Przeworsk culture

MA Thesis.
In the presented thesis is documented and analyzed a finding fund that was obtained from ARCHAIA Olomouc, o. p. s from Opava-Dolní dvůr and Opava-Kylešovice. Also were monitored finding circumstances of the individual contexts. In the area of interest was assessed settlement structure with regard to natural conditions. The material was compared with findings in the adjacent areas Przeworsk culture. All categories of artifacts have been carefully compiled with using the appropriate analyzes and technological procedures. The thesis is complemented by micropetrography analysis of ceramic thin sections.

Jak wyglądało życie twórców społeczności, której relikty nazywamy kulturą przeworską? Dzięki szerokopłaszczyznowym badaniom wykopaliskowym realizowanym przy okazji dużych inwestycji, np. budowach autostrad, można obecnie stwierdzić, że na przykład osady lokowano w sąsiedztwie rzek, szczególnie w miejscu ujścia mniejszych cieków do większych rzek, na terasach nadzalewowych. Wybór takiej lokalizacji był podyktowany dostępem do świeżej wody: podstawowym źródłem wody były nadal cieki wodne, mimo, że studnie różnych konstrukcji (z cembrowiną, z kłody, plecionki wiklinowej etc.) były już dobrze znane. Z drugiej strony cieki wodne stanowiły naturalne szlaki komunikacyjne. Poza tym występowało tu drewno (budulec i opał) oraz rudy darniowe - surowiec do wytopu żelaza, a można było także prowadzić uprawę ogrodową czy zbożową. Wybór terenów nadzalewowych wynikał z zagrożenia powodziami: okres subatlantycki, w którym istniała kultura przeworska, charakteryzował się zmiennością wilgotności i temperatur, co z pewnością prowadziło do okresowych wylewów rzek. Dopiero w III-IV w. dominować zaczęły osiedla zlokalizowane w wyższych partiach krajobrazu, a nawet zdołano wkroczyć na tereny podgórskie i górskie (dorzecze Popradu). Wykorzystywano tam zjawisko inwersji termicznej, dzięki któremu lepsze warunki dla rolnictwa panowały w partiach położonych powyżej dolin górskich. OSADY Osady miały bez wyjątku charakter otwarty, przeważnie z podziałem na część mieszkalną i gospodarczą. Tylko niekiedy - w przypadku dużych osad produkcyjnych - granica między strefami zacierała się. Układ budynków nie był jednolity: udokumentowana jest zabudowa luźna, ale także skupiska-zagrody. W zachodniej części kultury przeworskiej (Śląsk, Wielkopolska, centralna Polska) przeważało rozmieszczenie domostw wokół pustego placu. Na Mazowszu, w Małopolsce i na Podkarpaciu popularna była zabudowa rzędowa, zorientowana wzdłuż brzegów rzek; w takich przypadkach stosunkowo często stwierdza się brak podziału na strefę gospodarczą i mieszkalną. Być może zwiększona mobilność grup ludzkich w III i IV w. sprzyjała budowaniu osiedli mniej-szych niż w poprzednim okresie (nawet zagród jednodworczych). Obraz społeczności kultury przeworskiej przez lata budowany był w oparciu o wyniki badań cmentarzysk. Przyczyniło się to do nieuchronnych przeinaczeń. Powszechna była wizja społeczeństwa kultury przeworskiej jako ludzi strojnie odzianych, noszących kosztowne ozdoby, posługujących się cenną bronią i znających zaawansowane techniki kowalskie czy złotnicze, którzy zamieszkiwali w kontrastowo prymitywnych ziemiankach. Ostatnie lata przyniosły istotną zmianę tego obrazu.

The article concerns 23 ancient coins (8 Greek, 1 Numidian, and 14 Roman) from the museum collection in Inowrocław. One coin comes from archaeological excavations (a Trajanic denarius type RIC 6), the rest from donations and purchases. The coins donated to the museum are chance finds, however the donors indicated the place where they were found. The remaining coins have been purchased from old collections. In one case
their previous owner is known: Kazimierz Miaskowski (1875-1947), a catholic priest, and author of many publications associated with the Inowrocław region. The land around Inowrocław stands out as an area in which many ancient coins have been found. The author analyses coins from the museum against the background of finds from the Inowrocław area. Many of the coins in the collection are likely to have been found in the immediate area of the town. The author also tries to reconstruct the collections from which they came, and the fate of these collections.

During the excavation research in 2007 on the Przeworsk Culture’s cemetery at Osiek (Jarocin county), there were discovered barrow grave relics. The area of 60 ares were excavated so far, containing 211 graves all of them cremation graves, mainly (80%) pit graves (Pawlak 2011). In 2007 barrow grave No. 5 was discovered. The coating of the barrow has not preserved. Only enclosing ditch, 11-12 m in diameter, filled with stones, which probably came from the coating of the barrow, was retained. In the central part of the barrow there was a grave pit, with the dimensions of 3,5 x 2,5 m (fig. 3). There were no human bones within the pit, but its luxurious character indicate that it was inhumation grave. The lack of the bones was probably caused by natural soil conditions, as well as remains damage in the later period.
Inventory grave included: mandible and tibia of the roe deer, pottery, bronze fibulas of type A2 and with animal head (fig. 4) as well as drinking horn with bronze ferrules in form of ox head (fig. 5), which were placed on the bunch of spadixes of Typha. Preserved dimensions of the relics of Typha concentration measured 20 x 30 cm. The using of Typha during ceremonies as well as its medicinal properties have not been mentioned in the available literature so far. Typha associates with the water environment, so it could have been placed beside the deceased as a symbol of the water and rituals of passing. It`s using could also have been determined by esthetical or practical reasons, connected with the physiology of death.

In 2006 and 2007 the expedition of the Department of Archaeology, University of Wrocław, has excavated
the multi-cultural site at Wrocław–Zakrzów. Among numerous features from different periods, four cremation graves of the
Przeworsk culture were found.
From the explored pit-graves we know very few pottery fragments. Most of the artifacts are typical for the beginning of stage
C of the Roman period. Probably we deal with the initial stage of cemetery, but the population moved away for unknown
reasons. The small necropolis found at the excavated site no 29 has practically no direct relations with the famous princegraves
from Wrocław–Zakrzów (it is 120 years younger). The new-found cemetery is connected to the northern part of the
Bystrzyca–Oława settlement region of the Przeworsk culture.

We wczesnym okresie wpływów rzymskich kultury środkowo-europejskiego Barbaricum charakteryzowały się znaczną unifikacją. Wynikało to z wcześniej-szych integrujących wpływów kultury lateńskiej, a następnie z oddziaływań rzymskich. Dodatkowo elementem łączącym było także germańskie pochodze-nie dużej części ludności. Na tym tle kultura wielbarska pojawiająca się na Po-morzu ok. przełomu er (faza B1a wg R. Wołągiewicz 1970) odznaczała się dużą odmiennością. Dotyczy to zwłaszcza obrządku pogrzebowego. Szczególnie ude-rzające są różnice w stosunku do sąsiedniego ugrupowania-kultury przewor-skiej. Kwesta ta jest szczególnie intrygująca ze względu na genezę kultury wiel-barskiej: powstaje ona na obszarze w okresie przedrzymskim zajętym przez kulturę oksywską, która charakteryzowała się wieloma cechami zbieżnymi z kulturą przeworską (Wołągiewicz 1981a, s. 138-139; Godłowski, Okulicz 1981, s. 31-33). Podobieństwa między nimi są na tyle duże, że obie uznawano za grupy jednej jednostki-kultury grobów jamowych (Kostrzewski 1939-1948, s. 300) lub kultury wenedzkiej (Kostrzewski, Chmielewski, Jażdżewski 1965, s. 242). Do pewnego stopnia proces powstawania kultury wielbarskiej polegał więc na odejściu od niektórych cech modelu przeworskiego. W związku z tym rodzi się pytanie o przyczyny tego zjawiska. Za podstawową uznaje się przyby-cie nowej ludności (plemion Gotów) ze Skandynawii (Kokowski 2007, s. 47-49, tam dalsza literatura). Jednak większość specyficznych cech tej kultury, pod wpływem różnokierunkowych oddziaływań, powstaje na obszarze Pomorza, nie można więc mówić o modelu przeniesionym z zewnątrz (Kmieciński 1962). Poza tym kolonizacja czytelna jest tylko na ograniczonym obszarze w fazie B2a, czyli ok. 70-80 lat od początku procesu formowania się tej kultury (Wołągie-wicz 1981a, s. 152-153; 1981b, s. 85, 101). Wskazuje się również, że ludność tego ugrupowania była wieloetniczna, a obszary zajęte przez pochodzących ze

The article presents several Late Roman features excavated in the middle Torysa region on settlements in Veľký Šariš – Kanaš, Prešov-So-
livar, Župčany and Prešov, Sídlisko II and evaluates them in the context of the region mentioned above. All excavated features belong to
the last decades of the 2nd and to the 3rd century AD except Prešov, which is to be dated to the 2nd half of the 4th century. Analysed material
consists mainly of hand-made and, to a lesser extent, also wheel-made pottery, rubbing stones, and iron slag. Pottery shows the transition
from the Przeworsk and Dacian tradition to that characteristic for Blažice-Bereg culture. Ferrous metallurgy and mining of iron ore and
possibly other raw materials in the region are discussed in the article.

Funde der Przeworsk-Kultur in ihrem sekundären Verbreitungsgebiet werden seit der erstmaligen Entdeckung als Hinweise auf eine Wanderungsbewegung aus Polen nach Westen gedeutet. In drei Regionen finden sich kleine Gräberfelder, auf denen sich Przeworsk-Keramik in Kombination mit Brandgrubenbestattungen nachweisen lassen und somit die Ansiedlung von Trägern der Przeworsk-Kultur in sog. kulturellen Inseln indizieren. In einer dieser Regionen wurden drei Siedlungen großflächig ausgegraben, die zur Zeit im Rahmen eines Kooperationsprojekts ausgewertet werden. Für die drei Plätze wurde eine gemeinsame Keramikklassifikation definiert, die als Grundlage einer übergreifenden statistischen Auswertung des Fundmaterials dient und dadurch eine vergleichende Bewertung der Siedlungen auf einer völlig neuen Ebene ermöglicht: Es werden Unterschiede in der Entwicklung jeder Siedlung sowie die Beziehungen zwischen lokal tradiertem Fundgut und Przeworsk-Keramik deutlich fassbar.

Analysis of the effectiveness of conservation methods of iron archaeological artefacts: examples from the Przeworsk culture in Kamieńczyk, Nadkole and Oblin
After analysing conservation documentation created during the last thirty years, carried out by the Conservation Department of the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw, it was noticed that a group of iron archaeological objects repeatedly returned to the Conservation Department for treatment. It was decided to take a closer look at this problem.
This project presents, inter alia, the results of research on the impact of specific conservation methods applied over many years at DKM PMA to maintain the stability of iron artefacts. The basis of the analysis is a collection of objects of Przeworsk culture from the sites in Kamieńczyk, Nadkole and Oblin, which are part of the collection of the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. The material originating from them is consistent both in archaeological and conservation terms. These sites  are the cemeteries of the Przeworsk Culture from the area of Mazovia, functioning since the end of the second century BC - A2 phase (only Nadkole begins to function slightly later, from the second half of the 1st century BC - A3 phase) to the second half of the second century. - B2 / C1 phase. Archaeological excavations in the area were carried out by PMA employees, and documentation and material collected during the excavation is stored and processed at the museum. In addition, there is full conservation documentation regarding these artefacts. As a result, it can be noticed that similar methods were used to preserve objects from the discussed positions. The total number of iron artefacts from these three sites (about 2000) is a representative group in relation to the whole collection of PMA conserved iron objects.
Analysis of the object  complexes from Kamieńczyk, Nadkole and Oblin is carried out on the basis of a database created for the needs of this project. It contains information that allows identification of conserved artefacts as part of the PMA collection, as well as data on conservation procedures for individual items. As part of the latter group, information was gathered on the methods of stabilization, cleaning, materials used for cleaning, consolidation, strengthening and protecting the surface, as well as corrosion inhibitors. These data were then subjected to a detailed analysis, which allowed to answer questions about the effectiveness of individual methods. But also determine the position of the conservation process in the hierarchy of factors affecting the stability of iron archaeological objects. Artefacts are usually complex systems of relationships between metal and corrosion, and the state of their behaviour during normal "use" and storage in museums can be very different from the condition of experimental samples in accelerated aging tests. Therefore, it seems necessary to conduct research on the effectiveness of methods and means used for conservation, and to confront their results with information available in the literature. In addition, the research results presented in this project are aimed at deeper understanding of the needs of the collection belonging to the State Archaeological Museum, defining the threats and determining the priorities for managing its conservation. At the same time, the author hopes that the conducted research will be helpful for other Polish museums that have iron archaeological relics in their collections.

The paper deals with the basis of the Pre-Roman Iron Age chronology in Southern Scandinavia. It was established during the 1950'es as a typologically based three-period system with an almost findless middle period. While from the 1950'es and onwards new two-period systems have been established in most neighbouring regions only minor ajustments have been made to the Danish chronology system. This paper argues that a typologically based three-period system may obscure the real development and that the lack of finds in the middle period is in fact a product of this. Therefore,  it is argued that the very material originally forwarded by C. J. Becker as arguments for the tripartite system can be used as arguments for a bipartite chronology system. In this way many of the "problems" of connecting Early with Late Pre-Roman Iron Age disappears while at the same time the period gains a dynamic appearance with fundamental chances in the transition from early to late, bringing it in concordance with what we see in other parts of Northern and Northern Central Europe

The Vandals is a Germanic tribe that not only migrated across Europe and the Roman empire during the first half of the first millenium AD but also played a part in Early 20th century geopolitics - besides become a word of shame. This paper follows all three threads of the amazing and turbulent destiny of this Germanic tribe, and examines the archaeological evidence.

Until recently the aggregate number of Celtic coins found within Poland’s borders, including items constituting parts of hoards, was ca. 100 coins from 26 sites. At present it exceeds 440 coins from at least 60 sites. Most of the new finds (at least 245), including Greek coins and gold bars, come from a settlement in Nowa Cerekwia. In Silesia we register at least 289 Celtic coins from 13 sites, or a little bit over 65% of all the relevant finds from Poland’s territory. As many as 286 items, or some 99% of all the Silesian finds, are Boii coins. Other Celtic issues are represented by a mere 1 or 2 coins. The history of the local minting production and money circulation can be divided into two stages: the first one, from the end of the 4th c. B.C. until ca. 130–120 B.C. At that time finds of Celtic coins took place predominantly in the south of Poland, in territories with dense Celtic settlement. Such concentrations are registered also in Upper and Lower Silesia. In the 2nd half of the 2nd c. B.C. Central European Celtic settlements underwent major changes, most probably related to the wandering of the Cimbri and the Teutons. They coincided with the onset of the second stage of the history of Celtic money, also in Silesia. In relative chronology of Boii coinage it covers the period from B through D and the newly indicated E period (since ca. 130–120 B.C. until the first decades A.D.). The geography of finds of Celtic coins in Polish territories changes completely at that time. They no longer take place in Upper Silesia and their number in Lower Silesia is greatly reduced in comparison to the preceding period. Probably only 2 finds from this territory may be products by a local workshop or workshops run by small groups of Celts.

The innovation of iron production is one of the major technological developments in history. The ability to transform certain ‘stones’ into objects of nearly any shape had an enormous influence on the economic and social development of early societies.

Within the last decade, a great deal of research has been done in Central Europe to work out the dating of the first production sites more precisely and to learn more about the technology and the social embeddedness of iron production. Our DFG-funded research in the Teltow region south of Berlin is one example for these activities. It has made it possible to push the date of the earliest iron production activities in Northern Germany back more than four centuries.

Consequently, the idea arose to gather the major experts in the field of Central European early iron production to exchange and discuss these results. We were very happy that 21 of our colleagues accepted our invitation and took part in the conference held in Berlin from the 19th to the 21st of October 2017. Many of them also submitted a paper for inclusion in this volume, which thus provides a very up-to-date overview of the state of research in many regions within Central Europe.

Relics of pottery kilns identified in the La Tène Culture settlement at Nowa Cerekwia, Upper Silesia, and in sites of the Tyniec Group in the Krakow region document local production of wheel-made pottery. The youngest finds of wheel-made wares are contemporary with the horizon of A. 68 fibulae. The technology was not adopted by the people of the Przeworsk Culture and almost invariably the pottery produced after the decline of Celtic cultures is hand-built; finds of wheel-made pottery of Early Iron Age date are very rare. This phenomenon has been explained in various ways. Some researchers, e.g., J. Wielowiejski, J. Marciniak and A. Cofta-Broniewska, concluded that the secrets of production of wheel-made pottery had not been handed down to the people of Przeworsk Culture and that with the extinction of the last foci of Celtic culture the knowledge of more advanced pottery making technologies naturally died out too. Alternately, J. Rodzińska-Nowak has proposed that a key factor responsible for the non-adoption of the wheel-made pottery technology by the Przeworsk Culture people was the existence of a socio-psychological barrier, the result of the traditional division of tasks into male and female. While feasible, this
reason cannot be recognized as crucial. The decline of wheel-made pottery on the threshold of our era is a more widespread phenomenon observed across the Central European Barbaricum, both the territory occupied by latenized cultures (Przeworsk Culture, Elbian Culture), by the acculturated communities descended from the people of the Tyniec Group, a culture unit with Celtic traditions, and also on the territory of the “state” of Maroboduus, under influence of Rome. The named communities were dissimilar in their culture outlook, having evolved from different traditions but in none of them the technology of wheel-made pottery was adopted for good. In the Gross Romstedt Culture and in the Plaňany Horizon there is evidence on local pottery production using the potter’s wheel but there too the technology relatively soon disappears from the archaeological record. It is unlikely that in these environments, dissimilar in their tradition and evolving under the impact from different cultures, the traditional division into female and male roles could have played a key role in the reception of innovative pottery making technologies.
Presumably, on the threshold of the Roman Period in communities residing on the territory of Poland there was a well-defined division of tasks into male and female, but it was not treated very rigorously or, possibly, it did not extend to all the areas of life and some activities were carried out together by both sexes. I believe that the key factor decisive for the decline of wheel-made pottery on the territory of Poland at the onset of the Roman Period was economic. In this I share the view expressed by L. Gajewski, J. Wielowiejski and K. Godłowski who, nevertheless, nowhere specify how they understand this term. To function, production workshops, potteries also, depend on the existence of a distribution network for their wares and there is a need to break with the autarkic tradition. The craftsmen must be assured of having recipients of their wares and in conditions of isolation of individual human groups and the limited scale of exchange the demand for their products is limited. There is an observable difference here between a potter and a blacksmith, the latter is more mobile and, what is more, has a monopoly on his activity for, in contrast to mass pottery production which needs to compete against wares made by hand as part of household activities, the means for individual manufacture of metal objects are quite limited. Specialised
pottery workshops on the territory of Poland became viable only when exchange between human groups became sufficiently frequent and intensive for the cost of transport of pottery to decrease so that the ratio of the price of the vessels offered to their value (not necessarily utilitarian only) was recognized as favourable. Specialised pottery making could not function without a developed distribution network;
only when the necessary level of social and economic development had been reached did it become profitable to introduce pottery as an object of exchange.
tłum. A. Kinecka

The subject of this study are gold coins, formerly attributed to the coinage of the Menapii, which in the seventies of the 20th century Karel Castelin referred to as staters of the Cracovian type, struck by Celts near Kraków. When the latest publications connected with them appeared, the number of known specimens of the type amounted to seven, and currently it has increased to seventeen. The aim of this study is to use the new possibilities of modification of the former findings concerning staters of the Cracovian type. The present study has discussed the problems concerning the definition of this type, its origin and changes it has undergone with the passage of time — both in respect of iconography and metrology. This is connected with a suggestion as to a new typological division of the discussed coins. Also the issues concerning their circulation and data were not omitted, as the finds from recent years throw a new light on them. The summary includes reflection of historical nature, including an attempt to connect the Cracovian type with Lugii.

The article discusses glass counters found at archaeological sites from the Roman Iron Age in Poland. These items have not yet been fully investigated upon. Glass counters are mainly found at cemeteries, and most of them were discovered in assemblages from phases C1b–C2. Description of counters and their sets includes colour, size and possible production method, context of discovery and chronology.

Stone circles registered in early 1920s in Czarcie Kościoły (English: Devil's Churches) at Osieck, situated at the high right-bank terrace of the Vistula near Garwolin, in south-eastern Mazovia are discussed. The constructions themselves do not survived until now but thanks to archival drawings it was possible to connect them with unknown Przeworsk Culture grave-field from the Early Roman Period.

The term Germanic was given by Greco-Roman authors of antiquity. However, the so-called Germanic groups had no common Germanic identity. In antiquity, the Germanic tribes were stylized as a powerful opponent by Caesar. In the written sources of the Middle Ages this antique information had helped to create a Germanic identity. This myth was an important basis of the medieval state formation. It is not possible to find roots of the "original language" or "homeland" of Germanic people. Cultural areas in archeology are defined by finds of archeological cultures. These archeological cultures are only material cultures. Some material cultures can be identified with the name Germanic, if they are discovered in central Europe from the period of the 1st century BC until the 5th century AD. But these are not identical with a "Germanic ethnicity".

The subject of this study is a stater found in Masłów (Lower Silesia) in 1704: the oldest documented find of a Celtic coin from the area of the present-day Poland. The coin, which has been regarded as missing until recently, was successfully identified with a high degree of likelihood in the collection of the Staatliche Museen in Berlin. The present study has carried out an analysis of the unit and the records concerning it, particularly emphasising the issues related to iconography, examined against a broad comparative background. The summary includes conclusions concerning the place of striking and dating of this unique coin.

Papers from an international conference on the chronology of the Pre-Roman Iron Age held at University of Copenhagen 1992. With contributions from Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Contributors: Ryszard Wolagiewicz, Horst Keiling, Monika Rasch, Per-Oscar Nybruget, Claus Kjeld Jensen, Jes Martens, Uffe Rahbek, Kaare Lund Rasmussen, Påvel Nicklasson and Per Ole Rindel. The report is sold out.

Based on technical studies of spear heads from Switzerland, Poland, Sweden and Denmark, it can be demonstrated that the blacksmith tradition which forms the basis for the large quantities of standardized weapons in the Danish sacrificial bogs, spread from southeastern Sweden, where, at the latest in the first century AD, was introduced through contact across the Baltic Sea.
It is shown that this tradition has its origins in the steel technology, which was the hallmark of the Celtic La Tene culture and was continued in the Przeworsk culture and that the dissemination of technology throughout the spread has been dependent on apprenticeship and thus a personal contact between artisans. The analysis of the spearheads reflect important aspects of the beginning of the actual steel industry in Scandinavia.
Keywords: Iron Age, Steel Technology, Blacksmithing tradition, Apprenticsehip, La Tène, Przeworsk, Bog offerings.

The paper aims at demonstrating a southeast European origin of the Gundestrup cauldron and at giving its origin and way to Denmark a context. It is argued that the cauldron was brought to its final resting place along routes that have long traditions - ie. the route that connected the Baltic with the Black Sea.