Popielnica – ubranie zmarłego? Stratyfikacja społeczna ludności Wielkopolski w świetle istnienia dwóch odmian urn w okresie wpływów rzymskich

The purpose of this article is to explain why the communities of the Przeworsk and Wielbark cultures occupying Wielkopolska in the broadly-defined Roman period used two different types of cremation urns for burying their dead. The paper provides a description of both types of urns. Type I comprises thin walled, carefully made and burnished vase shaped vessels and situlas. Type II groups carefully made vessels with rough or roughened outside surface: pots, vase-shaped vessels and even cups. This paper provides an overview of previous ideas and interpretations of the phenomenon and examines the construction, grave goods and location of selected graves from two cemeteries of the Przeworsk and Wielbark cultures in Wielkopolska: Kuny and Kowalewko. A hypothesis explaining the presence of two urn types at that time in Wielkopolska is then proposed along with some research postulates and questions that will enable and guide further discussion on this intriguing issue.