Mława regions (J. Okulicz 1965; 1983; K. Godłowski 1985, 50f., 64ff.) may be connected with influences from Wielbark Culture. Very interesting although hard to explain are various stone settings known from northern and eastern Mazovian cemeteries, including quite elaborate assemblages in some way linked with burials (J. Okulicz 1970, s. 434ff.); however, most of them are yet not excavated. At the end of Przeworsk Culture in its eastern zone, i.e. in phase B2c–B2/C1a, share of poorly equipped pit burials grown up, what seems to be typical for the earliest Wielbark Culture graves in the area as well (T. Dąbrowska 1981a, 55; J. Andrzejowski 1989). Concluding we may ascertain that the Przeworsk Culture finds east of the Vistula, in Mazovia and Podlasie differ in the Early Roman Period from those of the remaining territory of this culture. The phenomenon appeared fully at the later phase B1 and increased in the phase B2. Finds from the eastern zone of Przeworsk Culture testified then to strong affinity with the WielbarkCulture and northern areas of the Elbian Culture, some connections with the western Scandinavia are also noticed. Adoption of some strong foreign influences and combining them with typically Przeworsk Culture features grew up into a genuine east-Przeworsk style. Southern reach of the eastern zone of Przeworsk Culture ranges approximately between the Wilga and middle Bug rivers although some east-Przeworsk features reveal in the west part of Lublin region, mostly along the Vistula, as well as west of middle Vistula, on the lower Pilica river and southwards. The nature of the east-Przeworsk zone suggest that the internal relationship of its people could have been based on their tribal difference from the population of the remaining Przeworsk Culture territory, however associated with them into an ethnic community of upper level. A distinct costume or at least some of its elements could be recognised as important sign of such self-identity. Spreading in phases B2 and B2/C1–C1a of the east-Przeworsk attributes generally south- and westwards is probably a consequence of some migrations correlated with a progressive process of cultural alteration in the territory of the eastern zone of Przeworsk Culture (T. Dąbrowska 1981a; 1981b; J. Andrzejowski 1989; cf. K. Godłowski 1985, 67ff.; 1986; A. Kokowski 1986; J. Okulicz 1989). The gradual progress of this change based doubtlessly on the former lively relationships of both cultures. Some features of the early stage of the Wielbark Culture in the newly assimilated territories east of the middle Vistula may be recognised as the result of local adoption of the Przeworsk Culture principles. They are, for instance, continuing use of some Przeworsk Culture cemeteries (J. Andrzejowski 1989), large number of cross-bow brooches made of iron (W. Nowakowski 1994), high frequency of burnt pottery in graves, including urns (e.g. Ł. & J. Okuliczowie 1976; A. Kempisty 1968; J. Jaskanis 1996), some similarities of pottery (R. Wołągiewicz 1993), and probably also absence of the inhumation ritual in the phases B2/C1–C1a. We may suppose that at least a part of former Przeworsk population remained in its homeland. However, clear depopulation of this zone in the turn of the early and Late Roman Period (T. Dąbrowska 1981a; K. Godłowski 1985, 67ff.; J. Andrzejowski 1989) indicates, in spite of close mutual relation that east-Przeworsk tribes still kept their identity perhaps basing on the ethnic difference between them and the Wielbark Culture tribes.
The study is concerned with brooch types A. II 38, 41 and 43; type A. II 41 brooches are discussed within the new classification proposed by J. Schuster (in the same volume). These forms have a distinctive distribution, something not always fully appreciated in earlier research. Brooches defined as forms F 1/F 3, with a very slender bow and spring-cover ornamented with imitation spring (Fig. 1:1.2), cluster on the lower Vistula River and to the west of this area, in the lake districts of Kaszuby and Krajna (Fig. 3, list 1). Chronologically they belong in phase B2a, although it is possible that they appeared still during the transitional stage from B1b to B2a. It appears that the centre of production of these brooches lay somewhere in the lower reaches of the Vistula River. In his analysis of type A. II 41 brooches J. Schuster selected as a criterion of classification the form of the entire brooch, its foot in particular, rather than details of construction. This led him to distinguish four main variants: I, X, Y and Z: variant I – with a straight, at times, lightly expanding foot, variant X – which includes two sub-variants: X 1 – with a trapeze--shaped foot, and X 2 – with a strongly expanded foot, which gives the brooch the form of a letter ‘X’; variant Y – characterised by a wide bow and a foot which usually tapers at the lower end, whereas variant X, also defined as ‘lower Vistula’ variant, has a wide bow, a flaring or a straight foot and a low-set crest. In the eastern region of the Central European Barbaricum A. II 40 and 41 brooches generally represent diagnostic (leading) forms in phase B2/C1. It does not appear from the review of finds discovered in context with these pieces that any of the four variants of type A. II 41, distinguished by J. Schuster, appeared earlier or outlived the other variants. However, interesting conclusions result from analysis of maps of distributions of these brooch variants. Finds of variant I brooches (Fig. 4, list 2) cluster in Vorpommern, in East Pomerania, and in Rugen. The only three sites with this brooch variant found more to the south are Kemnitz, Kr. Potsdam-Mittelmark, and two cemeteries of Luboszyce Culture at Biecz and Grabice. The easternmost find of variant I brooch is known from the region of Elbląg or the town itself, still on territory of Wielbark Culture. Variants X 1 and X 2 (Fig. 5, list 3) cluster in East Pomerania – including the right bank of the Vistula River – in the northern part of Wielkopolska (Great Poland), which during that time was occupied by Wielbark Culture, and in Luboszyce Culture. Their distribution pattern reflects plainly the migration movement of the Wielbark Culture people to the southeast, along the Bug River, something noted already by G. Domański and Y. V. Kukharenko. Finds of variant X brooches are less common in Przeworsk Culture; in addition, also, if iron brooches are taken into account, which if they do appear, then they have the form of variant X 1. A number of finds from the lower Danube is discussed below, with other types of brooches of northern origin, which form a concentration in that area, similarly as A. II 41 brooches to the west of the Odra River. A variant typical in Przeworsk Culture are A. II 41 Y brooches (Fig. 6, list 4), also noted in Luboszyce Culture, but less numerous than variant X. To the west of the Odra River finds of variant Y brooches are rare. In the border zone between Wielbark and Przeworsk Culture, on the lower Warta River, some Wielbark Culture cemeteries produced finds of variant Y (Fig. 6:29–31), whereas variant X brooches are known from the same area, also from Przeworsk cemeteries (Fig. 5:93–96), which could testify to direct Wielbark-Przeworsk contacts in this zone. A possible explanation for the presence of as many as twelve Y brooches in the hoard from Łubiana is that they were hoarded after being robbed in Przeworsk area but it less easy to explain the occurrence of nine similar specimens in two or more cemeteries in the region of Elbląg and the town itself. A. II 41 brooches of all the variants discussed so far, together with other elements characteristic for Wielbark Culture, eg, brooches type A. V, eighth series, so-called banded pendants, snake bracelets and others, during phases B2 and B2/C1 start to be recorded across the Odra River, and take in their range Pomerania to the west of the Odra River (Vorpommern), Rugen and, to a lesser extent, Lower Lusatia; this induced J. Schuster to speculate that a small group of Wielbark Culture people migrated west, perhaps a similar development as population shifts on the middle Danube. Variant Z brooches (Fig. 7, list 5) are correctly linked by J. Schuster with the region on the lower Vistula, since barring only three finds, in Pomerania all other brooches of this type originated to the east of that river, despite the fact that the longest series of these brooches comes from the cemetery at Ciepłe, distr. Tczew, found to the west of the Vistula. It is conceivable that a workshop active in the area produced these brooches, but they did not reach the zone of Odry-Węsiory-Grzybnica type cemeteries. This cannot be explained away by difference in time, since variant Z brooches co-occur with forms diagnostic for phase B2/C1, encountered also in Odry-Węsiory-Grzybnica cemeteries, ie, in lake districts of Kaszuby and Krajna, before they were abandoned. Only in the region more to the east (Fig. 7:16.18), towards the Great Masurian Lakes district variant Z brooches are noted in graves in contexts dated to phase C1a. It is interesting that A. II 41 brooches, which form such a great concentration in Wielbark Culture, are noted only sporadically in West Balt deposits, where they represent imports from Wielbark Culture. Similarly as type A. II 41 brooches, type A. II 43 forms are a diagnostic form in phase B2/C1, characteristic for women’s dress accessories, and almost invariably made of bronze, occasionally with gold or silver inlay. The form developed most probably in Przeworsk Culture, this is indicated by their concentration at the centre of Przeworsk territory (Fig. 8, list 6). The second concentration is observed on the middle Danube and is associated by T. Kolník with the migration in 166–169 AD of the Langobardii and Obii to the Danube, by M. Olędzki – with the migration of the Vandal Victovalii. J. Tejral basing on finds of ‘Przeworsk’ character, as eg iron brooches – type A. V, series 8, 10 and 11, silver inlaid trumpet brooches – A. IV 76, and subsequently, brooches type A. V 129, A. II 41, 43 and A. V, series 1, and certain types of pottery and Ginalski group E spurs, which visibly cluster on the middle Danube, sees two larger waves of infiltration of Przeworsk people to the middle Danube, which he interprets as the arrival of smaller groups rather than whole tribes. K. Godłowski understood the same group of objects as evidence of long-lived contact between neighbouring peoples but did not rule out migration of individuals or small groups from the North. The entire discussion was recently summed up by J. Rajtár, who interpreted finds of A. II 43 brooches from old museum collections in Roman provinces (List 6), in Pannonia and Dacia Porolissensis, as traces of the presence of Germanic women, war captives or hostages. A. Kokowski and Y. B. Maleev recently drew attention to the easternmost range of these brooches. Their occurrence in Luboszyce Culture and among Western Balts (in the latter case just three finds) could suggest arrival of Przeworsk women to the area. The mapping of individual brooch types does not always produce such interesting results as ones outlined above. In many cases it would be helpful to distinguish variants of O. Almgren types, but under the condition that different subvariants are identified to reflect actual culture differences, rather than being a mechanical division, made on the basis of secondary criteria. The internal classification of type A. II 41 brooches proposed by J. Schuster, is an example of previously unexploited potential.
The cemetery from the Roman Period at Modła, comm. Wiśniewo, distr. Mława, was excavated in total in the years 1976–1986. More than 300 ancient features were discovered, which were almost exclusively graves from the end of the old and the first ages of the new era: over 190 graves from the Przeworsk Culture (from the final stage of phase A3 to the late stage of phase B2), around 60 graves from the Wielbark Culture (from phase B2/C1 to the early phase of the Migration Period), and around 45 further graves of undetermined cultural origin, surely, or most probably from the Roman Period. The majority of the graves from Modła contained cremation burials. Relatively few of them were inhumation graves – there were only 23 such graves discovered. During the anthropological studies of the bone remains from one of the inhumation graves (no. 169) it was noted that the buried individual had been subjected to an intravital skull trepanation. This discovery deserves special attention as it is probably the first recorded case of such an operation from the Roman Period at the territory of Poland. Grave 169 was situated at the south-astern border of the cemetery, at a distinct slope of a hill at which the cemetery was located – about 5 meters below the top of the hill. The bones of the skeleton, oriented along the N-S axis, with the head to the north, were uncovered just under the surface, at the border of a large modern ditch. The description in the field log allows for a supposition that the burial was discovered in its original alignment. It is unknown, however, whether the unnatural arrangement of the skeleton was original or secondary (Fig. 1). The absence of any preserved furniture does not allow for precise dating of the burial, however, there is some indirect evidence indicating its cultural attributes. The orientation of the pit of grave 169 and the arrangement of the individual with the head to the north are typical of inhumation rituals of the Wielbark Culture. Among 23 inhumation graves from Modła, 18 most certainly or probably should be connected with the Wielbark Culture on the basis of the furniture, and only one should be connected with the Przeworsk Culture. Almost all pits of the inhumation graves were aligned N-S or NNW-SSE, and more seldom NW-SE or NE-SW. The only exception is the Early Roman Period grave from the Przeworsk Culture, with the pit oriented along the NWW-SEE axis and the skeleton oriented with the head to the west. At the north-western Mazowsze, in the zone occupied by the Wielbark Culture from the beginning of phase B2/C1, a series of about 20 inhumation graves from the Wielbark Culture at Modła is quite exceptional. Five inhumation graves are known from the cemetery at Litwinki, distr. Nidzica, at which no fewer than 50 graves were discovered, while at other cemeteries, only single such graves are recorded. This also concerns the big cemetery at Niedanowo, distr. Nidzica, site 2, where there was only one inhumation grave among over 200 hundred burials from the Wielbark Culture. In the case of the Przeworsk Culture at the entire territory of Mazowsze on the right side of the Vistula, inhumation graves are very rare (fewer than 15 graves in total). However, almost all of the them come from the northern limits of the Przeworsk settlement zone (Szczepkowo-Zalesie, Bartki, and Niedanowo, distr. Nidzica, Modła, distr. Mława, Zgliczyn-Pobodzy, distr. Żuromin). The grave pits are variously aligned, although the orientation W-E and similar ones dominate, and the bodies of the dead were often laid on the side, and (or) with the legs pulled up. This absence of clear rules concerning the orientation of the grave and the arrangement of the body is characteristic of the inhumation ritual also at other areas of the Przeworsk Culture. The evidence presented above allows us to connect grave 169 with the Wielbark Culture and to date it generally to the Late Roman Period. The bones from grave 169 belonged to one individual. The gender features were not clear. However, the relatively big size and massiveness of individual bones (eg ribs, vertebrae, mastoid processes), the angle value between the neck and the shaft of proximal femur (ca 125°), and also the shape of the upper rim of the orbit and occipital, point to a male. The determination of the age of the dead was not easy because of the discrepancy between the ectocranial suture closure and dental age. All preserved fragments of the cranial sutures were exo- and endocranially opened on both sides. On the other hand, the degree of attrition of the surfaces of the masticatory system was quite considerable. It may be assumed that the skeleton under study belonged to a male individual who died at the age of early adultus (ca 20–25 years). He was around 165.5 cm tall. At two parietal bones, in the area beginning in the middle of the sagittal suture (pars lambdoidea, and pars obelica) and ending at the joint with the occipital bone (the area of lambda point), there is an oval hole (Fig. 2). The size of the cavity in the sagittal plane measured ca 59 mm, while in the frontal plane it was 39.5 mm. At the same time, the edges of this cavity were damaged post mortem in the area of lambda point and it was on the opposite site of the cavity. The actual post-trepanation hole was slightly smaller (48.5×39.5 mm). The characteristics of this cavity allows us to view it beyond any doubt as a hole resulting from craniotomy (status post trepanationem). The operation was carried out in vivo, which is supported by the fact that the edges of the cavity had healed intravitally (cf Figs. 2 and 3). An analysis of the bone margin at the outline of the hole (11.9 mm) points to a relatively long intravital period, which indirectly suggests that the trepanation could have taken place at a young age. The post-trepanation hole was made by using the method of scraping which was the most common method in all ancient periods. This is why the cavity had a regular oval shape, with the wall gently inclined inside, which is described in the literature as completed trepanation (involving the perforation of lamina interna). The location of the cavity is worth noting. It is in the parietal bones, close to the sagittal suture and the lambda point, as the middle zone of the head is connected with greater risk in such operations. This is due to the fact that right under the lid of the skull there is the Sinus sagittalis, whose disruption can result in instant death either due to vein damage or due to infection. The described surgical intervention belonged to the so called healing trepanations. However, a ritual (magical) character of this operation cannot be excluded. Everything points to the fact that the reasons for the craniotomy in the case of the individual in Modła were connected with the morphological features of his skull. The skull was characterized by an asymmetry (particular visible in the area of frontal, occipital and both temporal bones), the occipital scale was indented and had an irregular line of the nuchal crest and of the protuberantia occipitalis externa. This may testify to a pathological state of traumatic origin (injury of the occipital skull part). The bone density, visible in the X-ray picture agrees with age group of the individual obtained by anthropological methods. No signs of developmental disorders were observed in the bone structure (Fig. 3). Also the histological picture of bone trabecular tissue is symmetrical and regular, and no pathological changes are observed (Fig. 6). As far as the medical consequences of damaging the occipital lobe go (Brodman’s area 17 – V1 and V3), it can be assumed that the young man, following the craniotomy, could suffer from vision disorder. Only few cases of craniotomy are known from the area of Central Europe from the period between the late Neolithic and the early Middle Ages, which can be due to the insufficient state of research, small popularity of this operation type, but also the domination of cremation rite. Relatively numerous healing trepanations are recorded in Celtic materials from the present day area of Southern Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia. The only case of skull trepanation in vivo known from the territory of Poland and chronologically close to the find from Modła was recorded recently in grave 68 at an Oksywie Culture cemetery at Różyny, distr. Pruszcz Gdański (pow. gdański) – a burial of a male individual, age: senilis, and dated to phase A2 of the Late Pre-Roman Period. Three cases of craniotomy contemporaneous with the burial at Modła (coming from phases B2/C1–C2) were recorded at a big necropolis in Marvelė, ray. Kaunas in Lithuania. Apparently also from the Late Roman Period came the burial from the town of Nitranský Hrádok, distr. Nové Zámky, in Slovakia, while the grave from Merseburg-Süd, distr. Merseburg-Querfurt, in Sachsen-Anhalt is dated to the second half of the 4th cent. and the beginning of the 5th cent. AD. This chronological sequence, the territorial dispersion of graves with burials containing individuals with trepanation and the established fact that the operated individuals survived the trepanation indicates to us that the exceptionality of these cases is only apparent, and the surgical procedures connected with this type of operation had to be well known to the ‘barbarian’ medics of the time. This view is corroborated indirectly also by the surgical sets with instruments used for trepanation, which come from the Central and Southern European zone of Celtic settlement. A similar set (but without bone saws) is known from a warrior grave from a cemetery of the Przeworsk Culture at Żukowice, distr. Głogów, in Lower Silesia, dated to phase A1. Recently, Anette Frölich identified small trepanation saws, identical to the Celtic ones, in three coherent sets of personal grave furniture from the known bog deposit from Illerup in northern Jutland, to which also belonged scalpels and wooden needles for ‘rough sewing’ of cut wounds. It would therefore seem that we are dealing with some sort of first aid sets, most handy at battle fields and used by the ‘military’ medics of the time. Ernst Künzl describes the Celts buried with weapons and sets of medical instruments as warrior-surgeons – most surely the warrior from Żukowice was a ‘surgeon’ of this type. Head wounds, expected in battle conditions and the necessity of quick surgical interventions support the earlier expressed opinion, according to which craniotomy at the time of late antiquity at the territory of Central and Northern Europe were mostly healing in character. The sets from Illerup force us to assume that not only the necessity of such operations was taken into account, but also the necessary instruments and skills for their effective use in battle conditions.
The first discoveries near the sugar-mill at Strzyżów (distr. Hrubieszów) were made in 1923. During several seasons of excavation (1935–37, 1939, 1952, 1958, 1961–63) the complex of sites at this location (Fig. 1) produced an exceptionally large quantity of materials, dating from the Neolithic through to the Medieval period, in the form of several score kilograms of ceramics as well as around a hundred metal, bone, antler and stone objects. The materials held at present by the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw (PMA) and the Lublin Dept. of the National Centre for Historical Monument Studies and Documentation, was never analysed or published in full. The present article is concerned only with materials from the pre-1939 research by Zofia Podkowińska, now in keeping of the Iron Age Department, PMA. Pottery finds from pit 2 and a part of stray ceramics have been dated to phase A2 of the Late Pre-Roman Period and classified as type ‘Werbkowice’. The following vessel forms are represented: type I (Figs. 4:7, 5:15, 6:3), II (Fig. 6:5.7), IV (Figs. 4:2.9, 5:4.9, 6:8), V.1 (Fig. 3:1.2), V.3 (Fig. 5:1. 5.11), V.6 (Fig. 5:18) and VI (Figs. 5:6, 6:1) acc. to the classification system developed for pottery from Werbkowice-Kotorów (T. Liana, T. Piętka-Dąbrowska 1962, p. 157–158; T. Dąbrowska, T. Liana 1963, p. 56–58). The site close to the sugar-mill at Strzyżów also produced fragments of Przeworsk Culture pottery from the Late Pre-Roman Period (Fig. 4:5) and Early Roman Period (Figs. 2:1, 3:7, 4:1.8). Also identified – for the first time with regard to the materials from Strzyżów – was the presence of Wielbark Culture finds from the Late Roman Period (Fig. 3:3.5). One of the more notable Wielbark finds is an incomplete bowl, type VIA (Fig. 2:6), which is ornamented above shoulder with an wide engraved band of ornament of at least three groups of patterns alternating with ‘separator’ motifs (Fig. 2:6a).
In 2005 the regional museum in Mława (Muzeum Ziemi Zawkrzeńskiej) entered into its collections pieces from a cremation grave which had been discovered by accident at Żmijewo Kościelne, comm. Stupsk, distr. Mława. According to their finder, the clay vessel holding burnt bones lay at the foot of the side of a small gravel pit, in an area where it extended down to 2–3 m. The location corresponds to an archaeological site recorded during the 1983 fieldwalking survey as a settlement of Przeworsk Culture from the Roman Period, registered as Żmijewo Kościelne, site 1 (Fig. 1). Objects found mixed with cremated bones inside the bowl included a brooch of copper alloy and two uncharacteristic fragments from a three-layer bone and antler comb (Fig. 2:1–3). The funerary vessel – a bowl –may be classified either as type VIC, or 3rd variant of type XaA of Wielbark Culture pottery, acc. to Ryszard Wołągiewicz (1993, p. 14–15, 17, cf pl. 19, 27:5–7, 73). Both forms were as long-lived (phases B2/C1–D) as they were widespread across Wielbark Culture territory (op. cit., p. 26, 30, 102 list 6C, p. 110 list 10aA, maps 6, 11). The brooch corresponds in general to type 170 acc. to Oscar Almgren (1923, pl. VII:170). In Poland brooches similar to the specimen from Żmijewo are chronologically confined to phases C1b–C2 (K. Godłowski 1974, p. 39; 1985, p. 89; 1994, p. 487; R. Wołągiewicz 1993, fig. 1; A. Bursche, J. Okulicz-Kozaryn 1999, p. 143–144), although admittedly, some variants are given an even later attribution (type FG98; cf A. Kokowski 1995, p. 49; 1997, p. 723, 823 list 14a). In the brooch from Żmijewo the terminal of the foot is ornamented by two cross-wise incisions. A similar design is noted on some of the early variants of Almgren 161 brooches, eg specimens with arched bow and knobbed head, or type FM25, with incised/notched top of the bow, which are thought to be restricted chronologically on the whole to phase C1a. Ultimately the grave from Żmijewo may be dated to phase C1b. Definitely, it may linked with an as yet unidentified cemetery of Wielbark Culture. The funerary deposit from Żmijewo consisted of only a small amount of cremated human bones (209.3 g) of relatively poor diagnostic value. They all belonged to a single individual of unknown sex whose age was identified tentatively as maturus. It would appear from traces of fire which have been observed on the bowl that the vessel with the cremated bone remains was placed in a grave pit which was filled with smouldering remains of the funerary pyre. A small number of similar cases is known from other cemeteries of Wielbark Culture from the Late Roman Period in Mazowsze and Podlasie (Nadkole 1, distr. Węgrów, graves 23 and 25 – J. Andrzejowski, A. Żórawska 2002, p. 35, 36, 53; Cecele, distr. Siemiatycze, grave 378 – J. Jaskanis 1996, p. 52; Kłoczew, distr. Ryki, grave 68 – B. Balke 1971, p. 337). However, caution is needed in analysing similar cases as it is relatively easy to mistake for a cinerary urn a vessel which although admittedly it contained cremated bones but actually was an element of the grave goods which, placed in the grave pit prior to deposition of pyre remains, came to be filled with cremated bones by accident. The sandy workings of the gravel mine produced a dozen odd pottery fragments – prehistoric to medieval or possibly, early modern. Two were characteristic enough for attribution to Przeworsk Culture from the Early Roman Period (Fig. 3:1.2). A further site was recorded in 2006 at Żmijewo-Gaje, some 3 km SE of the gravefield at Żmijewo Kościelne, site 1 (Fig. 1). The area produced two stray finds of copper alloy brooches: Almgren 97 (Fig. 4:1) and Almgren 128 (Fig. 4:2). Both specimens are dated reliably to phase B2/C1 and linked with Wielbark Culture. Of special interest is the Almgren 97 brooch (cf O. Almgren 1923, p. 51, pl. V:97; Th. Hauptmann 1998, p. 164–165, fig. 9; T. Skorupka 2001, pl. 44/155:4, 149/481:2), a representative of a rare variant of brooches with three crests (Dreisprossenfibeln). The specimen from Żmijewo has morphological traits distinctive for type 97 brooches (crests on the head and bow, a crestless foot flared at the terminal), but stylistically it is evidently close to late forms of crest-headed brooches, Almgren V series 8, and late spring-cover brooches, eastern series, in particular, variants X2 of Almgren 41 brooches. Their area of discovery, state of preservation and dating indicates that the two brooches originate from a previously unrecorded cemetery of Wielbark Culture (Żmijewo-Gaje, site 2). May it be added that surface survey of 1983 identified in the immediate neighbourhood of this site, west of the road running to the village Żmijewo-Szawły, a site defined by ceramic finds as early medieval (Żmijewo-Gaje, site 1). The gravefields from Żmijewo Kościelne and Żmijewo-Gaje belong to a local ‘Mława’ cluster’ of settlement which continued with varying intensity starting from phase A1 of the Late PreRoman Period as far as the early phase of the Migrations Period. At a small distance from Żmijewo lie cemeteries at Trzpioły (T. Dowgird 1889, p. 23–25, 32, pl. IIIA), Stupsk (E. Reinbacher 1964; A. Niewęgłowski, J. Okulicz 1965; A. Grzymkowski 1996, p. 167–179), Dąbek (A. Grzymkowski 1996, p. 182–185; A. Mistewicz 2005), Modła (A. Grzymkowski 1986; 1996, p. 154–167; J. Andrzejowski, in print). A further number of corresponding sites, less well investigated include Garlino-Zalesie (J. Okulicz 1965a; A. Kietlińska 1972; PMA, IV/500), Budy Garlińskie (A. Grzymkowski 1987), Kitki (J. Antoniewicz, M. Gozdowski, 1951, p. 54–55; J. Okulicz 1965a; 1965b; 1970, p. 427 note 24, pl. I:2; M. Wyczółkowski 1990), Konopki (A. Grzymkowski 1983, p. 11; MZZ), Purzyce-Trojany (unpubl., Muzeum Szlachty Mazowieckiej in Ciechanów), Stare Kosiny (J. Okulicz 1965a; A. Niewęgłowski 1972, p. 242; A. Grzymkowski 1996, p. 198), Stara Sławogóra (T. Dowgird 1889, p. 25–30, 32, pl. IV) and Mława (S. Krukowski 1920, p. 89; J. Okulicz 1965; A. Grzymkowski 1983, p. 12). Pottery finds dated generally to the Roman Period are known from a further dozen-odd sites discovered during fieldwalking surveys. Almost all of the better investigated cemeteries of the ‘Mława’ settlement cluster produced material of Przeworsk and Wielbark Cultures (Modła, Dąbek stan. 5, Kitki, Stupsk), in which they resemble the situation at numerous gravefields dating from the Roman Period to the east of the Vistula in Mazowsze and Podlasie (cf J. Andrzejowski 1989; 2001, p. 108–109, fig. 9; 2005b, p. 117).
The cemetery at Bargłów Dworny is located approx. 10 km to the SW of Augustów (Fig. 1). It was reported to the State Archaeological Museum in 1937. Rescue excavations were undertaken at the site first in 1939, under the supervision of Józef Marcinak, and then in 1969 and 1972, led by Marian Kaczyński. In total, an area of more than 900 m2 was excavated, and 37 Bogaczewo Culture graves were uncovered (Fig. 2). Unfortunately, most of them were severely damaged as a result of intense agricultural works. Among the artefacts recovered during the excavations, there are several of local – limited to the Bogaczewo Culture – character as well as those typical of the entire West Balt cultural circle that deserve attention. The former group includes a triple-crested brooch of the Mazurian variant found in grave 7 (Fig. 6/7:1). It represents the second group of this fibula type, distinguished in this paper, which is characterised by a small protrusion in the upper part of the sleeve. Such specimens are found in the Bogaczewo Culture in phase C1a. The artefacts typical of the Bogaczewo Culture also include a figure-of-eight-shaped pendant of type A from grave 18B (Fig. 9:1) and two iron axes – one from grave 4B, the other a stray find (Fig. 5/4B:1, 16/03:5). These artefacts are dated to phases B2b and B2/C1. The other artefact group, of broader, West Balt character, is represented, among others, by an enamelled penannular brooch from grave 4A (Fig. 4/4A:1), two cuff bracelets of type A from the same feature (Fig. 4/4A:2.3) and a stray find of a small socketed axe (Fig. 15/02:1). The bracelets from grave 4A and the axe are dated to phase B2/C1–C1a and phase B2–B2/C1 respectively. The Bargłów Dworny cemetery also yielded isolated imports from the areas of neighbouring cultures. A G.3 type belt buckle from grave 18A (Fig. 9/18:1) is probably of Przeworsk origin; it is dated to phase B2b and B2/C1. A stray find of a green bead of type TM183 (Fig. 15/02:2) is associated with the influence of the Wielbark Culture, in which such artefacts are often encountered in graves from phase C1. The bronze necklace separators from grave 1 (Fig. 3/1:3b) come from the Dollkeim-Kovrovo Culture, in the area of which they are found in assemblages from phases B2 and B2/C1. A unique find is a fragmentarily preserved neck-ring discovered in the intermingled top layer of graves 28A and 28B (Fig. 12:1). It represents an interesting combination of Balt style (enamel decoration) with a “Germanic” form of the fastener. The scarce pottery found at the site is typical of the Bogaczewo Culture. Of note is the presence in the graves of small sherds of bowls and mugs representing the so-called tableware. It seems to be a local feature of the funeral rite, to date observed only at cemeteries of the so-called Rajgród Group. A comprehensive analysis of the artefacts allowed establishing that the excavated part of the cemetery was in use from phase B2 to phase C2 of the Roman Period.
PL
Cmentarzysko w Bargłowie Dwornym leży ok. 10 km na SW od Augustowa (Ryc. 1). Zostało ono zgłoszone do PMA w roku 1937 i było badane ratowniczo przez Józefa Marciniaka w roku 1939 i Mariana Kaczyńskiego w latach 1969 i 1972. Ogółem zbadano obszar ponad 900 m2, odkrywając 37 grobów kultury bogaczewskiej (Ryc. 2). Niestety znaczna część z nich była mocno zniszczona na skutek intensywnych prac rolnych. Spośród pozyskanych w trakcie badań zabytków na uwagę zasługuje kilka o charakterze lokalnym, ograniczonym do kultury bogaczewskiej, bądź też charakterystycznych dla całego kręgu zachodniobałtyjskiego. Do pierwszej grupy należy zapinka trójgrzebykowa odmiany mazurskiej z grobu 7 (Ryc. 6/7:1). Reprezentuje ona wyróżnioną w niniejszym opracowaniu grupę drugą tych fibul, charakteryzującą się niewielkim występem w górnej części tulei. Okazy takie występują w kulturze bogaczewskiej w stadium C1a. Do zabytków typowych dla kultury bogaczewskiej należą m.in. również wisiorek ósemkowaty typu A z grobu 18B (Ryc. 9:1) oraz dwa toporki żelazne, z grobu 4B i znaleziony luźno (Ryc. 5/4B:1, 16/03:5). Zabytki te datowane są na fazy B2b i B2/C1. Grupę drugą przedmiotów o szerszym, zachodniobałtyjskim charakterze reprezentują m.in. zapinka podkowiasta zdobiona emalią z grobu 4A (Ryc. 4/4A:1), pochodzące z tego samego zespołu dwie bransolety mankietowe typu A (Ryc. 4/4A:2.3), oraz znaleziona luźno siekierka tulejkowata (Ryc. 15/02:1). Bransolety z grobu 4A datowane są na fazę B2/C1–C1a, siekierka na fazy B2–B2/C1. Na cmentarzysku w Bargłowie Dwornym odkryto także pojedyncze importy z obszarów kultur sąsiednich. Najprawdopodobniej przeworskie pochodzenie ma sprzączka typu G.3 z grobu 18 (Ryc. 9/18:1), datowana na fazę B2b i B2/C1. Z oddziaływaniami kultury wielbarskiej wiąże się luźno znaleziony zielony paciorek typu TM183 (Ryc. 15/02:2), często spotykanego na nekropolach tej kultury w zespołach grobowych z fazy C1. Z kultury DolIkeim-Kovrovo pochodzą brązowe rozdzielacze kolii z grobu 1 (Ryc. 3/1:3b), występujące na jej terytorium w zespołach z faz B2 i B2/C1. Unikatowym znaleziskiem jest zachowany we fragmentach naszyjnik odkryty w przemieszanej warstwie stropowej grobów 28A i 28B (Ryc. 12:1). Stanowi on ciekawe połączenie stylistyki bałtyjskiej (zdobienie emalią) z „germańską” formą zapięcia. Niezbyt liczna ceramika znaleziona na cmentarzysku jest typowa dla kultury bogaczewskiej. Zwraca uwagę obecność w grobach drobnych fragmentów mis i kubków reprezentujących tzw. ceramikę stołową. Jest to, jak się wydaje, lokalna cecha obrządku pogrzebowego, obserwowana dotychczas jedynie na cmentarzyskach z tzw. skupienia rajgrodzkiego. Szczegółowa analiza zabytków pozwoliła ustalić czas użytkowania zbadanej części cmentarzyska na okres od fazy od B2 do fazy C2 okresu wpływów rzymskich.
From the investigation of a cemetery in the locality Logvino in the northern area of the Sambian Peninusula (Fig. 1) made in 2012 and 2013 comes a gold lunula pendant, presumably an element of a grave inventory (‘assemblage 1’) from a destroyed female cremation burial (burials?). The pendant, decorated in a style characteristic for the Leuna-Hassleben horizon (Fig. 2), finds numerous analogies in finds from the territory of the Cherniakhiv Culture (Fig. 5). Except for the pendant, ‘assemblage 1’ consists of a silver buckle and silver rivetbosses from a belt, a fragment of a silver finger-ring, a fragment of a silver shield-headed bracelet and a fragment of a silver brooch with a returned foot (Fig. 3 & 4). All of them date to phase С2 of the Roman Period; their style suggests exchange between the local community and the people of the Wielbark Culture in the Elbląg Heights.
Several Roman Period artefacts were discovered in the spring of 2010 on the outskirts of Węgrów (Fig. 1) and submitted to the Museum Armoury housed in the Gothic castle at Liw. One of these finds is a slightly damaged ball-like pendant made of gold foil without any additional decorative details (Fig. 1:1, 2). Similar forms are encountered in grave inventories of female and male burials in cemeteries of Wielbark Culture (phases B1a–C1) and Przeworsk Culture (phases B2–C1). At the same time, in the region of Mazowsze currently they are known only from a small number of Przeworsk graves datable to phase B2 (Fig. 3): Grodzisk Mazowiecki, distr. loco, grave 23 (B. Barankiewicz 1959, p. 204, pl. VII:24), Kamieńczyk, distr. Wyszków, grave 63 (T. Dąbrowska 1997, p. 22, 86, pl. XXX/63:4), and Oblin, distr. Garwolin, grave 26b (K. Czarnecka 2007, p. 17, 78, pl. XXIV/26b:1). An exceptional ball pendant decorated with filigree and granulation was discovered at Nadkole 2, distr. Wyszków, grave 121 (J. Andrzejowski 1998, p. 45, 65, pl. LXXV/121:2). This suggests that the pendant from Węgrów has a similar dating and is associated with Przeworsk Culture. The same location also yielded two denarius coins: a Vespasian and a Faustina the Younger and, at a distance of about 200 m, a damaged bronze crossbow tendril fibula, type A.161–162, decorated on its head and at spring terminals with knobs (Fig. 1:2–4). An indentation visible on the Vespasian coin suggests an attempt made to pierce the denarius and use it for a pendant. The condition of the fibula (its strongly bent shape – evidence of intentional destruction?) suggests that originally it was an element of an inventory of a Wielbark Culture cremation burial. The finds from Węgrów presumably derive from an as yet unidentified archaeological site of Roman Period date. Numerous finds of Roman coins recorded in the area around Węgrów and the nearby Liw, a hoard of Roman coins from the vicinity of the village of Jarnice, the presumed burial mound of Wielbark Culture at Liw and the long-lived burial grounds at Stara Wieś and Jartypory a few kilometres to the north, document the existence during the Roman Period of a settlement concentration which survived in the region until the Early Migration Period (cf. J. Andrzejowski 2005, p. 242, fig. 4, 5, 9, 12).
The articles introduction is referring to the “princely grave” (“Fürstengrab”) of Avaldsnes which was excavated in western Norway already in 1834. It contained amongst others weaponry, Roman import and a golden necklace. The grave dates to the 3rd century AD. Some 150 years later in Hagenow in western Mecklenburg a rich cremation grave of the first half of the 2nd century AD was excavated which differs in many ways from the grave from Avaldsnes. Both graves are defined as “princely graves”, but a clear archaeological definition of what a “princely grave” is still missing. The author wants to draw an overall picture discussing the relationship to the Roman Empire and the function of the “princely graves” in the great developments of Romano-Barbarian interrelationship. The first historical person to be mention is Arminius who was educated in Rome and who used his knowledge and skills to defeat the legions of Varus in 9 AD. Due to the written sources it could be stated that he had an important function in intertribal relationships of his time, so he could be called a “prince” representing a very special connection between the Roman Empire and the Barbaricum. An important grave of this early period is the Danish burial of Hoby in Lolland. The inventory clearly shows a high ranked person who was buried with a wide variety of Roman imports in the first half of the 1st century. Many pieces in that grave not have any parallels in the Barbaricum or even only very few ones in the Roman Empire. This inventory could be interpreted as reflecting the attitude of Barbarian chieftains to bring Roman influences and prestige goods to their homelands in order to adopt themselves in a way to Roman habits. But common tendencies for example in using prestige weapons as signs of power are missing at that time. This situation seems to change dramatically during the Marcomannic Wars of the late Early Roman Period. At this time Germanic tribes and chieftains seem to develop close strategic coalitions which brought the Roman Empire into deep trouble during the years between 166 and 182 AD. The Mušov grave excavated in the late 1988 is a key find. Weaponry and personal equipment could be set into wide reaching networks in the Barbaricum representing the military structures and connections during the time of the Marcomannic wars. For the first time Barbarian tribes north of the Danube play an active role against the Imperium Romanum and this new strength and barbarian interaction is to be traced in Mušov and some other “princely graves” of that time. It is argued in the paper that the inventory of the Mušov grave could be connected with Ballomarius who – due to the written Roman sources – played an important role during the start of this wars. The Roman import in this grave could be gifts to him during his negotiations with the Roman officials, the barbarian equipment like silver shield garnitures or rich belt equipment could represent his internal and military power. The “prince” of Mušov therefore is representing a new type of Barbarian leader who’s perspective in terms of internal coalitions between Germanic tribes seems to be much broader then visible in any grave of the Early Roman Period in the Barbaricum. At the beginning of the Late Roman Period these interrelationships began to become even wider as a strong Sarmatian impact is to be seen, e.g. in using golden “Kolbenarmringe”. This could be interpreted as an effect of the Marcomannic wars too. All these items could be seen as symbols of the developing comitatus (warband) which is a basic military structure of that time. The Scandinavian bog finds give clear evidence of these developments. In the 3rd century a kind of standardization is to be seen not only in the bog finds but in “princely graves” as well. The grave from Gommern in Saxony-Anhalt is an important key find as it contains a shield with rich silver fittings and a golden “Kolbenhalsring”. At this time Barbarian chieftains are in intensive communication and interaction. This kind of formation is the basis of all the troubles at the western borders of the Imperium: the limes. In the early and mid-4th century “princely graves” are rare and it seems to be very difficult to integrate them in the above describes system. But in this time some rich bog finds and some Scandinavian graves (Saetrang-Lilla-Jored-Group) seem to fill up the gap. At the end of the 4th century the situation is changing as such graves as the chief militaire in Vermand in Picardie are indicating the barbarization of the Western Roman Empire at that time. It is since the Markomannic wars that the Barbarian societies are increasingly in a course of confrontation and resistance than in the Early Roman Period. Over some 400 years the “princely graves” are representing this development that in the end was one of the important root of the late Antique society.
Abstract: The goal of this contribution is to discuss the question of separation or connection of the sacred and the secular spheres in the prehistory. The basis for these considerations were the results of excavations carried out in Kunowo, Stargard district, site 4, where a biritual burial ground and a related settlement of the Gustow group population dated to the early Roman influence period was unearthed.
This article is a study of the collection of the ancient metal artefacts that were found in the Ina valley to the south of Suchań, Stargard Szczeciński County. The finds are dated from the Bronze Age to the Roman Period. The collection is of great informative value not only because of unusual environment of deposition, but also because some artefacts are of great material and artistic value. Two objects deserve special mention: a necklace of a Wendelring type and a silver fibula with a double spring, for which there are no close analogies. Furthermore, because of the fact that relatively little is known in terms of archaeology in this area, the finds give new information that help understand the regional cultural situation. It is worth mentioning that from the Bronze Age there are only tools and weaponry, i.e. a sickle, axes and a spearhead, whereas from the Hallstatt Period and the Roman Period aretefacts consist only of ornaments and coins. It is also important to note that there is a chronological as well as typological similarity of the finds from Suchań to the finds from the site at Buczek, Białogard County. Artefacts from the Bronze Age probably served as substitute grave goods or sacrificial objects, whereas the finds from the Roman Period could be sacrificial.
The site at Jawty Wielkie, located in the Iława Lakeland in northern Poland (Fig. 1), was discovered in May 2015. A search carried out with the use of metal detectors yielded 50 copper-alloy artefacts (including 25 brooches, 11 bracelets, five belt buckles, two strap-ends and a spur) and an iron razor (Figs. 4–9). The finds were transferred to the collection of the Museum of Warmia and Masuria in Olsztyn. Some of the artefacts bear traces of burning; on several objects, traces of intensely black earth and charcoal have been preserved. These traces, as well as the structure of the discovered artefact assemblage, indicate that the site was used as a cemetery. The vast majority of the artefacts date to the Roman Period and the early phase of the Migration Period. At that time, the area of the Iława Lakeland belonged to the so-called zone D of the Wielbark Culture settlement. The oldest confidently dated artefact is a fibula of type A.III.53 (Fig. 4:1), which is a marker of phase B1b. What is interesting is that, until now, no brooches of this type were known from the area in question. Zone D was thought to not have been settled until stage B2b, however, the aforementioned brooch as well as the recently published, similarly dated finds from Bajdy, Przezmark and Zawada (A. Cieśliński 2020) indicate that the penetration of the Iława Lakeland by the people of the Wielbark Culture began earlier, in stage B1. The youngest artefact in the assemblage is a beak-shaped strap-end (Fig. 6:32), indicating that the cemetery was (continuously?) used until the early phase of the Migration Period. While the iron razor has analogies in the material of the Oksywie Culture from the Late Pre-Roman Period, no sites of this culture are known from the vicinity of Jawty Wielkie. In the northern part of the site, there is a group of small hills with a fairly regular, round bases, which resemble barrow mounds in shape and size (Fig. 10). Although the characteristics of these “tumuli” indicate that they are most similar to the mounds known from Wielbark culture cemeteries, it cannot be ruled out that they were built earlier – in the later phases of the Bronze Age or in the Early Iron Age. It is only possible to reject their later, early medieval provenance. The issue can only be resolved via archaeological excavations.
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Stanowisko w Jawtach Wielkich zostało zlokalizowane w maju 2015 roku po przekazaniu informacji przez lokalnego mieszkańca do stowarzyszenia miłośników historii. Po przeprowadzeniu poszukiwań we wskazanym miejscu odnaleziono zabytki archeologiczne. Przekazany do Muzeum Warmii i Mazur zbiór liczył 51 przedmiotów wykonanych głównie ze stopu miedzi. Jedynym wyjątkiem była żelazna brzytwa. W skład zbioru wchodzi ponadto: 25 zapinek, 11 bransolet, 5 sprzączek, 2 okucia końca pasa oraz ostroga. Pozostałą część materiału stanowią przedmioty, które ze względu na stan lub fragmentaryczność zachowania nie mogą być jednoznacznie zinterpretowane. Zabytki zostały podjęte z niewielkiej głębokości, maksymalnie dochodzącej do kilkunastu centymetrów. Niektóre z nich noszą ślady przepalenia. Widoczne na powierzchni przedmiotów są również ślady intensywnie czarnej ziemi oraz węgli. Opisywane stanowisko należy łączyć z ludnością kultury wielbarskiej. Wskazuje na to spektrum pozyskanych zabytków, które wykonane są w zdecydowanej większości ze stopów miedzi i stanowią głównie ozdoby. Zabytki datowane są od okresu wpływów rzymskich do okresu wędrówek ludów. W tym czasie obszar Pojezierza Iławskiego zajęty był przez ludność wskazanego ugrupowania kulturowego. Stanowisko było wykorzystywane jako nekropola. Świadczyć o tym mogą, wspomniane wyżej, ślady spalenizny oraz pozostałości węgli na zabytkach. W tym aspekcie interesująca wydaje się także obecność w północnej części stanowiska grupy niewielkich wzniesień o dosyć regularnej, okrągłej podstawie, które swoim kształtem i wielkością mogą przypominać nasypy kurhanowe. Najstarszym zabytkiem w zbiorze jest fibula A.III.53 będąca wyznacznikiem fazy B1b. Zapinki tego typu do tej pory nie były znane z terenów Pojezierza Iławskiego, które jest częścią tzw. strefy D osadnictwa ludności kultury wielbarskiej. Według ustaleń R. Wołągiewicza obszar ten miał zostać zasiedlony w fazie B2b, jednak na podstawie wspomnianej zapinki oczkowatej serii głównej, a także niedawno opublikowanych odkryć z Bajd, Przezmarka i Zawady, wydaje się prawdopodobne, że sporadyczna penetracja tych ziem przez ludność kultury wielbarskiej zaczęła się wcześniej, w fazie B1. Na podstawie całego zbioru zabytków można również stwierdzić, że cmentarzysko było nieprzerwanie użytkowane do wczesnego okresu wędrówek ludów. Najmłodszym przedmiotem w kolekcji jest dziobowate okucie końca pasa. Interesująco przedstawia się kwestia nasypów ziemnych o okrągłych podstawach położonych na terenie, na którym zostały odkryte zabytki. Należy rozstrzygnąć czy grupa wspomnianych obiektów jest formą naturalną czy pochodzenia antropogenicznego. Przy przyjęciu drugiego założenia pojawia się również problem ustalenia bezpośredniej atrybucji kulturowej. Analiza wykazała, że konstrukcje te najbardziej przypominają kurhany znane z cmentarzysk wielbarskich. Nie można jednak wykluczyć, że konstrukcje te zostały wzniesione przez starsze kultury archeologiczne – grupę warmińsko-mazurską kultury łużyckiej lub kulturę kurhanów zachodniobałtyjskich. Rozstrzygnięcie tego problemu mogą przynieść wyłączne weryfikacyjne badania wykopaliskowe.
The basin of the Upper Narew River is home to one of the most interesting features connected with the early medieval Mazovian-Ruthenian borderland – the hillfort in Zbucz (site 3, AZP 45-89/4). It consists of an earthen embankment with a height of 1 to 2.5 m and average width of up to 10 m, surrounding a flat, 80-m-diameter courtyard entered from the south (Fig. 1, 2). During five excavation seasons, 10 trial trenches were explored and a non-invasive magnetic prospection was carried out (D. Krasnodębski, W. Małkowski 2018). The results obtained indicate two phases of construction of the fortifications. The main wood-and-earth rampart, reinforced from the outside with clay, was built in the 970s, then the fortifications were partially rebuilt no later than at the end of the 10th/beginning of the 11th century. Inside the hillfort, at the foot of the rampart, there was a shallow ditch in which small fragments of burnt human and animal bones were found. Moreover, several metal objects had been purposefully placed there: a bronze bracelet, a two-piece iron bit, an iron ‘horseshoe’, a C-shaped fire-steel, and two whole clay vessels (D. Krasnodębski, H. Olczak 2019, 95–96). This unusual collection of finds seems to indicate a special, perhaps cult/religious purpose for the ditch. On the outer side of the passageway leading to the hillfort, at a depth of about 0.7 m below the surface, a fragment of pavement (layer 234) formed by loosely distributed small stones embedded in clay was exposed directly on the virgin soil (Fig. 3–5). It is impossible to determine whether this pavement was located only within the gateway (meaning it would have to have been built during the construction of the rampart) or extended beyond it (thus being older than the hillfort). An incomplete fibula of group VI (Fig. 6), type A.161–162 (O. Almgren 1923, 77, pl. VII:161.162), with a narrow returned foot and a flat-convex section of the bow of 4.4 cm in length was found in this layer. Brooches type A.161–162 are found relatively frequently at Wielbark Culture sites in the Upper Narew and Middle Bug River basins. They are dated to the Late Roman Period – from phase C1a to C2 (K. Godłowski 1974, 29; R. Wołągiewicz 1974, 145; J. Jaskanis 1996, 111; J. Andrzejowski 2001, 257). This find is the only object from the Roman Period that has been discovered at the hillfort. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that an older cemetery or settlement, heretofore unknown, existed within a short distance of the hillfort. It should also be taken into account that the layer of stones on which the fibula was found may be the remains of a sub-barrow pavement (cf. J. Jaskanis 2012, 210). However, the lack of human bones and other artefacts from the Roman Period speaks against this interpretation. It is also possible that the pavement with the brooch is a remnant of a destroyed cult enclosure, similar to the one discovered in the Białowieża Forest in 2017 (Forestry Wilczy Jar 2, AZP 45-91/28). It consists of a small hill dating from the middle of the 3rd to the beginning of the 5th century, measuring about 17 m in diameter, and surrounded by an earthen rampart faced with stones. A layer with loosely scattered stones and burnt debris, containing fragments of ceramics and small burnt animal bones, was found on its grounds. If we consider both described places to be similar, we can assume that the ceremonial and cult role of the hillfort in Zbucz in the early Middle Ages may date back to the late Roman times.
In the collection of the Museum of Warmia and Masuria in Olsztyn, there is an oblong chain rein link in the shape of joined double acorns made of copper alloy (Fig. 1). The object was discovered about 500 m to the north-east of the main intersection in the village of Gulb, Iława County, in northern Poland. The link from Gulb corresponds to type Z4 acc. to S. Wilbers-Rost (1994), which is one of the main components of bridles of the Vimose I subtype. Vimose I bridles are found in vast areas of Barbaricum, with several more pronounced concentrations in Sambia and the Middle Danube basin (Moravia and Upper Austria), on the Main and Middle Rhine, and on the south-western shores of the Baltic Sea (Jutland, Skåne, Mecklenburg and Hither Pomerania). A few specimens are also known from Masuria and Mazovia (Fig. 3). The earliest assemblages with Vimose I bridles come from Sambia, from graves dating to phase B2b; they become more numerous in the subsequent phase B2/C1. The artefacts from the Middle Danube are stray finds either from settlements or without a known context of discovery, exceptionally from aquatic environments. A chronological analysis of the use of settlements in this region indicates that the components of the Vimose I bridles should be associated with phase B2/C1, i.e. the times of the Marcomannic Wars or the period immediately after them. The youngest examples of Vimose I bridles from phase C1b come from the only better-dated assemblage in the south-western Baltic zone, namely the votive deposit from the Thorsberg moor (Fig. 2) at the base of Jutland. The chronology of bridles of the Vimose I subtype indicates that the oblong linking piece from Gulb should be attributed to the people of the Wielbark Culture, who inhabited the Iława Lakeland from at least phase B2 to C3–D. Despite the stray nature of the find, this assessment is of paramount importance, as so far no elements of horse tacks with chain reins have been found in a context that would clearly indicate the Wielbark Culture. Only two water finds could possibly be linked to this cultural unit, although their cultural affiliation is not clear: the bridle of the Vimose I subtype fished out of the Bug near Kamieńczyk and the Illerup-type harness found in a swamp near Żabin, Drawsko Pomorskie County, in north-western Poland (Fig. 4). The uneven distribution model of horse tacks with chain reins in the eastern part of Barbaricum reflects the funerary customs of communities within particular cultural groups. In the West Balt Circle, components of horse tacks are typical elements of grave-goods and often occur in the burials of the horses themselves. However, the tradition of depositing horse tacks in graves and burying horses at cemeteries from the Roman Period is almost unknown in the Przeworsk and Wielbark Cultures. On the other hand, in the basins of the Oder and Vistula Rivers, horse tacks were votively deposited in aquatic environments. In this zone, metal elements of bridles should also be expected at settlements, as demonstrated by the example from the Przeworsk Culture settlement in Jakuszowice, Kazimierza Wielka County, in southern Poland, and also suggested by more numerous finds from the Danube Zone. Therefore, it seems more likely that the find from Gulb comes from a settlement or a votive deposit, although an unequivocal solution to this research problem seems unlikely due to incomplete information on the context of the discovery.
In June 1927, two artefacts – an iron shield boss and a fragment of a small clay bowl – were donated to the National Museum in Warsaw; both were found under unknown circumstances at Grzebsk, Mława County. The shield boss can now be found in the collection of the Polish Army Museum, where it was moved as a deposit of the National Museum before 1939, while the bowl appeared – quite unexpectedly – in the pottery storage of the Iron Age Department of the State Archaeological Museum (PMA) in Warsaw, where it was ‘discovered’ in 1988. It is not quite clear how it found its way to the PMA; what is known is that this must have happened no later than in 1980. According to notes on the catalogue cards of both artefacts, drawn up still in the National Museum, they were found in a grave “covered with a flat stone, with smaller stones around it”, together with “a clay idol, which crumbled after unearthing, an iron sword, and a couple of spurs”. The grave marks an otherwise unknown cemetery of the Przeworsk Culture. We do not have any details about its location other than it was (is?) probably situated on the grounds of the former estate in the village of Grzebsk. The catalogue cards and inventory book of the National Museum list the artefacts as donated by Damian Gniazdowski, however, a different name – Wacław Gniazdowski – can be found in the delivery book of the Museum. The latter is true, as we know that Damian took possession of the Grzebsk estate no earlier than in 1889 and no later than in 1892, then sold the manor farm in 1902 or 1903, and moved with his family to Łępice, Pułtusk County, where he died in January 1922. The grave would have been discovered between 1889/1892 and 1902/1903, thus Damian’s son Wacław, born in 1894, must have recounted the description of the grave that he heard from his father. The small bowl from Grzebsk (Fig. 1) is typical of Przeworsk Culture pottery from the Early Roman Period and corresponds to type VI/1 in the classic typology by Teresa Liana; its unpreserved base could have been convex or concave, possibly – although this would have been completely unique – flat. Similar bowls are common at cemeteries in northern and eastern Mazovia, for example, Niedanowo 2, Nidzica County, Modła 2, Mława County, or Kamieńczyk 2, Wyszków County. Their chronology at the three cemeteries falls within the horizon of phase B1 and the older stage of phase B2. The characteristic star-like ornament on the body connects the bowl from Grzebsk with a group of vessels considered – with reservations – as more or less distant imitations of ribbed Roman glass bowls. Our specimen can be regarded – after Morten Hegewisch – as a “creative plagiarism”. The shield boss (Fig. 2:a.b) belongs to conical forms corresponding to interregional types Bohnsack 8, Jahn 5, and Zieling I1a, typical of the end of the Late Pre-Roman Period and the beginning of the Roman Period. Its surface, especially on the flange, is heavily corroded. Nevertheless, there are visible remains of so-called fire patina, attesting that the object was at some point on a funeral pyre. Only one rivet with a slightly convex, circular head has been preserved, however, rivet holes indicate that the boss was originally attached to a shield with twelve regularly spaced rivets (Fig. 2:c). Such a large number of rivets indicates that the boss should be counted among the older conical forms of Late Pre-Roman shield bosses of the Przeworsk Culture corresponding to type Bochnak 15 and dated to phases A3 and A3/B1, i.e. the end of the 1st century BC and very beginning of the 1st century AD. This fits with dating of other north-Mazovian graves with shield bosses type Bochnak 15, e.g. from Lemany, Pułtusk County, Legionowo, Legionowo County, and possibly also from Niedanowo 1, Nidzica County and Łysa Góra at Gródki, Działdowo County. The small iron nail stuck in the head of the preserved rivet is an interesting element (Fig. 3). Similar to the rest of the artefact, it is covered with fire patina, which indicates its original, ancient provenance. It may indicate an unusual manner of repairing the shield, probably following damage it sustained in a fight. Such a solution, consisting of hammering in another rivet, or a nail as it may be, instead of replacing the damaged rivet, may indicated the ad hoc nature of the repair or lack of access to a specialised workshop. The location of the cemetery remains unknown. It was certainly situated within Damian Gniazdowski’s estate. It is probably what a primary school teacher from Grzebsk referred to in 1926 as a “pagan cemetery” on the grounds of the manor farm, already in the possession of the Rudowski family, where “pots with ashes” were being unearthed. It may be the site registered during field walking in 1998 within the limits of a large gravel pit in the northern part of the village of Grzebsk (Fig. 4, 5). Potsherds and damaged graves in the walls of the gravel pit were discovered there – the site was identified as a Przeworsk Culture cemetery from the “Roman Period”. During verification of the site in 2018, traces of graves in the gravel pit could no longer be observed, however, fragments of characteristic sepulchral pottery of the Przeworsk Culture from the Early Roman Period were found in the gravel pit itself and its immediate vicinity. More information about this site can only be obtained through archaeological excavations. However, we will probably never know whether the cemetery that yielded the artefacts described here and the cemetery discovered in 1998 are one and the same.
In the middle of April 1969, an urn cremation grave from the Roman Period (Fig. 2) was discovered by accident in Błonie, now Warsaw West County (Fig. 1). Several days later, a rescue excavation was carried out in the area of the find, during which four trenches with a total surface area of 130 square metres were opened. Another burial from the Roman Period, two settlement features from the Neolithic and the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age, and three modern graves were registered within their limits (Fig. 3). In 1974, 1985, and 2015, fieldwalking surveys took place in the vicinity of the site. The material discovered at this time was interpreted as traces of a multicultural settlement and, in the Roman Period, also a place of iron production. These assumptions were confirmed by excavations that took place in recent years and were prompted by the intense residential development in the area of the site. However, no Przeworsk Culture graves were found during the excavations. The accidently discovered grave 1 is an urn cremation burial of an individual at the age of infans II/iuvenis. In addition to burnt bones, an iron axe (Fig. 4:1), fragments of a melted glass vessel (Fig. 5), and pieces of a burnt multilayer antler comb (Fig. 4:2) were found inside the urn. The clay vessel that served as a cinerary urn was made on a potter’s wheel (Fig. 4:3). Specimens of similar morphology are known from other Przeworsk Culture sites occupied in the Late Roman Period. The closest analogies, both territorially and stylistically, come from sites located not far from Błonie, on the Middle and Lower Bzura River. The iron axe corresponds to the Żarnowiec type. Objects of a similar shape are found in different parts of barbarian Europe, where they are dated within the range of the Late Roman Period. The slender specimen from Błonie, with a rectangular shaft-hole, finds its best parallels in the territory of the Przeworsk Culture in central Poland. It is not easy to date grave 1 based on local artefact forms. The destroyed glass vessel is the most problematic. The better preserved fragments suggest that it was a mould-blown cup decorated with vertical and fairly shallow grooves (Fig. 5). I am not aware of any such specimen found in the territory of Poland. The most similar vessels are found mainly at Roman cemeteries in the area of present-day Cologne, where they were also most likely made. They are usually dated to the 4th century AD. They are quite diverse – some differ from the specimen from Błonie by having narrower grooves; all have concave bottoms. Out of these specimens, the closest analogies are finds from the vicinity of Hambach, Lkr. Düren (Fig. 6:1), Cologne-Neußer Straße (Fig. 6:2), and Krefeld-Gellep, Lkr. Krefeld (Fig. 6:3), characterised by grooves of a similar size. Vessels with vertically ribbed bodies could have also been made in other regions, e.g. in the late Roman (phases C2–C3) glass workshop in Komarìv, Černìvcì Province, on the Dniester River. Unfortunately, we do not know of any glasses from that workshop that are decorated in the same manner as the preserved fragment from Błonie. In conclusion, grave 1 from Błonie should be dated to no earlier than phase C2, and most probably to phases C2–D. Grave 4 (Fig. 7) is a destroyed urn burial. Burnt bones of a child at the age of infans I, sherds of two smaller clay vessels, and a lump of melted glass were found inside the urn. Burnt bones, a fragment of a glass bead, and a spindle whorl (Fig. 7:1), all scattered by ploughing, were found within a 25 cm radius of the urn. The clay vessels found in grave 4 (Fig. 7:2–4) are forms typical of the Przeworsk Culture. They appear in phase B2 and are most often encountered in assemblages from the Late Roman Period. The assemblage from Błonie should most probably be dated to that later stage. The cemetery in Błonie together with neighbouring settlements formed a settlement complex (Fig. 1). A settlement, located several hundred metres to the east and registered at site AZP 57-63/1, was in use at the same time. The complex is a part of the Przeworsk Culture settlement cluster, where signs of intense iron production have been registered (The Mazovian Centre of Metallurgy). Only a small number of cemeteries is known from this region, which led to a theory that local iron production was isolated to the settlement base usually placed within the Przeworsk Culture settlement clusters situated several dozen kilometres to the west, on the Lower and Middle Bzura River. However, this hypothesis resulted from research focused on examination of the local metallurgy. Over a dozen cemeteries are known from the area of the metallurgical centre; they are usually poorly explored and unpublished. An analysis of the material from these sites is necessary to better understand the character of the local settlement of the Przeworsk Culture population. The cemetery in Błonie is also relevant to another research aspect, i.e. the nature of the late Roman settlement of the Przeworsk Culture in the area in question. In light of established findings, at the end of the Early Roman Period and the beginning of the Late Roman Period, the local settlement structures underwent a kind of regression, which is believed to be associated with a decline in large-scale iron production. The results of the latest archaeological research only partly support these findings. Some of the settlements were in fact abandoned at the beginning of the Late Roman Period. On the other hand, the well-examined sites founded near the end of the Early Roman Period do not demonstrate symptoms of a settlement crisis in phases C and D. What is different is the nature of these sites, as they do not show signs of the intense metallurgical activity known from the Early Roman Period.
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