The Archaeology of Early Medieval Poland: Discoveries, Hypotheses, Interpretations (East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450)

541 Pages·2008·15.39 MB·English

by  Andrzej Buko

The Archaeology of Early Medieval Poland
East Central and Eastern
Europe in the Middle Ages,
450–1450
General Editor
Florin Curta
VOLUME 1
The Archaeology of Early
Medieval Poland
Discoveries—Hypotheses—Interpretations
By
Andrzej Buko
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2008
Cover illustration front: Tower complex at Sto(cid:2)pie in its 2nd phase (around mid of
13th century): an attempt of reconstruction (drawn by Andrzej Grzechnik)
Cover illustration back: Stone tower and stronghold at Sto(cid:2)pie, view from the west.
(photo: A. Buko)
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Translation: Sylvia Twardo
Language Consultant: Paul Barford
The translation of the book was funded by The Foundation for Polish Science
ISSN 1872-8103
ISBN 978 90 04 16230 3
Copyright 2008 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
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printed in the netherlands
CONTENTS
Introduction ................................................................................ xi
List of Figures ............................................................................. xv
Chapter One Archaeology of Early Medieval Poland:
beginnings of interest, birth and development ...................... 1
1. The earliest beginnings ...................................................... 1
2. The 19th century: in search of the roots of the Slavic
identity ............................................................................... 2
3. Birth and slow growth: the (cid:2)rst two decades of the 20th
century ............................................................................... 6
4. The 1930s: Early Medieval archaeology on the offensive,
continuation of debate on the Slavs and systematic
excavations of Early Medieval sites .................................. 9
5. Two post war decades: the coming Millennium and
research on the origins of the Polish state ........................ 11
6. The 1970s and 1980s: fruitful aftermath of the
Millennium research .......................................................... 14
7. The last decade of the 20th century: old questions and
new possibilities .................................................................. 18
8. Archaeology of Early Medieval Poland: an archaeology
of regions or archaeology without borders? ..................... 22
Chapter Two Sources and methods ....................................... 29
1. Early Medieval archaeological sites and their
strati(cid:2)cation: problems in exploration .............................. 29
1.1. Strati(cid:2)cation of early urban sites ............................. 30
1.2. Strati(cid:2)cation of rural settlements ............................ 32
1.3. Strati(cid:2)cation of sacral sites and pagan cult
centers ....................................................................... 35
1.4. Strati(cid:2)cation of multi-layer cemeteries .................... 36
2. Layers and their portable content: mass (cid:2)nds ................. 38
2.1. Pottery as a source of information about past
societies ..................................................................... 39
2.2. Archaeozoological data ............................................ 42
3. Small (cid:2)nds ......................................................................... 45
vi contents
4. Soil and its natural components ........................................ 47
5. Written sources .................................................................. 48
6. Iconography ....................................................................... 51
Chapter Three How did the Slavs get to Polish lands? ......... 55
1. ‘Autochthonists’, ‘Allochthonists’ and others: the long
history of the debate on the origins of the Slavs ............. 55
2. The Polish lands between Antiquity and the Early
Middle Ages: a gap or continuity? .................................... 61
3. One or many models of the Slavs’ material culture? ...... 63
4. The phenomenon of the Slavs: how to explain it? ........... 69
Chapter Four Mysteries of the pre-state period ..................... 75
1. ‘Tribal’ geography and archaeology ................................. 75
2. The (cid:2)rst Early Medieval strongholds: when did they
appear? ............................................................................... 84
3. One or many burial rites? ................................................. 99
4. Many questions and few answers ...................................... 104
Chapter Five Holy mountains ................................................. 107
1. Large cult centers of the pre-state period: (cid:3)ysa Góra ..... 107
2. The mysteries of Mount (cid:4)l\(cid:5)a .......................................... 110
3. Other mountains—supposed places of pagan cult .......... 117
4. The mysterious (cid:2)migrody .................................................... 126
Chapter Six Pagan cemetery or holy grove? .......................... 133
1. Open air shrines ................................................................ 133
2. An old cemetery and new problems ................................. 134
3. Forgotten or living tradition? ............................................ 139
Chapter Seven Monumental mounds in Little Poland ........... 143
1. Monumental mounds, admired throughout the ages ....... 143
2. Przemys(cid:2)aw’s (Tatars’) Mound in Przemy(cid:6)l ....................... 144
3. Supposed monumental mounds in the Przemy(cid:6)l region .. 147
4. Salve Regina Hill in Sandomierz ...................................... 148
5. The Mounds of Krak and Wanda in Cracow ................. 150
6. Other monumental mounds in Little Poland ................... 154
7. The European context ....................................................... 157
8. The Great Mounds of Little Poland: when and why
were they raised? ............................................................... 159
contents vii
Chapter Eight The earliest Medieval script in Poland? ......... 167
1. A fascinating discovery .................................................... 167
2. What was found on the tablets from Podeb(cid:7)ocie? .......... 169
3. The tablets in the light of the most recent analyses ...... 170
Chapter Nine How Poland came into being .......................... 175
1. Between archaeology, dynastic tradition and legend ...... 175
2. Where Poland began: Great Poland just before the
rise of the state ................................................................ 178
3. Where did the Piasts come from? ................................... 183
4. From Great Poland to Little Poland: the (cid:2)rst step of
expansion of the Piasts .................................................... 190
5. Towards the north: the Piasts on the Bay of Gda(cid:8)sk .... 196
6. ‘Forgotten’ Mazovia or a strategic territorial reserve? .... 199
7. From the Baltic Sea to the Sudeten Mountains:
Silesia and Western Pomerania ....................................... 206
8. Bohemian or Piast Silesia? .............................................. 207
9. Western Pomerania: ‘urban republics’ and old ‘tribal’
territories .......................................................................... 211
10. Cracow Land: the last stage of the state formation
process .............................................................................. 214
11. Summing up .................................................................... 216
Chapter Ten Towns still under investigation .......................... 223
1. The capitals of the Gniezno state: contested priority .... 226
2. From the legendary Lech to Mieszko I .......................... 228
3. A strong contender for primacy ...................................... 233
4. Kalisz: The Stronghold on the Amber Route ................ 241
5. Wolin: The town with twelve gates ................................. 246
6. Early state or pre-state Gda(cid:8)sk? ..................................... 250
7. The origins of P(cid:2)ock still unknown ................................ 256
8. Sandomierz: First large investment of the Piasts in
Little Poland? ................................................................... 262
9. Zawichost: intriguing rival of Sandomierz ..................... 266
10. Mysteries of the Cathedral Hill in Che(cid:2)m ..................... 272
11. Przemy(cid:6)l: The center at the periphery ........................... 279
12. Wi(cid:6)lica: in the shadow of a pagan prince ...................... 283
13. Cracow, Wawel and archaeology .................................... 294
14. Who built the earliest Wroc(cid:2)aw? ..................................... 300
viii contents
Chapter Eleven Other central places ...................................... 307
1. Cherven and Volyn: central places in the eastern
borderlands ........................................................................ 307
2. Ostrów Lednicki: residence of (cid:2)rst Piast rulers or
(cid:2) rst Polish episcopium? ......................................................... 309
3. Giecz: Un(cid:2)nished large-scale investment .......................... 317
4. Che(cid:2)mno as a sedes regni principalis? .................................... 322
5. Pu(cid:2)tusk: The stronghold below the castle ......................... 324
6. The stronghold and masonry tower in Sto(cid:2)pie ................. 328
Chapter Twelve Rural landscapes ........................................... 333
1. Off the beaten track .......................................................... 333
2. How do we envisage Medieval rural settlements? ............ 335
3. Unexploited research potential: service settlements ......... 343
4. Mysterious villages ............................................................. 346
Chapter Thirteen The earliest monastic complexes ............... 351
1. The earliest monasteries and archaeology ........................ 351
2. At the threshold of Christianization: the (cid:2) rst
Benedictine abbeys ............................................................ 352
3. In the shadow of Wawel Hill: the Benedictine Abbey
at Tyniec near Cracow ...................................................... 355
4. A church and a monastery in a stronghold ...................... 359
5. A double foundation and the controversy over a
princely burial .................................................................... 363
6. Archaeology and the earliest Cistercian foundations ....... 369
7. The ‘little monastery’ at (cid:3)ekno ......................................... 371
8. W[chock: a monastery on the ruins of a palatium? .......... 374
9. Monasteries still under investigation ................................. 378
Chapter Fourteen The puzzle of the century: pottery marks 383
1. The long history of research and ambiguous results ....... 383
2. Signs on the bases of vessels from Kalisz and
Ostrów Lednicki: an abundance of qualitatively new
archaeological sources ........................................................ 387
3. Unusual signs ..................................................................... 388
4. Where did the custom come from and why were the
vessels marked? .................................................................. 392
contents ix
Chapter Fifteen Locals and migrants ...................................... 395
1. From cremation to inhumation: burial grounds of the
early state period ............................................................... 396
2. Pomeranians and Veleti in Great Poland? ........................ 400
3. The Graves of Vikings? ..................................................... 404
4. A large warriors’ necropolis .............................................. 408
5. Not only warriors .............................................................. 411
6. Who was buried in the Mazovian graves with stone
constructions? ..................................................................... 414
7. Strangers in the south ....................................................... 421
8. Who were they and what did they have in common? ..... 425
Appendix One Some Notes on the Translation of Andrzej
Buko’s ‘Archaeology of Early Medieval Poland’
(Paul Barford) .......................................................................... 431
Appendix Two A brief guide to the pronunciation of Polish
words (compiled by Paul Barford) .......................................... 439
Bibliography ................................................................................ 441
Index ........................................................................................... 465