Pomeranian Culture Research Articles

Noricum Venetians as a Proto-Slavic Element

The article is devoted to the problem of finding the Proto-Slavic homeland. Based on data from historical sources, archeology, philology, anthropology, materials of genetic studies of various populations of Slavs, an attempt made to establish the area of formation of the Proto-Slavs. As one of the fundamental elements in the ethnogenesis of the Proto-Slavs, the bearer of the Pomeranian culture considered, presumably based on the substrate of the Western Balts and, possibly, the Venetes linguistically close to them. Based on a retrospective analysis, work done to summarize information about the Venetes as possible migrants from the Asia Minor peninsula, in connection with which an attempt made to establish the chronology of their resettlement across Europe. The area of formation of the Proto-Slavs considered in the context of the existing trade routes that connected the tribes living in the Vistula basin with the Mediterranean, the Eastern Baltic, the Dnieper basin, Germany and Gaul. It was shown that the expansion of the Velbar culture led to the division of the area of the Proto-Slavs, which resulted in their cultural differentiation. This approach allows us to explain the presence of Proto-Slavs in the polyethnic Przeworsk, Zarubinets and Chernyakhov cultures.

Logboat Discovered in Lake Lubanowo, Western Pomerania

The paper presents a logboat found by an expedition from the University of Warsaw in Lake Lubanowo (northwestern Poland) during an underwater archaeological survey in 2020. It is the first logboat made of beech wood (Fagus sylvatica) registered in the area of Poland. The conventional radiocarbon date is 2350±30 BP; thus, the vessel may be attributed to the Jastorf or Pomeranian culture, as it was found in the border area between the territories of both units. Only a few logboats are known from the period preceding the Middle Ages in Poland. Other untypical traits are a transom, and a carefully formed beak-shaped bow. In the prow there is a rectangular hollow with a circular perforation inside of unclear function. One may consider it a fastening of an outrigger or other kind of floating attachment but also perhaps that the bow slot was intended either for a figurehead, for mooring, or to hold a torch during night-time fishing, or even functioned as a ‘stick-in-the-mud’ – type anchor.

On the synchronization of the chronology of phenomena and artifacts

The article presents a slightly different point of view on the issues related to the chronology and significance of the Chotyniec agglomeration (SE Poland) from the one presented in the discussion by Denys Grechko published in the 72nd volume of Sprawozdania Archeologiczne. The author highlights the importance of Grechko’s contribution in clarifying the chronology and provenance of biconical glass beads, which should be considered eastern imports. The polemical remarks concern the dating of the hillfort in Chotyniec and the entire Chotyniec agglo-meration. The current state of research does not authorize drawing categorical conclusions that would limit its use to the end of the 7th and early 6th centuries BC. This is contradicted by the entire series of radiocarbon dates and other premises. With regard to the Pomeranian culture, it was shown that it is not justified to distinguish the Lusatian-Pomeranian stage in south-eastern Poland. At the same time, new sources of the Jastorf culture were indicated.

The remains of a prehistoric dugout from Skorbičy (Družba) Village in the Buh River region

The article discusses the remains of a prehistoric dugout discovered at the edge of a sand quarry near Skorbičy (Družba) Village, Brest District, Belarus in 2013. It was impossible to extract and conserve the boat due to heavy decomposition of wood, but its shape and design features were documented during the archaeological excavations. The boat measured 3.75 × 0.65 m was made from hollowed pine trunk. There were bulkheads near the boat’s bow and stern, and there was a low rib along the bottom on the inside. The bottom and boards were most likely tarred on the outside. There were some dozens of fieldstones inside the boat, on its bow and stern. Some of them were burnt. Five small potsherds of the Iron Age were found in the eastern part of the dugout. Three radiocarbon datings were obtained for the samples of wood from the dugout. Two datings are almost identical and date the boat back from 480 to 210 cal BC. The third one is discordant and has calibrated range from 200 BC to 80 AD. Considering the archaeological context and the results of previous investigations of the archaeological sites in Skorbičy, the earlier dating could be assumed. The dugout is most probably connected with the population of the Pomeranian culture.

What shall we put in the grave? Archaeometric analyses of ceramics from a late Pre-Roman, Roman and Migration period cemetery in Malbork-Wielbark, northern Poland

AbstractThe necropolis at Malbork-Wielbark was excavated from 1927 to 1936 and 2008 to 2019. This burial ground is the eponymous site of the Wielbark culture. To date, over 2000 burials, both inhumation and cremation (pit and urn graves), have been recorded at this site, attesting to its continuous use from the Early Pre-Roman Iron Age (phase A1) to the early Migration Period (phase D1), with particular emphasis on the Roman Period. The cemetery site partially overlies and damages an earlier Iron Age settlement of the Pomeranian culture.Laboratory analyses were carried out on 113 pottery sherds. The series of samples chosen for analysis reflected, as far as was possible, all relative chronological phases and vessel shapes. The pottery was analysed using a step by step strategy built on the results of MGR-analysis (i. e. the classification of samples based on their matrix type) and on a macroscopic assessment of clastic material. In addition, an estimation of chemical composition by portable energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) was available for each sample. After they had been classified, samples were selected for chemical analysis by wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF), estimation of physical ceramic properties (open porosity, water absorption and apparent density), Kilb-Hennike analysis (K-H analysis), thin-section studies using a polarising microscope, a study of surface phenomena by RTI (Reflectance Transformation Imaging), thermal analysis (TG-DTG-DTA), X-ray diffraction analysis and functional properties analysis (water permeability and thermal shock resistance), as well as experimental estimation of magnetic properties.The results of MGR-analysis carried out on ceramic samples taken from 113 potsherds revealed that all of the pottery was made from various non-calcareous clays with fine-grained iron compounds homogeneously distributed in the matrix. It was decided not to carry on determining/using MGR-groups, as nearly every sherd represents a different MGR-group. This means that these vessels were made during different production cycles. The differences in thermal behaviour between samples were attributed only to matrix-type groups. It can be concluded that 85 % of the total sherds were made from plastic raw materials of the same provenance, and that the same matrix-type groups occurred in all chronological phases. The percentage of vessels made of particular raw materials indicates a significant difference in the preferences of Pomeranian Culture potters and those of Pre-Roman Iron Age, Early Roman Period and those of the Late Roman Period, when one type of raw material disappears from use. This last period is also characterized by an increase in the number of vessels fired in a reducing atmosphere. Standardization is also evident in vessel-wall thickness, which falls within a narrow range of values, on the other hand combined with a large variety in grain sizes up to very large ones and with a wide range of open porosity values, which in turn points to a lack of care in the preparation of the ceramic body. Vessels that may have been non-local origin are noted in all chronological phases. Analysis of functional properties (water permeability and thermal shock resistance) revealed that the pottery deposited in graves included fully functional wares, such as cooking pots, as well as vessels intended solely as grave goods.More than a few samples evidence the use of a slow-rotating potter’s wheel, and it is also possible that a template was used for forming vessel rims. However, there are very few examples of truly technologically advanced vessels. The technology is generally tailored to the desired type or form of vessel.

Analiza antropologiczna szczątków kostnych pochodzących z grobu skrzynkowego kultury pomorskiej ze stanowiska nr 1 w Kręcieszkach, gm. Bedlno, pow. Kutno, woj. łódzkie

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A Comb or a Loom? An Attempt at Interpretation of the Szemud Urn Image

Combs belong to characteristic motifs appearing on face urns from the Pomeranian culture. They are usually presented in the simplest way – in the form of several vertical lines coming from one horizontal line situated mostly in the central part of the urn. Archaeologists studying the Pomeranian culture accept an interpretation that all images comprised of vertical lines are combs (Dzięgielewski 2007: 183). The article presents another way of interpreting the engraving from the Szemud urn which has been assumed to depict a comb. As it has been discussed, both the image itself (extremely long comb teeth) and the structural position of the image (directly under a face image) are not typical. The author suggests that it is rather a depiction of a vertical warp-weighted loom, as evidenced by other images known from Europe (e.g. Sopron, Bologna) dated to the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age.

Stary Rypin – od grodu do miasta

The archaeological sites belonging to first Rypin settlement complex (today Starorypin, Rypin commune, Kuyvian-Pomeranian Voivodeship) are a unique phenomenon, one might say that even in the scale of the country. Ring stronghold, conical stronghold, settlements (of the Pomeranian culture, early medieval, late medieval), brickyard, burial ground and church – perhaps more than one – are of a unique scientific value, which should be investigated, also by rescue excavations. The aforementioned defensive structures with the settlement complex in Stary Rypin were undoubtedly crucial for the development of the settlement and cultural relations in the area of later formed, historic Dobrzyn Land and for a very long time – at least from the mid-11th century, and certainly to the mid-14th century. Written sources indicate that already Stary Rypin was a town founded probably between 1323 and 1326. Before 1345, for unknown reasons, there was a translocation of the settlement and administrative centre to the area of today’s town Rypin, ending the history of this important centre.

About the burial-free kurgans once again

One of the features of the burial mound necropolises of Pomeranian culture in the Kashubian Lake District is the presence, beside the mounds, of burial-free constructions. Their form resembles burial mounds or kurgans and their function can often raise questions. This may sometimes result from the fact that such structures are formed in distinct clusters in the cemeteries. At the current stage of research, it can be hypothesized that theyrepresent an integral part of the necropolis.

From potatoes to barrows, or there and back again

The dissemination of potato cultivation in the territory of Poland created a necessity for the regular removal of stones from the surface of fields. The structures built with the use of these stones can imitate barrows, for example. This issue was analysed when studying the cemetery of the Pomeranian culture in Nowa Sikorska Huta. The author also addresses the problem in the role that imagination can play when employed for the interpretation of archaeological objects

Traces of Metallurgy at the Site of Łosino 15, Compared with Other Finds Related to Ancient Metallurgy

The eponymous site is located in the territory of Poland—the northern part of the central section of the Slupia river, about 30 km from the coast of the Baltic sea. The site of Łosino 15 revealed some traces of a settlement of the Pomeranian and the Wielbark cultures. The most interesting features discovered at the study site are the remains of bloomery furnaces. The site of Łosino 15 yielded 10 features interpreted as relics of the bloomery shaft furnace with a pit. They were characterized by a high degree of deterioration—due to the agronomic activities and slope processes, only the bottom part of the slag-pit have been preserved. These are the remains of shaft furnaces with a pit called slag-pit furnace, whose relics are slag-pits filled with slag. The site of Łosino 15 yielded slag with a total weight of about 100 kg. Two alternative and temporarily equivalent hypotheses can be proposed here. According to the former one, the creators of the bloomery were representatives of the Pomeranian culture, and in the latter version—they represented the Wielbark culture.

Migration i førromersk jernalder

Migration i førromersk jernalder

Thermoluminescent dating of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age pottery on sites in Kłyżów and Jarosław (SE Poland)

Abstract The absolute chronology of Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages in Polish territories is a result of long-term and complex research. Here, we have investigated the absolute dating of two sites, namely Kłyżów, a cemetery of the Tarnobrzeg Lusatian culture, and Jarosław, a settlement spanning from the late phase of the former to Pomeranian culture, possibly with Jastorf elements. Having been spurred by promising results of thermoluminescence (TL) dating of medieval and Przeworsk materials, we have employed it in those situations, where no other chronometric methods seem to be efficient. TL dating has been combined with typological analysis of the dated pottery and, partially, with radiocarbon method. Albeit the produced TL dates do not represent the level of sought-for fine chronological resolution, they indicate the temporal trends and corroborate the typological research. Our study has shown the potential of TL dating for periods with plateaus on 14C calibration curve. We also have dealt with unexpected TL ages and suggested some solutions of the problem. Finally, we have demonstrated that the condition sine qua non for archaeological interpretation of TL dates is a thorough stylistic-chronological analysis of dated pottery and clear understanding of relations between chronometric dates and the archaeological event to be dated.

Comunidade pomerana e uso de agrotóxicos: uma realidade pouco conhecida

The objective of this article is to characterize social and economically the Pomeranian community from 'Alto Santa Maria' in the municipality of Santa Maria de Jetibá at Espírito Santo State and investigate the main factors of pesticides exposure in rural community. A cross-sectional study was carried out interviewing 151 members of a rural Pomeranian community using a semi-structured questionnaire. The analysis was based in descriptive statistics and logistics regression models. The results revealed that the majority of the community members own their land. The child participation in agricultural activities is a tradition in the Pomeranian culture. The use of pesticides by this community began in the 80s since then; different types of pesticides have frequently been used by rural residents. The logistic regression models that associate the presence of some health problem with how the land is cleaned, pesticides usage, pesticides application frequency and the use of protection equipment, showed that the chance of an individual to present some health problem is related with the use of pesticides. Another regression model showed that the education level is an important factor to the use of protection equipment. The Pomeranian community studied has some cultural habits that contribute for the exposure of pesticides.

Religião, identidade e segurança entre imigrantes luteranos da Pomerânia, no Espírito Santo (1880-2005)

No século 19, muitas pessoas de diversas regiões rurais da Alemanha emigraram pra o Brasil. Vários contingentes oriundos da Pomerânia Oriental (hoje noroeste da Polônia) fixaram-se no estado do Espírito Santo. A maioria era seguidora da igreja luterana. Neste artigo, examinamos como sua religião ajudou esses imigrantes a conservar um nível de segurança satisfatório. A palavra segurança é utilizada especialmente mas não exclusivamente no sentido existencial ou ontológico. Na busca de certo nível de segurança em sua nova pátria, eles e seus descendentes construíram, reproduziram, desconstruiram e reconstruíram suas identidades coletiva e individual. Mostra-se como a religião ressaltou entre os recursos transnacionais utilizados, junto com a cultura e a língua pomeranas.

Osadnictwo pradziejowe Wysoczyzny Świeckiej

The actual state of research on this mezoregion is presented and special attention paid to the reconstruction of the natural environment by means of paleobotanical methods. The earliest traces of human occupation date there from the close of the Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic), followed by absence of any occupation. Next settlements did not occur until the Bronze Age. The settlement of the Pomeranian culture is the best recognized (32 cemeteries). Archaeological finds as well as the evidence of pollen diagrams suggest that econological conditions during the Bronze Age were particularly favourable for stock breeding and less for farming. In the Roman period the two ways of procuring food became equal in proportion. The area of the Świecie Upland was „retarded” in cultural development since certain prehistoric cultures, notably the Chojnice-Pieńki and perhaps also the Pomeranian culture could have survived there longer than it is generally accepted. Due to inadequate penetration of the mezoregion in question, the picture of prehistoric community is, however, far from being full.

Grób skrzynkowy kultury pomorskiej z Odrów, gm. Czersk, stan. 3 w Borach Tucholskich

Test excavations of the cemetery of the Pomeranian culture on site 3 at Odry revealed in 1991 an undisturbed cist grave with 3 urns containing bones of an adult and of two children. One of the urns with child’s remains has yielded an amulet of animal tooth. The grave has been assigned to the Middle La Тѐпе period.

Osadnictwo pradziejowe wyspy czerskiej

Primaeval settlement in the area of Czersk in the northern part of Tuchola Forests began in mesolythic period. Traces of neolitic cultures are scare as for example the biggest of them the culture of funnel-shaped caps. Also Lusatian culture is very sporadic and only Pomeranian culture is rich represented especially by box graves. Directly after the Pomeranian culture the Wielbark culture appeared the classical representative of which is the cemetery with stone circles in Odry. This is the last of the primaeval cultures of this region. It is stressed that the settlement and the type of husbandry were very much dependent on the difficult ecological conditions specially in this region.

Materiały z cmentarzyska kultury pomorskiej z Orońska, woj. Radom, ze zbiorów Muzeum Okręgowego w Lublinie

During rescue investigations in the site of Pomeranian culture in Orońsko two cinerary urns completly preserved and two fragmentarily preserved were found. The chronological analysis enables to classify them in the early stage of Pomeranian culture dated back to HD2-LA (500-400 B.C.).

Próba rekonstrukcji zmian roślinności w okolicach osady kultury pomorskiej w Odrach na podstawie źródeł przyrodniczych (podsumowanie wstępnej fazy badań)

In 1986 the Archaeological Department of University of Łódź conducted excavations in the settlement of Pomeranian culture site 2. This site has been already known from very few records describing the previoue rescue investigations (from 1926 and 1962). Two settlement phases were distinguished on it: the first one related to the settlement of the culture of funnel-shaped wine-cups and the other one to Pomeranian culture. The archaeological-natural studies led nowadays aim at identification of settlement processes on the backround of changes in the natural environment. The present paper attempts to summing up the first stage of investigations. It includes facts known from archaeological sources and natural studies conducted so far (palinologic and pnlaeobotanical) which indicated on existing relationships among climatic changes, habitat conditions and recorded material traces of the settlement.