technical level of small-town shoemaking in Gdańsk Pomerania in the 14th century

Based on the late medieval leather artefacts from Puck, Gniew, Lębork and Chojnice, an attempt was made to assess the level of shoemaking production at that time. Microscopic analyses of leather goods and production waste proved that in the field of tanning the activities related to the mechanical treatment of leather were carefully performed, although with insufficient professional knowledge concerning the process. The results of the identification of the animal origin of the leather confirmed the purposeful selection of raw material with different properties for individual footwear elements and the ability to properly cut it. The quality of the shoemaking products was highly rated in terms of technology and style. However, in the analysed collections a clearly perceptible difference in craftsmanship and assortment of products from Gniew and the other three towns was noticed.

Archaeological settlement research for the late Middle Ages in Poland

Archaeological settlement research in Poland has to date not been conducted on a large scale. The remains of medieval villages have usually been excavated when rescue works were required by construction projects – usually along the routes of planned highways. Traces of farming have been discovered only by chance, and research on the distribution of land uses has mainly been carried out by geographers. In a few cases, survey excavations of rural settlements have been carried out in the vicinity of defensive structures being investigated. In cities, even long-term studies have basically been limited to researching only the densely built-up zone, the market square, and defensive walls. Neither agricultural land owned by townsfolk nor the zones outside the city proper that they used economically have been examined. The surface research resulting from the campaign Archeologiczne Zdjęcie Polski – AZP (Polish Archaeological Record) is of little use for the late Middle Ages, firstly because artefacts from that period were not collected at the beginning of the research, and also because of a specific aspect of cultivation (fertilisation), which saw a considerable carrying of movable cultural artefacts out from built-up areas. These weaknesses resulted from various factors. First of all, there was a lack of interest in such research among not only historical preservation services but also archaeologists themselves. However, the main factor was the significant financial outlays that such research requires. Currently, archaeology has many techniques at its disposal that allow large areas to be studied and that thus allow archaeological sites to be identified and preliminarily investigated. Aerial laser scanning and ground-based geophysical methods provide much valuable data and, above all, allow places requiring excavation to be accurately identified. Unfortunately, deeming such methods to sufficiently record sites can sometimes mean that they constitute the first and only archaeological survey of a site. Then there are problems of dating such sites and, of course, we do not acquire many of the movable cultural objects that research on medieval society demands.

Piast castle on Ostrów Tumski island in Wrocław

The article briefly presents the author’s hypothesis of architectural changes in the ducal castle on Ostrów Tumski in Wrocław, which was developed based on the results of architectural studies of the relics of the castle walls uncovered in excavations in 2011–2012 and 2014, in combination with the results of laboratory tests such as petrographic and mineralogical analysis of mortars, 14C analysis of charcoal contained in mortars and extensive analysis of brick dimensions using statistical methods. As a result, a chronological stratification into eight phases from the 12th to 15th centuries is proposed. Absolute dating was addressed through radiocarbon analyses and historical context.

Early medieval island-type lake dwellings in north-western Poland: Western Slavonic crannogs?

In many regions of Europe there are so-called lake-dwellings, which were described in 1890 by Robert Munro, and have a close spatial and functional relation withinland water systems and seas. Settlements of this type are also known from the area of north-western Poland, where the landscape is dominated by lakes. Characteristicamong them are early medieval settlements entirely occupying small islands located within lake basins (Parsęcko, Żółte and Myślibórz in Pomerania – Pomorze; Nowy Dworek, Chycina and Lubniewice in Lubusz Land – ziemia lubuska). In their external appearance, they resemble British crannogs, especially in their size, the anthropogenic structure of the islands, wooden quays, piers and bridge crossings connecting the islands with the nearby mainland. An important feature of the islands where such structures are sited is their characteristic location – directly on the long-distance routes, in the settlement border zone, in the vicinity of the main watersheds of Lubusz Land andPomerania. They were also part of local settlement clusters, which often included contemporary defensive settlements. They were central places, especially important from the point of view of the identity of local territorial communities. Their functions should be considered not only in the social and political dimension, but probably also in the mythical and sacral one.

beginnings of the Teutonic state in the light of the latest studies

In 2016–2018, non-invasive and archaeological research was carried out in historical Chełmno Land in north-central Poland as part of the ‘Castra Terrae Culmensis, at the edges of the Christian world’ (project ‘Castra Terrae Culmensis – na rubieży chrześcijańskiego świata’), whose main aim was to clarify key questions regarding the beginnings of the State of the Teutonic Order in Prussia. Discoveries included the remains of a previously unrecognised stronghold founded in the 1230s and a castle in Unisław that was the residence of the Teutonic commandry beginning in the 1280s. After a search of lasting more than 100 years, the relics of Chełmno, the oldest Teutonic city after Toruń, were also discovered. The article presents the resultsof geophysical, archaeological and geomatic analyses that confirm historical records in the 14th-century Teutonic Chronicle and helped to reconstruct the history of the oldest Teutonic earth-and-timber strongholds and cities chartered under Chełmno law stood.

Medieval brick and stone timber framed houses – a missing link in the development of Silesian tenement house?

Our study presents the most recent directions of research on the medieval burgher house in Silesia, looking at the issue through the prism of a certain house from Głogów, unique in the region, with a mixed brick and timber-framed structure with Steinwerk, which forces us to ask questions about the universality of this type of solutions – long absent in the panorama of large Silesian cities. A proposition of the typology of Silesian townhouses with a mixed structure, which was based on the results of research conducted by the author in Silesian cities in the years 1997–2018, was also presented.

treasure of Środa as a source for research on medieval symbols and migrations

Analysis of the symbolism of engagements, wedding ceremonies and wedding celebrations does not allow us to strictly define the symbols associated with these occasions. It is also difficult to determine the variation in symbolism in time and space. Nevertheless, a list of certain symbols has been established: the hand-in-hand gesture, the ring and the garland. This last seems to be particularly important during the wedding feast. The crown and the garland are, first of all, specifically bridal headgear; the crown is also worn during the wedding ceremony but is not a symbol of the ceremony. In the Kingdom of Poland, and perhaps also in other areas, if a coronation and wedding took place simultaneously, a garland was marked on the bride’s crown. Meanwhile, an eagle on the crown or on other dress accessories probably only elevated the status of these artefacts and cannot be heraldic. Archaeological discoveries also allow to state that diadems with eagles holding rings in their beaks – like a specimen from Środa Śląska – were also made of tin-lead alloys.Despite the incredible abundance of silver treasures in the early Middle Ages on Polish lands, which largely resulted from the migration of Scandinavians, it is hard to talk about the emergence of new financial market instruments at that time, although some effects are visible in the commercial culture. Only in the late Middle Ages, thanks to the German, Teutonic and Hansa colonisation, and the migration of Jews, credit appears, the material effect of which is bond hoards, and in the 15th century, commercial paper – a modern financial market tool. All this evidences that medieval hoards are also a source of research on migration.

On the origins and chronology of the Wolin emporium

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.

Wooden sacral architecture in Greater Poland. An interdisciplinary case study of the church in Domachowo

Sacred wooden architecture in Poland is a huge and still unrecognised research problem. It covers a number of issues of interdisciplinary character: from the properties of building materials and carpentry techniques, through constructionand architectural-spatial solutions, to cultural and natural conditions. Hence, the best way to study this problem is interdisciplinary research. The necessity of cooperation of representatives of various scientific disciplines became the basis for creating a team to study the wooden church of St Michael the Archangel in Domachowo, so far dated to 1568. As researchers representing various disciplines (including archaeology, history, art history, history of architecture, architecture, architectural conservation), we cite sources and research that allow us to formulate a thesis that the past of the Domachowo church dates back to the 14th century. Moreover, we present the research and methodological problems inscribed in the aforementioned church building, understood as a whole. Such a multifaceted approach allows us to redefine the current knowledge about the church in Domachowo.

Barczewko – a cemetery of the first settlers in Southern Warmia against the background of medieval inhumation necropolises in Teutonic Prussia

Barczewko is located near Olsztyn, in the Warmian-Masurian province (north-eastern Poland). The site on Lake Wadąg was the place of the first location of today’s Barczewo (Ger. Wartenburg). Urban settlement with the castle/watchtower was erectedon the initiative of the bishop of Warmia at the end of the 1320s. The development of the young urban colony was interrupted in 1354 when it was invaded by Lithuanian troops, burned down and abandoned. The village that was later established nearbywas called Alt Wartenberg. The hill behind the village, referred to as the Old Town, has never been built on. The place is a specific time capsule, preserving the remains of buildings and the basic elements of the town’s spatial arrangement. In the years 2013–2019, a Polish-German research project was carried out here. After a series of non-invasive tests, the cellars of dwelling buildings with artefacts abandoned on the day of the raid, fortifications, market square buildings, central place of craft and trade nature (the so-called mercatorio) and the settlers’ cemetery, as well as the remains of the victims of the raid, were uncovered by excavation. It is a unique complex which provides a lot of information about the pioneering phases of town formation in the state of the Teutonic Order, and about the everyday life of settlers coexisting most likely with the Old Prussian population. The excavations reveal details of the dramatic events related to the fall of the town, thus confirming written sources. This text presents for the first time the preliminary results of the research on the cemetery of the first settlers in southern Warmia. The necropolis provides evidence for the presence of the Old Prussian indigenous population who played a significant role in this process.