Post-medieval Pottery in Mazovia and Podlachia (16th–18th Century) – a Preliminary Report

The text is dedicated to the question of traditions and innovations in post-medieval pottery manufactured and used in the territory of today’s Mazovia and Podlachia in Poland. It focuses on the distribution of waregroups in the assemblages from selected sites dated to the mid-16th – late 18th centuries. The list includes both capital cities in the province (Warsaw, Płock) and local towns (Ciechanów, Płońsk, Przasnysz), as well as royal and aristocratic residences, gentry manors and villages. Among the most characteristic features worthy of note are the long lasting of early medieval manufacturing traditions, the widespreaduse of greyware, the relatively small proportion of whiteware and glazed vessels, as well as the sporadic (excluding Warsaw) occurrence of fineware (porcelain, faience). The analysis points to the specificity of Mazovian pottery in 16th–18th centuries, in relation to both other Polish lands and our notions on trends in pottery manufacture and use in the post-medieval period.

Continuation or Evolution? Changes in Pottery Production and Vessel Types Used in Pomerelian (Gdańsk Pomerania) Towns in the Early-Modern Period

The article discusses changes in production and the of the pottery used in towns in Pomerelia in the early-modern period. These considerations are based on advanced research on late-medieval pottery-making of the region and the relatively poorer state of knowledge about the continuity of transformations at the beginning of the early-modern period. The vantage point for this study is a characterisation of the source base, including both the artefactual and written evidence. This enables the tracing of changes, and characteristic features of goods used, in the 16th century.

Gabriela Blažková and Kristýna Matějková (eds), Europa Postmediaevalis 2018. Post-Medieval Pottery Between (its) Borders. Gloucester 2019: Archaeopress, pp. 297, colours illustrations

The reviewed publication, published in 2019 by the British publishing house Archaeopress, is a collection of texts based on papers and posters presented at the international conference under the same title held in Prague in April 2018. This meeting brought together archaeologists from many European countries – including Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Switzerland, Italy, and Hungary – who conduct research on the early-modern period and the pertaining material culture. Both this event and the book in question were a response to the needs of the academic community, due to the ongoing development of historical archaeology in Europe and an increase in research on artefacts and other evidence recovered during fieldwork related to this. The time-frame of the post-medieval period differs slightly across particular European countries, encompassing artefacts from between the 15th and 18th centuries.

Stoneware Jars from the 18th Century from the Saxon Palace in Warsaw

The article presents a unique set of 18th century apothecary vessels related to the Warsaw court of the Electors of Saxony. The stoneware jars were excavated at the site of the former Saxon Palace in Warsaw between 2006 and 2008. The collection, consisting of seven intact or almost completely-reconstructable specimens, is a unique find in Warsaw and in Poland. The article describes the vessels (their form, decoration and dimensions) and discusses their possible function (storing medicines used by the Saxon court). The study enlarges our limited knowledge about the material aspects of medicine in the Polish capital in the Modern period.

A Unique 14th Century Seal Matrix from Giebło, Zawiercie District

A unique lead seal-matrix with majuscule legend: LUCIANI PRESBITERI belonging to a priest was found by the Romanesque castle church in Giebło. The name of its owner is mentioned in written sources from the years 1325–1327 as plebanus ecclesie de Kebel. As PRESBITER he probably didn’t enjoy all privileges that the collator usually bestows on a parish priest on his property. Possibly for that reason he had his matrix made in an easy-to-process material, infrequently used for such objects in this part of Europe. The use of this raw material suggests someone who tried avoid the high costs of making the item. Special attention is merited by the composition of a fleur-de-lis crowned with the cross engraved on the seal face that resembles a heraldic device. The repetition of a schematic lily flower on the reverse of the matrix shows the special importance of this sign (identified in medieval time with the Blessed Virgin Mary); this symbol was treated in this way by, for example, Cistercians. By presenting his name in the company of these symbols, Lucianus gave his seal strength and credibility.

John Morton Coles (1930-2020). From Palaeolithic Studies to Wetland Archaeology. A Commemoration

This article is dedicated to John Morton Coles (1930-2020), Professor of European Prehistory at Cambridge University between 1980 and 1986, Fellow of the British Academy, author of the highly regarded scientific works, teacher and editor. He dealt with several archaeological periods and was involved in different field projects and conducted numerous excavations. At Cambridge, in the Department of Archaeology, John Coles collaborated with such significant figures as Professors Grahame Clark and Glyn Daniel. John Coles devoted much of his time to experimental and wetland archaeology as well as to prehistoric rock carvings in Sweden and Norway. John Coles was awarded an honorary doctorate by Uppsala University. He was the advisor of Biskupin’s archaeological open-air Museum in Poland.

Modern Ceramic Chafing Dishes in Northern Poland

Ceramic chafing dishes are very unique finds. Archaeological research in Poland, until now, has provided no information on these artefacts. In this paper, a selection of finds from Gdańsk and Słupsk are presented for the first time. The paper also includes some preliminary remarks about consumption patterns in modern Northern Poland.

Historical and SEM-EDS Analysis of a 14th-16th Century Triangular Crucible from Sandomierz, Poland

The collection of the District Museum in Sandomierz holds a previously unidentified and unpublished triangular ceramic crucible. After at least fifty years since its acquisition, it was possible to obtain detailed information about its chemical composition and presumed use in the past. Based on analogies from Central Europe, it is possible to date it typologically to the 14th-16th centuries. The stamp mark on the bottom of the crucible points to Tulln in Austria as the place of its origin. The SEM-EDS analysis revealed the presence of graphite in the ceramic mass of the vessel as well as carbon and iron compounds on its inner wall, which indicates its possible use in the production of steel by carburising of iron.

Three Publications about Archaeology of a Segment of the First World War's Forgotten Eastern Front

While the horrors of the trench warfare on the Western Front in Belgium and France are part of the European cultural memory, to some degree the much more extensive and mobile Eastern Front of the 1914–1918 conflict has become the forgotten front (Die vergessene Front). Although for just over eleven months in 1914/15, the central part of a major front, some 1000 km long on which three million people died ran through the middle of what is now Poland, for a number of reasons the memory of this has there been all but erased from memory and from the cultural landscape. The reviewed three volumes are the result of a project that has attempted to address the poor state of historical memory of the momentous events and human drama that took place a century earlier on the segment of the front, 55 km west of Warsaw. Here, from mid-December 1914, the Russian Imperial army tried to hold back the eastward advance of the German troops on defences built along the Bzura and Rawka rivers. For the next seven months, the fighting here took the form of the same type of prolonged static trench warfare more familiar on the Western Front (the only place in the eastern sphere of war that this happened). The German army made every effort (including mining and several major gas attacks), to advance on Warsaw but failed to break through. It was only after the Great Retreat of the Russian army in the summer of 1915 that these defences were overrun and Warsaw fell.

Slipware from Tykocin Castle (Poland) from the 16th–18th Century

The main goal of this article is to analyse post-medieval slipware found during archaeological excavations in Tykocin Castle and to describe its distinguishing features: decorative characteristics and forms. Further considerations are aimed at reconstructing the functions of the Tykocin slipware vessels in the castle household throughout the 16th to 18th centuries and attempting to determine their provenance. The analysis is preceded by the list of terminological problems pertaining to this pottery group in the Polish literature as well as elementary information on its production centres in Poland against the European background.