- Tytuł:
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Wczesnopiastowskie cmentarzysko rzędowe w Gołuniu, gm. Pobiedziska, woj. wielkopolskie
The Early Medieval Row Cemetery in Gołuń, the Pobiedziska Commune, the Wielkopolskie Voivodeship - Autorzy:
- Andrałojć, Małgorzata
- Powiązania:
- https://bibliotekanauki.pl/articles/532639.pdf
- Data publikacji:
- 2015
- Wydawca:
- Muzeum Pierwszych Piastów na Lednicy
- Tematy:
-
Gołuń
cmentarzysko rzędowe
cmentarzysko wczesnośredniowieczne
cmentarzysko wczesnopiastowskie groby wojowników
topór typu M
paciorki mozaikowe
row cemetery
Early Medieval cemetery
Early Piast cemetery
warrior graves
Type M axe
mosaic beads - Opis:
- This work discusses the results of rescue excavations in the Early Medieval row cemetery in Gołuń, the Pobiedziska Commune. 17 ares were examined, out of which the necropolis took up the area of 13.21 ares. Prehistoric and Late Medieval finds were also recorded in the cemetery. The cemetery in Gołuń is situated in the Gniezno Lake District, in an area which is pretty diversified with regard to its hypsometry. There are a few more prominent rises of terrain, and one of these, located near a small watercourse, was occupied by the examined necropolis (Fig. 1). All immovable features and finds related to the cemetery were discussed in detail in the catalogue. The catalogue is divided into two principal parts — one of which contains descriptions of graves, including those preserved in situ and destroyed, while the other iscusses the remaining features found within the necropolis: empty grave pits and bonfires. All the graves contained inhumation burials and the dead were buried directly at the bottom of grave pits (perhaps in one case the body was covered with bog soil). 42 graves in situ containing one burial in each were discovered. Further discoveries included 1 grave with the remains of 2 persons as well as bones belonging to 10 individuals, which came from destroyed graves. Almost all out of the 44 burials which were not destroyed were located along the E–W axis or with some deviation to the N and S from it, according to the alignment of the grave pits. The arrangement of skeletons from two graves (24 and 38) which are aligned along the N–E axis is at variance with this principle. Furthermore, these two graves disturb the row arrangement of the cemetery. On the other hand, one can see some sort of regularity for the cemetery in Gołuń, as women were deposited with their heads to the west and men — with their heads to the east. The anthropological analysis demonstrates that most of the dead were men (26 persons — c. 48%), while the women were buried in 14 graves (nearly 26%). Persons whose sex was not assessed constituted about 26% altogether, including children. The nature of the grave inventories (recorded in c. 61.5% of graves) and the co-occurrence of given funds were analysed (Tables 1–2). Deformations of bone materials (e.g., a successful skull trepanation was recorded) as well as the stratigraphy of this basically single-layer cemetery are also discussed. In the work an analysis of all the portable finds discovered in the cemetery was carried out. 3 groups of finds were isolated: artefacts and tools of daily use (knives — 17 items in the graves and 1 in a secondary deposit; a bronze fitting of a leather knife sheath, vessels — 4 in the graves, 1 in the top of an empty grave pit, 1 in a secondary deposit; 2 staved buckets with iron rims; 4 phyllite whetstones; 1 double fire striker; an iron hoof; a clay spindle whorl, an iron awl and 4 artefacts with unclear functions), weaponry (a Type M iron axe and two pairs of spurs belonging to Type I:2 according to Hilczerówna, including one with a pair of buckles) and ornaments (2 silver temple rings; 2 necklaces having 9 beads each — Tab. 3, including 2 mosaic beads; a bronze bell-shaped pendant) and a single find — a silver clump. Concerning other features discovered in the area of the cemetery in Gołuń, 5 features were classified as unused grave pits based on their formal traits, while one of these may have been a cenotaph (a vessel was found in the top of this feature). Another two features — bonfires, which did not disturb graves but overlapped them — are believed to have been related to post-funeral ceremonies. C14 dating (AD 985–1043, cf. Fig. 21) demonstrates that the functioning of the cemetery in Gołuń should be dated to between the late 10th and the mid-11th c. This is also coherent with the results of a typological-chronological analysis of the discovered finds: such as first of all the Type M axe (finds from Greater Poland are dated to the first half of the 11th c.), Type I iron spurs (chiefly dated to the 10th-mid-11th c. in Central and Northern Europe), and a silver bead taken from an earring of Type Świątki, which were in use from the mid- 10th to the late 11th c., or perhaps only to the mid-11th c. Two glass polyhedral mosaic beads with a few groups of “eyelets,” probably coming from Scandinavia or Rus’, are dated to about 1000 and they belong to artefacts with a more precise chronology among those found in the “Gołuń” necropolis. Both temple rings found in the cemetery are dated to between c. the mid-10th c. and the early (?) 13th c. However, their small dimensions (Variant A according to Kóčka-Krenz) rather suggest the first half of this period. Furthermore, the co-occurrence of clay vessels of the Type Menkendorf-Szczecin and Type Vipperov demonstrate that we are dealing with partially slow-wheel made forms which became obsolete and the occurrence of fully slow-wheel made vessels. Therefore, it is justified to propose the first half of the 11th c. as the chronology for the pottery finds. Phyllite whetstones have one quality which confirms the assumed chronology of the cemetery, as in the Baltic Sea zone they have been most commonly discovered among finds from the 10th–11th c. Bronze bell-shaped pendants and staved buckets with iron rims are most often recorded in Poland in necropolises dated to the 10th/11th–11th c. The remaining artefacts, such as the fire striker, the hoof, some other types of beads and the bronze fitting of the leather sheath of a knife, although having a broader chronology, are also discovered in grave inventories which are contemporary to the cemetery in Gołuń. Furthermore, the fittings of knife sheaths with extended upper parts (as it is the case with the Gołuń find) occurred already in finds from early phases in Birka. The sparse stratigraphic relations between the graves, their low number and the relatively small area of the necropolis also suggest that it was in use for a rather short period of time. The necropolis in Gołuń belongs to a type of Early Medieval row cemeteries, which were not located next to churches. It is possible to isolate two zones of this burial ground. The main one — the southern, western and northern parts — consisted of 4 rows, running from the north to the south. However, the arrangement of some parts (especially the central one) is disturbed (Fig. 5). The cemetery with such a spatial layout is adjoined from the south-east by a much smaller cluster of 17 graves (2–3 rows), some of them overlapping each other. Within these two main parts of the necropolis one could make an attempt at isolating smaller units of division. This brings some order and reveals a better spatial organization of the cemetery in Gołuń. This is a hypothetical division, as no traces of fences were recorded in the course of excavation works. When analysing the positions of the graves in the cemetery in Gołuń one can isolate as many as 10 such smaller zones/quarters, which were marked with Roman letters from I to X (Fig. 22). The central part of the necropolis in Gołuń is taken up by Quarter I, with dimensions of c. 8 × 10 m. Only 4 graves were located in it, but they stand out with regard to their grave furnishings. In an empty square which can be seen in the centre of the southern part of the cemetery in Gołuń, no remains were discovered, which could imply an existence of any structure fulfilling a role of a sacral building, e.g., a small wooden church or a cemetery chapel. On the basis of the number of discovered graves and taking the data on destroyed burials into consideration, one can suppose that the cemetery was used by a small local community for some dozen years. Among the finds which were recorded together with the burials of the dead, one’s attention is attracted to grave goods which testify to the formation of a group of warriors, related to the Early Piast monarchy — which was coming into existence at that time. There is no doubt that two women buried with necklaces composed of 9 beads each, belonged to the group of wealthier members of the community using the necropolis. The knife in a leather sheath which is fitted with a bronze sheet with rich ornamentation, which was found in Grave 30, should also be regarded as a luxurious artefact. The analysis of the Archaeological Record of Poland’s research results, demonstrated that the cemetery is situated on the edge of an area which was used in an enormously intensive manner in the Early Middle Ages. The cemetery in Gołuń was probably one of the burial grounds which were used by this broader community, inhabiting the mentioned settlements.
- Źródło:
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Studia Lednickie; 2015, 14; 15-176
0860-7893
2353-7906 - Pojawia się w:
- Studia Lednickie
- Dostawca treści:
- Biblioteka Nauki
Artykuł