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In 2018, the Museum of the First Piasts in Lednica launched the ‘Lednica Project’, a new research initiative involving active and unprejudiced collaboration between amateur metal detectorists and professional researchers. One of the main goals of this ongoing project is to protect, preserve, and investigate fragile archaeological heritage – especially in the form of metal artefacts – which is under threat of irreversible destruction or loss due to farming and illegal treasure hunting. As a result of the ‘Lednica Project’, literally hundreds of artefacts from various time periods have been found, including coins, fittings, and other miniscule items. Among the most spectacular finds recovered by metal detectorists are early medieval objects that carry zoomorphic decoration, for instance in the form of realistic or fantastic depictions of snakes and birds. This paper analyses these items in detail and situates them in the context of wider discussions on the so-called Western Slavic animal style. In archaeological parlance, the term ‘animal style’ is conventionally used to refer to characteristic decoration which, in realistic or abstract ways, represents authentic or fantastic animals. Animal styles were employed by many past societies, especially in the early Middle Ages. In Scandinavia, different expressions of the animal style are well-known and have been extensively researched by scholars specialising in the Vendel period and the Viking Age, but in the case of Polish early medieval archaeology the Western Slavic animal style is comparatively understudied. Among the pioneers of research into the Western Slavic animal style were Jan Żak and Andrzej Abramowicz. However, apart from acknowledging the fact that the Western Slavs did decorate some of their objects with images of animals, neither of these two archaeologists made serious attempts to define the principles of the animal style and understand its symbolic significance. This was probably largely due to the fact that, at the time when they published their studies (1950-1960s), Western Slavic artefacts decorated in the animal style were rarely discovered in Poland and the neighbouring areas. Due to the ostensible rarity of such finds, some of them were also wrongly interpreted as stemming from foreign lands, especially Scandinavia and Rus’. Today, however, the Polish find-corpus has grown exponentially, which allows for new interpretations to be put forward. This paper presents a review of J. Żak’s and A. Abramowicz’s ideas, followed by a brief presentation of some of the most ‘iconic’ artefacts carrying decoration in the animal style, as well a discussion of the latest ideas concerning their provenance and meaning (cf. also the previous work of Leszek Gardeła, Kamil Kajkowski, Zdzisława Ratajczyk, Paweł Szczepanik and others). Its major intervention, however, is to analyse and, for the first time, defi ne the principles of the Western Slavic animal style in Poland. The conclusions arising from this investigation are as follows: – The largest concentration of artefacts with zoomorphic designs is noted in the provinces of Greater Poland and Kuyavia. Sporadically, they are also noted in other areas of modern-day Poland (i.e. the provinces of Lesser Poland, Pomerania, Silesia, Warmia and Masuria) as well as beyond its borders. – Zoomorphic motifs are usually encountered on objects made of copper alloys. Occasionally, the artefacts are gilded. – The most popular categories of objects with zoomorphic motifs are: knife sheath fittings, zoomorphic spurs, riding gear (bridle mounts, cheekpieces, stirrups), rings, bracelets, kaptorgas (small containers with symbolic/magic significance, usually made of silver), temple rings, and small figurines. Interestingly, zoomorphic motifs rarely appear on clay pottery and other everyday objects. This leads to the assumption that the animal style was strongly associated with luxury items and that it was predominantly intended for the elite. – Snakes, cattle, horses, and birds are the animal species that are most prominently represented in the animal style. The symbolic significance of all these creatures is well-attested in extant medieval textual sources pertaining to Slavic pre-Christian beliefs. – In the animal style various species of animals can be represented in either two- or three-dimensions and their depictions can be either very realistic or abstract. – It is often the case that animals represented in the animal style possess ‘hybrid’ features. For instance, quadrupeds such as horses and cattle can have additional horns and/or wings, whereas snakes can have feet and/or wings. – Some animals represented in the animal style can have other animals ‘inscribed’ in them. This specific form of hybridisation is vividly seen in the case of small three-dimensional bird-shaped fittings with additional bird-like motifs inscribed into their wings. In the Western Slavic animal style the animals are rarely, if ever, integrated into or surrounded by interlace motifs. This is a feature which clearly distinguishes this style from its Scandinavian counterparts. In the present paper, six artefacts obtained in the course of the ‘Lednica Project’ have been subject to scrutiny. These include four knife sheath fittings with snake-like heads (no. C2-263-29; no. C2-283-164; no. C2-224-54; no. C2-224-17), an embossed mount with a representation of a bird-like creature (no. C2-284-175), and a three-dimensional mount in the form of a bird with two other bird-like beings ‘inscribed’ into its wings. The knife sheath fittings are all made of copper alloy. Despite the fact that their decoration varies, and regardless of their incomplete state of preservation, it is clear that they all form part of a group of high-status items that were in use in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries in the emerging Piast State and beyond. Similar knife sheath fittings have been recovered from settlement sites and cemeteries as well as discovered as stray finds as a result of professional and amateur metal detecting across Poland. However, their largest concentration is noted in the province of Greater Poland, which leads to the assumption that this is where they were originally designed and produced. In terms of their decorative features, the specimens discovered in the course of the ‘Lednica Project’ are very similar to knife sheath fittings from early medieval cemeteries at Sowinki and Kałdus. It is interesting to note that Ostrów Lednicki and its immediate vicinity (including the sites that are subject to investigations in the course of the ‘Lednica Project’) has altogether yielded as many as six artefacts of this type – this is the largest number of knife sheath fittings stemming from one settlement-complex discovered to date, leading to the assumption that these artefacts may have been produced on the spot. Currently, the small copper alloy embossed mount with a representation of a bird-like creature has no direct parallels in the archaeological record. Therefore, the exact purpose of this artefact is unknown. It is highly probable, however, that it originally served the role of a decorative mount for a wooden plate, similar to the mount found in one of the chamber graves in the early medieval cemetery at Kałdus. There is no doubt that both the embossed mount from the ‘Lednica Project’ and the one from Kałdus are of Western Slavic design – similar representations of birds or bird-like creatures are seen on other Western Slavic artefacts from Poland as well as on a presumably Slavic sword found at Dybäck in Skane, Sweden. The last artefact in the animal style discussed in the present paper takes the form of a three-dimensional bird figurine. As noted above, the wings of this creature carry additional zoomorphic imagery resembling bird-like beings. The purpose of this puzzling specimen is unknown, but it is noteworthy that, in terms of its overall design and size, it is reminiscent of animal-shaped mounts/hooks for spur straps discovered in the territory of Great Moravia as well as in the cemeteries of Lutomiersk and Ciepłe in Poland. The reverse of the bird figurine from the ‘Lednica Project’ has two rivets, implying that it must have been attached to a leather base (presumably a strap), which lends even more credence to the hypothesis proposed above. Currently, four direct parallels to this item are known: two from Giecz in Greater Poland, one from Wolin in Pomerania and one from Bornholm. Their distribution as well as decoration leave no doubt that they are Western Slavic objects probably associated with people who belonged to the highest echelons of society. The final sections of this article situate the animal style artefacts from the ‘Lednica Project’ in the context of Slavic pre-Christian beliefs. As noted above, snakes and birds played significant roles in Slavic worldviews. Stories about snakes are particularly prominent in folklore. One of the best-known snake-like creatures is known as Żmij. According to ethnographic accounts from the nineteenth- and twentieth centuries stemming from different parts of the Slavic world, Żmij was an animal hybrid that combined the physiognomic features of a reptile (snake) and a bird (rooster, crane, gander or eagle). Although it is difficult to assess to what extent the early medieval inhabitants of Greater Poland were familiar with a creature similar to the one known in folklore as Żmij, it is noteworthy that there is an intriguing nineteenth-century legend mentioning the presence of black snakes on Ostrów Lednicki. In light of this legend, the substantial quantity of early medieval objects with snake-like designs on Ostrów Lednicki and its vicinity, as well as in the various neighbouring strongholds and cemeteries, supports the idea that snakes were indeed very important for the local Slavs and that remnants of their beliefs survived for centuries despite religious and political tensions and transformations. It is highly probable that snake motifs were employed by the Slavic elite of the late tenth and eleventh centuries as markers of identity, group affiliation, and religious belief. The discoveries of fragmented copper alloy knife sheath fittings from the ‘Lednica Project’ fit this picture very well. Birds were also held by the early medieval Slavs in high esteem. Extant medieval sources mention their presence within the remit of pre-Christian cult sites – either in the form of images carved in wood (in Szczecin) or as actual living beings that lived in temples (in Karenz). The significance of birds is also strongly emphasised in Slavic folkore, especially in stories that can be interpreted as distant echoes of the Slavic cosmogonic myth. One variant of the myth speaks of two birds that were involved in the process of the world’s creation. Birds also occur in Eastern Slavic folktales where they are oft en endowed with supernatural qualities – a bird known as żar-ptak, for instance, is portrayed as a creature with flaming feathers. In conclusion, the present paper sought to shed new light on the notion of the Western Slavic animal style, its core principles, and its various expressions in the archaeological material from the vicinity of Ostrów Lednicki. Although further investigations into all of the different themes discussed herewith is necessary, it is already abundantly clear that the Western Slavs not only possessed the necessary skills to produce zoomorphic objects of exquisite quality, but also had a vivid imagination that filled these objects with profound meanings reflecting their pagan worldviews and communicating ideas about Slavic identity and group affiliation.