Related Papers
Wolin - the Old Town, vol. I: Settlement Structure, Stratigraphy & Chronology
Rębkowski, The Central Settlement of Wolin
2019 •
Marian Rębkowski
The full text of the final chapter of the book: Wolin - the Old Town, vol. I: Settlement Structure, Stratigraphy & Chronology, ed. Marian Rębkowski, Szczecin 2019. The chapter presents development of the main settlement of medieval Wolin in the period c. 800-1400.
Archaeologia Historica Polona
On the origins and chronology of the Wolin emporium
2020 •
Marian Rębkowski
The paper concerns the problem of the origin of Wolin as an emporium in the early Middle Ages. The excavations conducted in the 1960s and 1970s in the Old Town of Wolin recorded extremely rich cultural deposits of considerable thickness, in some cases exceeding eight meters. Results of recent studies on the finds and on the archival documentation from these excavations indicate that it can be dated to the period between circa 800-1400. During this time four main stages of land-use in the place are clearly visible. The second of them, dated since circa 850 up to circa 1100, involved a large settlement of the area of a few hectars with a tightly packed, regularly laid-out wooden buildings and wood-paved communication roads leading to the port. The size of the settlement, its regular layout and a building style are alien to the Baltic Slavic region of that period. Considering also remains of intense craft production recorded on the site, it may be concluded that in that period there was a craft and trade settlement with all the features of a Baltic emporium. This was established in the place of an older, small, seasonal settlement. The transformation and the growth of the settlement must have been related to the development of the so-called Baltic economic zone of the Viking period and can be also attributed to a change in communication routes in the mouth of the Oder and the collapse of the craft and trade settlement in Menzlin on the Peene.
Sprawozdania Archeologiczne
Comparative analysis of early medieval anthropomorphic wooden figurines from Poland. Representations of gods, the deceased or ritual objects?
2020 •
Paweł Szczepanik
Miniature anthropomorphic images, due to their unique character, have attracted the attention of archaeologists for a very long time. This text analyses the forms, significance and functions of items coming from the early Middle Ages, which were discovered in the area of Poland. The set of wooden objects is diverse in terms of form and probably also in terms of meaning. The biggest number of artefacts come from Pomerania, but some of them were found in other places. The Baltic Sea basin will be used as a broad comparative background during this analysis. Information from written sources and from broad anthropological reflection will also be used in an attempt to determinethe functions and meanings of these miniature figurines. Thanks to this analysis, it will be possible to show the importance of anthropomorphic figures in the context of early medieval religion and beliefs.
Marian Rębkowski
One of the factors that contributed to the mythologisation of early medieval Wolin was the lack of studies on the archaeological sources and the lack of proper publication of most of the archaeological discoveries made there over the past several decades. The main purpose of the two-volume publication was to publish the evidence documented in the course of the excavations conducted by Władysław Filipowiak in 1970s and 1980s in the Old Town of Wolin. Volume I includes description of the building structures, their chronology, as well as analysis of the spatial layout and development of the settlement between c. 800 and c. 1300 AD.
Europa reaches the Baltic. Poland and Pomerania in the Shaping of European Civilization (10th-12th Centuries, ed. S. Rosik
The Urbanization of Pomerania in the early Middle Ages
2020 •
Marian Rębkowski
On Wulfstan’s right hand - the Viking Age emporia in West Slav Lands. 2012
Mateusz Bogucki
Scandinavian Elements in the Culture of the Early Medieval Szczecin (8th-12th Century)
Anna Bogumiła Kowalska
Intercultural relations of the inhabitants of Polish territory in the 9th and 10th centuries, 2016
Mateusz Bogucki
M. Bogucki 2016. "Intercultural relations of the inhabitants of Polish territory in the 9th and 10th centuries", in P. Urbańczyk, M. Trzeciecki (eds), "The Past Societies. Polish lands from the first evidence of human presence to the early middle ages", vol. 5: 500 AD – 1000 AD, 223-276. Warsaw, The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences The chapter discusses the influence the neighbours had on the population of Poland in the period in question, as well as the impact exerted by the said communities. The aim was to demonstrate the diverse cultural models that were reaching Polish lands in the 9th and 10th century. This being said, the article also emphasises the relative hom*ogeneity of the local culture. Phenomena presented in detail include the impact of the culture of the Avar, Great Moravia, Bohemia, Hungary, Germany and Scandinavia. Considerable space is also devoted to the functioning of ethnically foreign enclaves, particularly the small group of Hungarians living in southern Poland and the slightly larger community of Scandinavians settled near the coast of the Baltic Sea. Significant aspects of the present chapter include tracing the more or less consequential influences from abroad, as well as illustrating how strong an effect the inhabitants of Poland had on their neighbours. Such tendencies are particularly apparent in the development of settlements and Slavic influences in Scandinavia and in the impact of Slavs on the politics and culture of Arab states. It has been determined that in the 9th and 10th century Slavs hailing from the river basins of the Vistula and the Oder were more than unresisting slaves whom ‘Vikings’ sold for Arab gold. There is much evidence to suggest that it was the Piasts themselves who sold their closest neighbours into slavery, investing the acquired means into developing the structures of the state. Known data also indicates that Polish warriors sought service at the courts of foreign rulers, e.g. Harald Bluetooth. The cultural interaction of the inhabitants of the Vistula and Oder basin involved communication, commercial exchange, migration and travel. The examples discussed in the present chapter clearly suggest that the inhabitants of early-mediaeval Poland played an active role in the transformations affecting European communities in the second half of the first millennium AD.
Acta Palaeobotanica
Factors of selection and quality of wood used for woodcraft in medieval Polish strongholds and early urban centres
Agnieszka Wacnik
This paper discusses various aspects of the use of wood for crafts in the Middle Ages, based on xylological analyses of 4211 crafted items of everyday use discovered at 62 archaeological sites in Poland. Over 1500 items were identified in the authors’ own analyses, and the remaining taxonomic data were taken from the literature. The research showed that the main types of wood used at the time were Pinus sylvestris, Quercus sp., Fraxinus excelsior, Picea sp. vel Larix sp., Taxus baccata, Alnus sp., Abies alba and Euonymus sp. Nineteen other taxa were used to make a much smaller pool of objects. At most of the analysed sites a similar set of materials was used to produce the items, regardless of their age and location. The choice of wood was selective and was based on the characteristics of particular tree and shrub species. Large coopered vessels were primarily made of wood from Quercus sp., Pinus sylvestris and Taxus baccata. The manufacture of turned utensils usually involved Fraxi...
Jagodziński M. F. (2009), The settlement of Truso, Wulfstan's Voyage, Roskilde, 182-197
Marek Jagodziński
