Piotr Kotowicz

This article presents the results of the first research excavation carried out at the multicultural site No. 22 in Trepcza. The aim of the fieldwork was to verify the hypothesis of the presence of a necropolis dating back to the Early Middle Ages in this location. As a result of the excavations, the hypothesis of the site from this period was not positively verified, however some finds dating back to the Bronze Age, the Early Iron Age, as well as features and materials related to the Przeworsk culture from the Early and Younger Roman period were discovered at the discussed place. Among the recorded features, there was a relic of an object embedded in the ground, resembling a sunken-floored or semi-sunken-floored dwelling.

Remains of lamellar and plate armour from the territory of medieval south-western Rus’ are extremely rare finds. In this context, finds of armour plates with small holes which were discovered at the “Zamczysko” stronghold in Biała Góra, which is now a quarter of Sanok, seem to become especially significant. In the Early Middle Ages, Sanok (south-eastern Poland) was the south-westernmost part of Halych Rus’.
It was first mentioned in the Kiev Letopis in 1150 when the Hungarian King Geza II launched an expedition to Halych Rus’. On the other hand, the stronghold which can be identified with Sanok mentioned in the letopises was located 4 km to the north in a locality of Trepcza, on a hill known as “Horodyszcze”. The existence of this centre was put to an end in the second half of the 13th century.
Apart from these two strongholds, in the Old Rus’ period there was one smaller hillfort, situated in the quarter of Biała Góra in the range of the Słonne Mountains in a forested hill called “Zamczysko”. Hovewer, one of the most intriguing categories of finds which were discovered at the “Zamczysko” hill are 65 iron plates and one made of copper. On the basis of their shapes six basic variants of armour plates were isolated. The detailed analysis of these finds proved that that they have the closest analogies in the 13th- and 14th-century armour plates from Belarus, Northern Russia (Novgorod) and Lithuania (Vilnius) as well as Gotland (Wisby).
Scattered finds, traces of fire of the fortifications, and a considerable number of discovered projectiles of missile weapons demonstrate that the stronghold in Sanok-Biała Góra fell prey to destruction, perhaps in result of an invasion and burning. It was most probably at that time that the discussed armour plates found their way to the ground. When could this occur and who gave the order to attack the stronghold? The concise analysis of finds and analysis of political situation in the borderland of the Kingdom of Poland and Halych-Volodymyr Rus’ suggest only one event – the expedition of Polish King Casimir the Great in 1340.

The article is devoted to the find of a bronze socketed axe discovered in 2013 in Falejówka (Sanok district). The find was made on the top of Mount Wroczeń, several meters from the hoard of bronze items (Falejówka, hoard II), dated to HaA1. This artefact belongs to the so-called “beaked” or “horned” axes, but none of the numerous specimens of this type is an exact equivalent of the discussed find. Stylistic features – primarily the characteristic trident motif decorating it, which occurs on axes discovered mainly in today's Hungary – allow the item from Falejówka to be dated HaA1-HaB1. The quality of the casting proves that the axe was made with good knowledge of the mould technology and the processes of smelting and pouring the liquid alloy, using bronze with a low tin content. As for its composition, metals derived from sulphide ores, mainly antimony, have also been identified.

The paper concerns a unique in early medieval Rus’, sword scabbard chape found accidentally in Czermno-Cherven’, South-Eastern Poland. The chape represents type distinctive for Western Europe and based on the analogies should be dated to the 12th-13th centuries. It was made of tin-zinc-lead bronze. The authors speculate that it may come here after military expedition Daniel Romanovych to Bohemia during the Hungarian-Czech conflict over the Babenberg legacy.

During the archaeological research of the Tustan courtyard, a side guard from the handle of a short combat knife or a slightly longer falchion was discovered. It has a shell-like shape. Two small holes are punched in its lower part, and the surface on one side is covered with an ornament of engraved lines diverging radially upwards, and there are small dots immediately near the wavy edge. In the central part of the lower edge of the fi nd there is a trace of a protrusion, now broken. The preserved height of the find is 31 mm, width – 29 mm, thickness – from 5.5 to 7 mm. The above-mentioned holes have an initial diameter that varies around 5 mm. Its main function was to protect the hand of the person holding the weapon from the blows of the opponent sliding on the blade.
The shell-like shape of the side guard is associated with the figure of St. Apostle Jacob, the patron saint of chivalry, whose attribute was a shell. Finds of combat knives and falchion equipped with side guards in the shape of a shell of St. Jacob are known from artefacts in various parts of Central and Eastern Europe – they are found especially often in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, as well as singly in Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and Ukraine. Most fi nds of this type date from the second half of the 14th to the end of the 15th century. Obviously, the Tustan specimen should be dated to this period.

W artykule przedstawiono wyniki analizy archeozoologicznej zwierzęcych szczątków kostnych odkrytych w trakcie prac wykopaliskowych przeprowadzonych w 2011 r. na dziedzińcu zamku królewskiego w Sanoku. Badaniom poddano kości ssaków i ptaków pochodzące z nawarstwień datowanych od połowy XIV do początku XVI stulecia. Podstawę konsumpcji mięsa rezydentów sanockiego zamku stanowiła wołowina, uzupełniana wieprzowiną, baraniną i koziną, w niewielkim stopniu także mięsem zwierząt dzikich i ptactwa. Spożywano głównie wartościowe konsumpcyjnie części tuszy z łopatki i udźca, pochodzące od osobników zabijanych w młodym wieku, w większości samców.

Remarks on discovery circumstances and hitherto research on hoards from Falejówka (hoard II), Międzybrodzie, Sanok (Biała Góra), Wola Sękowa and Zarszyn (hoard II)
This paper discusses the circumstances of discovery of five hoards that are studied in this monograph. All these hoards went into the collection of the Historical Museum in Sanok in the last decade. Regrettably as many as four of them were picked from their original contexts without the participation of archaeologists. An exception is posed by the hoard from Sanok (Biała Góra). Although it was discovered in the course of planned research with the use of a metal detector, it was explored and recorded according to basic principles of the archaeological methods.
The hoard from Falejówka was discovered with the use of a metal detector on top of Wroczeń Mountain in 2013. It consisted of 40 bronze artefacts. According to the statement of the discoverer, all but one finds were located in one place at the depth of about 25 cm. Regrettably, the discoverer picked the hoard self-willingly and did not record the course of exploration in any way. He was not able, either, to provide any specific information on the place of deposition of individual artefacts in the assemblage.
The hoard from Wola Sękowa was found in 2013, also using a metal detector, on top of a hill in the Bukowica Range. It contained a bronze vessel with a foot and 30 bronze twists in which organic remains were recorded. According to obtained information, the hoard was supposedly found at the depth of about 70 cm. The vessel was originally placed on its side, while the bronze twists were inside it.
The next hoard – in this case, composed of iron artefacts – was discovered in Międzybrodzie in 2016. In contained eight finds: a bit, two knives and five sickle-shaped knives. This discovery was made on the forested northwestern slope of the western ridge of the Słonne Mountains range. According to the discoverer, the artefacts were deposited in one place within the space of about 30-40 cm. The sickle-shaped knives were joined together and were deposited slightly higher than the bit, while the knives were located one on the other. The entire assemblage was
deposited in forest humus and yellow undisturbed subsoil to the depth of c. 20 cm. This was confirmed by traces of rust that were impressed in the undisturbed subsoil clay. These traces were visible in the course of a later inspection.
Regrettably, these artefacts were initially considered Modern Period tools by the discoverers and were explored without the participation of archaeologists. The fourth hoard was found in Zarszyn and found its way to the Historical Museum in Sanok in 2016. This hoard was incidentally found during horseradish digging. It contained five bronze vessels that were put one into another and numerous shards of a ceramic vessel in which the metal artefacts were concealed. This discovery was made on the northern slope of a nameless hill than gently dips toward the Jasło-Sanok Valleys that are part of the Bukowsko Foothills. An inspection that was carried out a few days after the discovery revealed a trace of the ditch
made by the discoverer. This ditch’s diameter was about 30 cm and it was 40 cm deep. In the same year, archaeological verification research was conducted in the place of the hoard’s discovery. This research fully confirmed that the discovery was made in the place that was pointed out by the discoverer. It also allowed for ascertaining that the discoverer’s ditch completely destroyed the original context of the find.
The deposit from Sanok (Biała Góra) was discovered in 2019 in the course of a legal prospection with the use of a metal detector on the south-western slope of the Słonne Mountains range. When the first artefacts in this hoard were revealed, the discoverer did not continue digging. Instead, he immediately informed the author of this paper. After relevant permissions had been obtained, professional exploration works commenced. After the hoard had been uncovered in the trench, it turned out that it was in all probability deposited in a organic container in an
intentionally dug pit. The pit’s outline was legible against the background of the surrounding undisturbed subsoil. After necessary documentation had been prepared, in view of deteriorating weather conditions it was decided to extract the hoard in a soil lump and continue the exploration in a desk-based manner. This proved to be a good idea, as the hoard was composed of over 400 artefacts, mainly tiny bronze and iron ones, as well as of numerous organic remains. Thus, an in situ exploration would have been very labour-consuming and problematic. The extracted lump
with the hoard was transported to the Historical Museum in Sanok. An X-ray photo was made and the exploration commenced. Individual parts of the hoard were gradually separated, and each exploration level (18 in total) was documented photographically. Thanks to this, it was possible to reconstruct a complete arrangement of the artefacts in this unique hoard. This will perhaps allow for an assessment of the function of the artefacts from the hoard in Sanok (Biała Góra).

This paper discusses problems of changes in military equipment that was in use in the historical Sanok Land. Being situated in the borderland of Piast Poland and the Halych-Volhynia Principality, Sanok was located at the interface of two civilisations – Latin and Byzantine. This was naturally reflected in both the material and spiritual culture of this region which was incorporated into Kievan Rus’ in the 11th century and then became part of the Kingdom of Poland (Red Ruthenia) after 1340. A question asked by the authors is: did the change of state sovereignty in the mid-14th century and the appearance of colonists from the West result in popularisation of the ‘Latin’ model of weaponry or were medieval Rus’-style arms and armour still in use? On the basis of a confrontation of written, iconographic and archaeological sources which concern this region in the period between the 1st half of the 13th and the late 14th century the authors draw the conclusion that after the year 1340 some types which are characteristic for the Eastern European model of weaponry were replaced to a considerable degree by weapons evolving in the Latin sphere.

The early medieval Sanok – fourfold mentioned in Old Ruthenian chronicles – was the one of most important, strategic centres in Principality of Halych, which protected the south-western border of duchy. The researchers suggest that Sanok could be the capital of minor, regional unit, called “volost”. Recent archaeological excavations have given more detailed arrangements concerning this centre of power. Primarily, they were conducted on three strongholds, which comprised Old Ruthenian settlement’s complex: “Horodyszcze” in Trepcza near Sanok, “castle hill” in Sanok and “Zamczysko” in Sanok-Biała Góra.
It seems that the central point of this complex was the strong fortified stronghold “Horodyszcze”, probably raised at the end of the 11th century and identified with Sanok mentioned in the early medieval sources. During excavations there were found relics of orthodox churches and secular residence, as well as large graveyard and numerous exclusive artefacts (bronze crosses-encolpions, silver and bronze ornaments, leaden ducal seals). All of them confirm this interpretation. The stronghold was probably destroyed during the Mongol invasion in the 2nd half of the 13th century. After this episode, the place of bygone fortress was occupied by cemetery.
A minor stronghold on “castle hill” in Sanok played a less important role in this time (end of 11th – half of 13th century). There were excavated numerous outbuildings and a graveyard in its space as well as artefacts. It seems that the highest position of this place raised after the fall of “Horodyszcze”, in the 2nd half of the 13th century. Close to the stronghold two large suburbs also developed.
On the other side of the river San (in Sanok-Biała Góra), a small, but strongly fortified hillfort “Zamczysko” was located. Latest excavations have indicated that this object was in use beyond the half of the 13th century. It was proved by the finds of rowel spurs and the 14th-century coins. The hillfort was suddenly destroyed that is confirmed by numerous arrows- and bolt heads found on its courtyard. The analysis of artefacts and political situation in this area indicate that hillfort disappeared probably in 1340, during the succession’s invasion of king Casimir III the Great, when the western part of Principality of Halych got under the rule of Polish owners.

The article discusses the current state and prospects of research on early medieval arms and armour from Lublin region. It focuses on presenting the region as a cultural melting pot, a place where it is possible to find the remains specific to different cultures. Rich source database allows us to reconstruct weaponry not only in relation to the spread of artefacts, but also in the range of interactions or military events.

The article presents an iron sword accidentally discovered in 2015 to the south of the village of Wisłok Wielki (Sanok District, Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Poland), which is situated near the Polish-Slovakian border. The fi nd, which survived in three fragments, lay at a shallow depth, in a layer of forest litter.
The sword consists of a broken blade severely deformed by corrosion, with a narrow fuller, which narrows to the top of the hilt, on which a long quadrangular cross-guard is mounted. The handle is topped with a triangular, fl at and low pommel. The sword was examinated by X-ray, which showed a regular trace on the blade, probably the remnant of a large oval mark.
The typological analysis of the fi nd is quite complicated, because no identical example has been published so far. Based on general proportions and metrics, the sword blade can be classified as Type 11 by E. Oakeshott, popular between the 12th and early 13th century. The cross-guard corresponds to Type 1a according to E. Oakeshott, which has a wide chronological framework, but similar in shape and length specimens (Types 14 and 15 according to A. Geibig) are mainly parts of swords of the 12th-13th centuries.
No formal analogies have been found yet to the triangular pommel, which indicates that the sword might be a product of a local (Central European? Eastern European?) workshop. Based on all these data, the sword from Wisłok Wielki can be dated to the 12th or early 13th centuries. The analyzed specimen is one of the few swords found in the territory of the medieval Duchy of Halych, which included the areas around Sanok from the end of the 11th century to the 1330s.
These swords represent a diverse typological set: these are the typical for Central and Eastern Europe. Among them are several examples related to workshops located in areas occupied by the Balts. The use of this kind of weapon in the Halych Principality is clearly confirmed by records in local chronicles, but there are only few images of them in the iconographic sources of this region.
Interestingly, the sword from Wisłok Wielki was found far outside the settlement zone in the Early Middle Ages, on the former Halych-Hungarian border. The fact of its loss in such an inaccessible area with dense forests at that time can only be explained by the close location of Łupkowska Pass, which is considered one of the most important communication and commercial points on this border in the Early Middle Ages. It is likely that this pass is connected with the report in the Ipatiev Chronicle about the so-called “Hungarian Gate”, ie the road that ran from Hungary through the Carpathians to Sanok and Przemyśl. Probably, the sword was lost by its owner under unknown circumstances during crossing the Carpathians.

The paper concerns a not well known problem of late medieval arms and armour from the territory of Red Ruthenia, south-eastern part of Kingdom of Poland. The author discusses the history and state of research on this issue since the late 19th century. He concludes that only studies on complete sources base – written, iconographic and archaeological – could present a real depiction of the medieval military history of this region. The conclusion of this research should lead to the monography referring to the arms and armour of Red Ruthenia.

This article is about some new fortuitous finds of a total of 14 axes and
2 battle-axes discovered in the Polish part of the Eastern Carpathians. 10 of these items are in a private collection, and 6 have come into the collection of the Historical Museum in Sanok.
Some of these artefacts were made of siliceous rock, and others of non-siliceous rock. 5 of the axes, found in Falejówka, Grabownica Starzeńska, Końskie, Pielnia, and Rakowa, were made of Volhynian flint; the Pielnia specimen is made of striped (banded) flint, deposits of which occur in Volhynia and Podolia. Moreover, 4 of the artefacts (from Morochów, Pakoszówka, Pielnia, and Sanok) are of local beige hornstone. 2 items are of Świeciechowski flint, which was extracted at Manasterzec and Wola Piotrowa on the edge of the Lublin Upland. One item, from Wisłok Wielki, was made of streaky flint of the type that occurs along the north-eastern edge of the Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Mountains. It has not been established whether the specimen found in the environs of Poraż was made from striped flint or a banded Volhynian rock; the material of another item, the axe discovered at Niebocko, has not been identified, either. The two battle-axes, found at Poraż and Zawój, were made of white-spotted stone and dark basalt respectively.
There is no doubt that these artefacts come from different chronological periods and demonstrate the presence of communities belonging to diverse cultural groups in the region. There are several types of axes in the find: four-sided, oval, and double-sided, and they should be considered to belong to the period from the Middle Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. The partially preserved axe from Grabownica Starzeńska appears to be the earliest specimen. Its analogies have been discovered in Globular Amphora Culture burial sites. Two specimens made of Świeciechowski stone and discovered at Manasterzec and Wola Piotrowa, are probably vestiges of a settlement of a Corded Ware Culture community. It is hard to determine the affiliation of the four-sided axes made of beige hornstone found in the villages of Morochów,  Pakoszówka, and Pielnia, and the city of Sanok; and also of the specimen made of an unidentified rock and discovered at Niebocko. Items of this type, made of a non-siliceous rock, tend to occur primarily in Corded Ware assemblages. However, four-sided non-siliceous axes are on record not only for the Neolithic period. They have also been observed in association with Mierzanowice Culture ceramics. It is difficult to attribute the two items discovered in the villages of Wisłok Wielki and Poraż to a particular culture. Both were made from streaked flint, and we have incomplete data for the morphology of one of them. While this type of material was often used for axes, including flat trapezoid specimens, by Globular  Amphora communities, we cannot rule out a Funnel Beaker or Corded Ware provenance. The rest of the axes are double-faced, and four of them have slightly curved faces. The specimens from Falejówka, Końskie, and Pielnia were made of Volhynian flint, and the one from Sanok was made
from shale. The specimen found at Rakowa was made from Volhynian rock and its faces have a high degree of curvature. Thin-walled axes were discovered both among the Late Neolithic as well as in the Early Bronze Age artefacts. There is no doubt that most of these axes represent the Mierzanowice Culture. The earliest occurrence of axes reported for the Lesser Poland region is for the grave furnishings of Corded Ware burials. It is difficult to determine the cultural affiliation of the curved specimen from Rakowa. Axes of this type have been discovered in hoards attributed to the Mierzanowice, as well as to the Trziniec Culture. The battle-axe discovered at Zawój most probably dates back to the Late Neolithic. The relatively thick, five-sided types and their close analogies, with a highly curved top and bottom edge, are characteristic East European battle-axes. On the other hand, it is hard to classify the other battle-axe, which was found at Poraż, especially as we cannot be sure what its original shape was like.

During the period between the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries, connected with the arrival of Slavs on the Polish lands, and the mid-14th century when the entire south-eastern Poland area was included into the Piast state,
the Podkarpackie region was marked by numerous conflicts, documented
both by written sources and archaeological discoveries.

On 20th January 2015 the co-author of this paper Piotr N. Kotowicz received information about an accidental discovery of bronze artefacts in the village of Rzepedź (Sanok district, Subcarpathian province).
The discoverers — Łukasz Solon and Ewelina Turzańska from Sanok, stumbled upon them the day before, while wandering around the village. According to the oral relation of Ł. Solon on the background of the brown earth and yellowish grass, he spotted a fragment of an item resembling
“shaft-hole axe”, which was clearly visible thanks to the green patina covering it. The intrigued finder unearthed it by digging a rather shallow dig (up to 15 cm), revealing in its vicinity additional five pieces of bronze coiled spirals. Realizing the importance of the finds he took out the items, but refrained from further exploration of the dug hole. When the unearthed items were shown at the Historical Museum in Sanok, it became clear that they might be a part of a hoard from the Bronze age.

The article discusses the problems of suburbia adjacent to the stronghold on the castle hill in Sanok. Current knowledge, based on numerous archaeological surveys was confronted with the former determinations of the previous researchers. It turned out that the stronghold was accompanied by two suburbia situated in different topographical locations, which probably functioned as craft centers. Based on the analysis of ceramic materials we can assume that they existed since the end of the 11th century to 1339, when Sanok was located on the Magdeburg Law. This new location on German law brought a complete change in the spatial layout of the future city.

The author discusses a hypothesis concerning the final stage of functioning of a small, medieval hillfort located
on „Zamczysko” hill in Sanok-Biała Góra. Artefacts found during excavations and other stray finds are dated to the second
half of the 13th and 14th centuries. Among them over 130 projectile heads were found, which confirms – apart of the traces
of fire on the courtyard – that the hillfort was destroyed in the course of a warlike onslaught. The analysis of the political
situation in the vicinity of Sanok in this time allows to relate connect these facts to the military activity of the Polish King
Casimir III the Great. This ruler who succeeded to the throne of the Duchy of Galicia after Duke Bolesław Jerzy II had been
poisoned by boyars in 1340, marched with his troops and occupied the western part of the duchy, including Sanok.

The presented publication is the first comprehensive catalogue of this category of artefacts, published 60 years after the publication of a major work by Andrzej Nadolski  (Nadolski 1954). It was written as the part of the author’s forthcoming PhD dissertation “Early medieval axes from the territory of Poland,” prepared at the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Rzeszów. This Catalogue will also be the basis for an analytical part, being in preparation now. It will contain a recapitulation of all problems concerning early medieval axes discovered in Poland.
A weapon or a tool? For many years, these and other questions have wondered the researchers of material culture of the Early Middle Ages, who were working on this group of artefacts. Today, despite the large assemblage of early medieval axes, it is still difficult to draw unequivocal conclusions concerning this problem. Therefore, following the attitude of the best known Polish researcher of arms and armour, A. Nadolski (1954, p. 37-38), all artefacts which could be alternatively weapons or tools were included in this Catalogue. This was also reflected in the title of this work.
In the Catalogue only iron artefacts were gathered. Therefore,  it does not contain miniature axe heads made of bronze or copper, which performed a function of amulets. Nor does it include artefacts made of other materials (amber, antler, stone, wood), as well as cast iron copies made before the Second World War. Many artefacts discovered outside  Poland (in Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania or Ukraine), but stored in Polish collections were not included, either. The same concerns iron adzes, sometimes interpreted as a form of “axe” (see e.g., Malonaitis 2003).
The presented publication consists of four parts. The first and the most comprehensive one, is the “Catalogue of early medieval axes” that contains information about 891 artefacts from the territory of present-day Poland, which are dated to the period from the 6th to the mid-13th century. It is based on published and unpublished materials, collected by the author as a result of several years of query in 86 scientific institutions with archaeological collections. The catalogue was finished in June 2011, but there has obviously been a number of new finds since then, which will be included in the annex to the second, analytical part of the author’s dissertation.
The “Catalogue of early medieval axes” was arranged in alphabetical order, and each entry consists of eleven elements, preceded by the catalogue number along with the name of the place of discovery and its administrative pertinence. References to tables were also placed in this position. The afore-mentioned eleven elements are the following:
- Type of site - information about the site (stronghold, settlement, cemetery), from which the artefact came, together with its present chronology;
- Excavations or type of discovery - information about the author/authors and year(s) of excavations or discovery (including stray finds);
- Detailed location - available information about the stratigraphical context of the artefact, its location within the site, settlement’s layer/level or feature together with an indication of its function; in the case of burials (whenever possible), the inventory accompanying the axe and anthropological data about the person buried in the grave were also given; in the case of settlement’s features (whenever possible), the inventory accompanying the artefact was also given;
- Description – detailed and standardised description of the artefact according to the proposal of A. Nadolski (1951, Fig. 2), with some differences: only artefacts with asymmetrical, undercut or separated blade were accepted as axe heads with a beard (cf. Kotowicz 2013a, p. 46, footnote 8); instead of a term broad/narrow neck, a notion of massive/slender neck is used; in the case of artefacts which were personally examinated by the author, , the state of preservation was also determined;
- Dimensions – unified measurement system (Fig. 1:1-2) according to proposals of A. Nadolski (1954, Katalog, Part B; see also Borowczak 2008, p. 69; Sankiewicz 2013, Fig. 1) and R. F. Sharifullin (Шарифуллин 1985), but with some changes: the width of the blade was replaced by the blade’s height, and the minimum width of the neck by the minimum height of the neck; asterisk (*) - indicates the measurements, which have been calculated based on properly scaled figures of published artefacts; additionally, in the case of specimens personally examined by the author, the weight of the artefact was given; the following abbreviations were used: dł. - length, szer. - width, wys. - height, najmn. - minimum, zach. - preserved;
- Typology – it was prepared according to the new proposal of classification made by the author. Its  detailed discussion and principles of isolation of various types and variants of axe heads will be presented in the analytical part of the dissertation; an example of artefact designation: IIIA.5.2a = Group “III” – Subgroup “a” – Type “5” – Variety “2” – Variant “a”;
- Chronology – dating of the artefact based on the context of discovery, a typo-chronological analysis or a correlation between both determinants;
- Basis of dating – a chronologically important assemblage of artefacts (with their typological classifications) excavated at the site, in a level of settlement or in a feature, in which the axe was found, possibly with references to  dating traits of the discussed artefact;
- Collections – the place of preservation;
- Literature – possibly the most comprehensive list of bibliography referring to the discussed artefact;
- Remarks – additional information about the artefact, concerning, for example, preserved hafts and their dimensions, technological analyses (metal, leather, wood), ornamentation, archive records describing the discovery.
Among the axe heads which were classified as early medieval in previous literature, there were 111 specimens which had to be excluded from further considerations. They were isolated in the “List of artefacts removed from the catalogue of early medieval axes”. It contains artefacts of  earlier (the Early Iron Age, the Roman Period) and later (the Late Middle Ages and the Modern Period) chronology. Several early medieval axe heads, which were believed to have been found in Poland, were in fact discovered behind the eastern or western border of the country. Pieces of information about several other artefacts appearing in the literature, were the result of mistakes made by authors of earlier publications. As in the previous case, these artefacts were listed in alphabetical order, and each note consists of four or five elements preceded by the catalogue number along with the name of the place of discovery and its administrative pertinence. These five elements are:
-  Circumstances – information on the discoverer, the time and place of the discovery of the artefact and, whenever possible, the chronology of the site;
- The grounds of dating to the Early Medieval Period – a brief explanation of reasons for which the artefact was previously considered as early medieval;
- The reason of deletion from the catalogue – a brief explanation of the reasons for the deletion of the artefact from the catalogue of early medieval axes, sometimes with an indication of basic analogies to this specimen;
- Literature – possibly the most comprehensive list of bibliography concerning the discussed artefact;
- Remarks – additional information about the artefact.
These two discussed above statements are completed by bibliography.
The last part of this paper is a set of drawings, which consists of 182 tables with artefacts, made in a 1:2 scale (except Cat. Nos. 374-380). Most of them were drawn and documented by the author in three projections, which is important for a detailed typological classification of each specimen. In other cases illustrations published in the literature were used. Tables 175-182 present completely preserved artefacts, including hafts.
At the end, the author wanted to emphasise that the database collected in this publication was certainly not ideal. Due to the impossibility of direct access to many specimens, their typological classification is usually incomplete. Some of them may have a different chronology than it was suggested in the catalogue, due to their uncertain contexts of discovery. However, it is hoped that the presented “Catalogue of early medieval axes” will be a solid background for further archaeological or arms and armour studies, and any failure will be explained in the course of future works.