WCZESNOŚREDNIOWIECZNY SZKLANY PACIOR Z KRUSZWICY

In the gord in Kruszwica, on the settlement level from the 4th quarter of the 11th century, a piece of a large bead was discovered. It was made of black and purple glass, decorated with a set glass thread and small buttons with the (floral) millefiori ornament. It was made of glass, the “ash” variety of the Na2O-K2O-CaO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2 type (the grains) and the Na2O-K2O-CaO-MgO-Al2O3-PbO-SiO2 type (the ornament). An interpretation of the results of an analysis of the chemical content of the glass (XRF, X-Ray Fluorescence) has allowed to define the probable place of the glass production, as well as the form and type of this rare specimen, namely the Middle East (probably Byzantine) workshops.

ANTROPOLOGIA GROBÓW CIAŁOPALNYCH CMENTARZYSKA DZIEKANOWICE 22

The article presents the analyses and descriptions of two graves in the Dziekanowice grave field, site 22 (dated back to the late 10th – the late 13th centuries) located on the eastern coast of lake Lednica, approx. 90 m from the eastern bridge leading to Ostrów Lednicki. The isle hosts a hillfort regarded a seat of the then ruler, the sedes regni principales. Within the gord, in the second half of the 10th century, a complex of residential and sacral buildings was raised: a baptistery, a palas and a church. The burial rite as of the late 10th and the early 11th centuries, which appeared in what is now Poland’s territory, is typically associated with Christianity encroaching the area. The issues under discussion, which are not fully explained, include both the ways in which the dead were buried before skeletal burials were introduced and popularised, the methods used to promote the changes, acceptance thereof, the rate and the prevalence of the new mode of burying the dead. In the course of extended excavations in the Dziekanowice 22 grave field, 1,665 graves have been discovered with preserved bone material, among them two graves where cremated bodies were laid (cremation burial). The graves have been dated back to the early Middle Ages (the time of the grave field’s operation).

NAJSTARSZE (XI-XII W.) FIGURY SZACHOWE WYKONANE W STYLISTYCE ABSTRAKCYJNEJ ARABSKIEJ Z TERENU POLSKI , NA TLE TRENDÓW EUROPEJSKICH ZWIĄZANYCH Z POCZĄTKOWYMI FAZAMI ADAPTACJI W EUROPIE

Chess is a board game, in the Middle Ages referred to as a tabula. During the long way it took since its origin in India in the 6th century until modern times, the subsequent communities left their own, inimitable cultural marks. In India, chess had a deeply mystical nature; Persians used chess to picture the world as a battlefield; Arabs systematised many concepts and took note of the mathematical aspect; Europe made use of chess to define rules that should apply to an ideal society. This shows a perfect understanding of the balance on the chessboard, the mutual dependencies and consistent actions leading to success – both when playing and creating social life. Medieval literature provides an excellent basis for studies of the intertwining cultural trends and describing the reality. In the literature, elements based on playing chess are oftentimes among the postulated modes of education. However, the ideas encountered by the potential users of chess tournaments were best communicated by the figures and the accumulated plethora of notions. An analysis of the changes affecting jackstraws at an early stage of the game’s adaptation in Europe and other territories which took over chess as cultural models, leads to a conclusion that the material from the 11th-12th centuries that comes from Polish collections matches many Latin trends and shows considerable knowledge thereof.

„KRYZYS MONARCHI PIASTOWSKIEJ” I PROBLEM TZW. REAKCJI POGAŃSKIEJ OKIEM ARCHEOLOGA

The turmoil of the 1030s in the Polish territory has so far attracted attention of historians. A detailed analysis of the information available in the written sources has strengthened a position in the result of which (in line with the reference to the events in question) the pagan backlash was to stem primarily from religious reasons. This interpretations suggests and provokes reception of Mieszko II’s domain as a completely Christian organisation. Consequently, at least officially it suggests that the pagan communities had been pushed to the margins of the society. Scholars have no doubts that these communities existed because they are regarded to have affected the events of the 1030s. Was it really the case? An analysis of archaeological sources, previously not used in the discussion of the pagan backlash, does not answer the questions so unambiguously. There is a strong indication that the followers of the old values did not have to flee from persecutions or the missionary ideology. It also looks like they did not have to fear financial exploitation for the benefit of the established church structures which could have easily operated parallel to venues referring to the traditional religious symbols. If we assume that it was the case, were the events of the 1030s in fact a pagan backlash? This question was at the basis of the considerations presented in this text.

GDZIE PIENIĄDZ, TAM WŁADZA – CZYLI O TEORETYCZNYCH MOŻLIWOŚCIACH ROZPOZNANIA LOKALIZACJI GAJU LUGIJSKIEGO

In this article, an assumption has been made that in power centres, settlement concentration was accompanied by accumulation of goods, capital and weapons. Within the Przeworsk culture, the area in question encompassed the basins of the Prosna and the Warta. It remains uncertain if the area can be associated with the so-called Lugii Grove, a centre of political and religious power described by Tacitus.

MAGIA – RELIGIA – OSTENTACJA. KAPTORGI Z WCZESNOŚREDNIOWIECZNEGO CMENTARZYSKA W RADOMIU W UJĘCIU KOMPARATYSTYCZNYM

This article presents an analysis of two brass lockets, rectangular in shape, discovered in a richly equipped grave no. 62 in an early-medieval grave field in Radom (the 4th quarter of the 11-12th centuries). As a result of the analysis, their cognitive value can be estimated in a comprehensive way against the background of other finds of the type excavated in graves. On the other hand, it has allowed to enrich the knowledge of burying the dead with objects of magical and religious nature. The lockets discovered in Radom were made locally, most probably as imitations of more sophisticated pendants. Most probably, they were used as containers for magical or healing amulets, possibly contact relics (brandeum, eulogiae) or perfumes. They were probably buried after mid-11th century, during the religious transformation taking place in the early Piast state, bearing material testimony to the intertwining pagan rites and the ceremonies of the new faith.

SIEĆ OSADNICZA I SZLAKI KOMUNIKACYJNE NA ZACHÓD OD POZNAŃSKIEGO PRZEŁOMU WARTY W STARSZYCH FAZACH WCZESNEGO ŚREDNIOWIECZA

In the oldest stages of the early Middle Ages, the settlements located between the Warta and the Obra were concentrated predominantly in a few areas: between the Warta, the Sama and the Samica Stęszewska, in the vicinity of Pniewy and Lwówek, and to the west of Sieraków. The resulting structure, over time supplemented with settlement clusters in Opalenica Plain, formed the basis for a network of gords established in the 9th and the early 10th centuries. The arrangement of hamlets and gords allowed to reconstruct long-range transport routes connecting these regions with south Wielkopolska, Lusatia as well as the north-western Slavic domains.

POLITYKA PIASTÓW ŚLĄSKICH I WIELKOPO LSKICH WOBEC TEMPLARIUSZY NAD ŚRODKOWĄ ODRĄ I DOLNĄ WARTĄ W XIII WIEKU

This article revolves around patrimonies for the Templars on the borders of Lubusz, Wielkopolska and Pomerania regions. The author presents the course of these patrimonies in a context of the political actions on the part of Piast dukes in Silesia and Wielkopolska. The article consists of three parts: the first of them presents the invitation of the Templars to Poland, with the (nearly concurrent) contribution made in the third decade of the 13th century by Henry I Bearded and Władysław Odonic. Part two is dedicated to the controversial patrimony of Chwarszczany on the Myśla, the biggest Templars’ commandery on the central Oder and the lower Warta and Wielka Wieś – a dominion located on the Lubusz and Wielkopolska border. In the last part, attention has been drawn to the subsequent patrimonies for the Templars in the area in question from 1234-1261.

W KWESTII POCZĄTKÓW WCZESNEGO ŚREDNIOWIECZA W REJONIE NIECKI JEZIOR BNIŃSKICH

The development of archaeological research justifies the need for re-appraising previous conclusions. In the case of the Bnin Lakes Basin (Wielkopolska), the research pertains to the settlement at the early stage of the early Middle Ages. Human settlement developed dynamically at phase B of the early Middle Ages. To date, settlement from phase A has not been discovered in the Basin. The same holds true for the basin of the central river Warta.