The Balt societies in Poland, 1-500 AD

THE 4 PAST SOCIETIES 500 BC – 500 AD P O L I S H L A N D S F R O M T H E F I R S T E V I D E N C E O F H U M A N P R E S E N C E TO T H E E A R LY M I D D L E AG E S THE PAST SOCIETIES THE PAST SOCIETIES P O L I S H L A N D S F R O M T H E F I R S T E V I D E N C E O F H U M A N P R E S E N C E TO T H E E A R LY M I D D L E AG E S Przemysław Urbańczyk, editor 4 500 BC – 500 AD Aleksandra Rzeszotarska-Nowakiewicz, editor Warszawa 2016 Published by the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences www.iaepan.edu.pl This volume has been edited with respect for Polish-language geographical terms and other nomenclature. Thus, the regions otherwise known as Greater Poland, Lesser Poland, Pomerania, and Silesia are here given as Wielkopolska, Małopolska, Pomorze, and Śląsk. The same goes for rivers (e.g., the Oder is found here as the Odra), personal names (not Boleslaus, but Bolesław), and so on. English translation Anna Kinecka Language editor Philip Earl Steele Typesetting and layout Bartosz Dobrowolski Cover design and photo Albert Salamon Wawrzyniec Skoczylas Artefacts on the cover photo, thanks to the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw Printed and bound by Sowa Sp. z o.o. ISBN: 978-83-63760-91-5 Work inanced by the National Program for Development of the Humanities – 2012-2017 © Copyright by the authors and the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences Contents 9 14 Preface Bibliography 15 Chapter 1 15 16 18 20 34 38 41 44 Societies of the younger segment of the early Iron Age in Poland (500–250 BC) Introduction The change. To the borders of a lowland ecumene The time of change Early connections with the Celts – southern Poland as a contact zone The Jastorf world moving south Autarchy and acculturation: the end of an epoch Bibliography 111 Chapter 4 111 112 113 115 118 121 123 126 128 129 Pomorze in the inal centuries BC Introduction Tough beginnings Stability and growth Their way of life – cemeteries The feminine model Fierce warriors The power of iron Major change Bibliography 133 Chapter 5 133 With gold and sword. Contacts of Celts and early Germanics in central Europe. 49 Chapter 2 49 50 52 56 69 The societies of West Balt Barrow culture, 500 BC–1 AD Introduction Habitation sites – dwellings – subsistence – settlement patterns Grave sites – graves – burial rite Bibliography 71 Chapter 3 71 It’s a Man’s World... 71 Germanic societies of the Jastorf and the Przeworsk 72 76 88 93 107 cultures in southern and central Poland (300 BC–10 AD) Introduction Societies of Jastorf culture in the Polish Lowland (4th/3rd–2nd c. BC) Jastorf culture’s Gubin group societies in south-western Poland (3rd–1st c. BC) A time of change – a time of men. Przeworsk culture societies in central and southern Poland (2nd–1st c. BC) Bibliography 153 158 The historical background: 3rd–1st c. BC Introduction Bastarnae and Scirii: shadows on the Black Sea An age of mercenaries and plunderers The great migration of the Cimbri and Teutones Lugius and Boiorix The rise and the decline of the Lugian age – the start of the Vandal era The North Bibliography 163 Chapter 6 163 Przeworsk culture society and its long-distance contacts, 133 134 136 141 147 149 151 AD 1–350 164 Abstract 165 Historical background and internal diferences 174 Warriors and their equipment 188 Burial rite and cemeteries. Prospects for the reconstruction of attires and social positions 200 Settlements 203 The economy 207 Sanctuaries and the sacral sphere 211 Recapitulation 212 Bibliography 217 Chapter 7 307 Chapter 9 217 219 224 229 232 238 251 252 The society of Wielbark culture, AD 1–300 Deinition and origin Settlement changes Historical interpretations The funeral rite and ritual behavior The social structure The tasks for the future Bibliography 307 Societies in the lands of Poland, from 350 AD until 500 AD 308 Introduction – societies in the lands of Poland in the Roman period 316 The beginning of change 320 The Great Migration 338 Towards New Times 340 Bibliography 257 Chapter 8 257 258 263 267 268 273 282 292 299 300 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD Introduction The appearance and development of Bogaczewo culture On the north-eastern periphery. Sudovian culture Archaeology of the landscape – settlement and economy Burial customs Social structure, the emergence of elites Contacts and connections Conclusions Bibliography Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD 258 Introduction 263 The appearance and development of Bogaczewo culture 267 On the north-eastern periphery. Sudovian culture 268 Archaeology of the landscape – settlement and economy 273 Burial customs 282 Social structure, the emergence of elites 292 Contacts and connections 299 Conclusions 300 Bibliography Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD Introduction Anna Bitner-Wróblewska Aleksandra Rzeszotarska-Nowakiewicz 258 During the age discussed in the present volume, and later still, the territory of today’s north-eastern Poland difered markedly in its culture from the rest of the country. The local communities evince a greater ainity in their material culture and the sphere of ideology with that of their neighbours to the north and the east, i.e., in the Sambian Peninsula (now Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia) and in present-day Lithuania and Latvia (Fig. 1). The whole region of the south-eastern Baltic seacoast is characterized by a stability of settlement and material culture not seen anywhere else in this part of Europe. A special feature of this region of the Baltic basin is the presence of rich deposits of the ‘northern gold’ (Fig. 2) – amber (Butrimas 2001). Amber caused Greek and Roman writers and historians to take interest in the region, most notably, Publius Cornelius Tacitus. The Roman historian devoted to the dwellers of the amber-bearing land a remarkably lengthy passage in his Germania (§ 45, 2–5), a work completed in AD 98 in which he described the barbarian world outside the borders of the Roman Empire. Referring to this people as Aestiorum gentes, Tacitus noted that their dress and customs were similar to that of other inhabitants of Germania, but the language they spoke was quite diferent (Tacitus, Germania). There is some consensus that the Aestii of Tacitus were Baltic peoples (the Balts) – of Indo-European stock, established on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea (Kolendo 2008b; 2009; Okulicz 1986; Nowakowski 1995; Michelbertas 2001; Bitner-Wróblewska 2010). Their name is a conventional term introduced in 1845 by the German scholar F. Nesselmann who coined it from the Latin name Mare Balticum to describe peoples established in the region of our interest, speakers of Baltic languages (spoken today by Lithuanians and Latvians only). A stability of settlement recognizable in the archaeological material recovered in the region has prompted researchers to resort to the method of retrospection and to refer the peoples known from early medieval and later sources to the archae- Introduction E W N S 1 2 0 35 70 [km] 140 3 4 Fig. 1. Balt territories in the late Roman period. 1 – maximum extent; 2 – Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture; 3 – Bogaczewo culture; 4 – Sudovian culture. After Bitner-Wróblewska 2010. Digital processing by M. Chwiej ological cultures observed here during the irst centuries AD, servations can only have been provided by an eyewitness. also in the times described by Tacitus. It is likely that during The description appears to be the most compatible with the that age ethnic identity was understood rather diferently shallow waters of the Vistula Lagoon, and also, the southern than today; this is suggested by the ‘familiar-alien’ opposition and south-western beaches of the Sambian Peninsula, or that recorded in this part of Europe during the modern age. The of the Curonian Lagoon – deinitely not with the high coastal ‘familiar’ (one of us) need not have been someone who spoke clifs of northern and north-western Sambia where the Tertiary the same language and corresponded to our modern concept blue loams (‘blue earth’) harbour the richest deposits of amber. of ethnic proximity. Imaginably, a major role was played by the Nor to be taken into account are the areas in Mazury and the unity of the locus, of sharing the same territory – the ‘familiar’ Kurpie Forest region where amber was extracted using the would have been the neighbour, the one living nearby. If so, open-cast mining method. it is reasonable to take this perspective while analyzing the Most likely the observer who provided Tacitus with information in Tacitus’ work. his information had witnessed amber being collected on the A clue essential when locating the Aestiorum gentes coast of the Vistula Lagoon. The settlement situation in this is aforded by the detailed description of the method used by region in the times described by Tacitus is quite interesting. them to obtain amber, or glesum as Tacitus calls it (Kolendo The author of Germania evidently drew from an account on 2009). Amber was collected on the beaches (in ipso litore) or an expedition made during the reign of Nero (between AD 50 in the shallows (inter vada), presumably by dredging (Fig. 3), and 68) to the Baltic Sea by a Roman eques (Kolendo 1981), a method known and employed all the way to the middle but even to a greater extent from an anonymous source (the of the twentieth century (Okulicz 1976: 181–183). These ob- Descriptio Suebiae, as Jerzy Kolendo has it) almost certain The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad 259 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD 68). The name Aestiorum gentes used by Tacitus suggests that he was referring not to one people but more likely to an alliance of tribes. The multi-ethnic character of the region’s population would be conirmed moreover by the apparently inconsistent information about the Aestii peoples handed down by Tacitus, unless it applies to more peoples having a dissimilar culture and very likely, ethnic makeup (Bitner-Wróblewska, Wróblewski 2015: 69–71). The information about the language of the Aestii which ‘more resembles that of Britain’, meaning a Celtic language, can hardly be treated literally and is more likely to mean that the Aestiorum gentes spoke a language unintelligible to the Roman informants. The latter, for their part, must have had some knowledge of Germanic languages, which suggests that the Aestii had a diferent language – possibly a Baltic, Old European, or Finnish language. The presence of a Finnish substrate in the south-eastern Baltic region, or possibly, close contacts of the region with lands inhabited by Baltic Finns, is suggested by inds of dress accessory forms that are common to the two groups, and also by evidence of some shared religious beliefs, as well. Incidentally, it is interesting that while Tacitus stresses the diiculty of communicating with the Aestiorum gentes, the word for amber (glesum) he records is Germanic. This suggests that, all the same, a Germanic language may have been in use among the inhabitants of the region. The Roman historian wrote of the Aestii that ‘amongst Fig. 2. Baltic amber-bearing zones. 1 – Sambian coast with the amberthem (...) the use of weapons of iron’ was rare ‘but frequent richest Paleogene ‘blue earth’; 2 – beaches rich in amber washedthat of clubs’ (rarus ferri, frequens fustium usus). However, out by the sea; 3 – amber-rich areas with Quaternary deposits and the archaeological record from the Balt territory by no means quarries in Paleogene sediments; 4 – places of sporadic occurrence of amber; 5 – villages under amber regale in the 14th–17th c. conirms the lack of a familiarity with iron weapons or implements. On the contrary – in grave assemblages iron items After Okulicz 1976 of weaponry as well as diverse iron implements (carpentry tools in particular) and everyday objects are abundant. In this zone of the European Barbaricum the term rarus ferri is to date to the times of Domitian, AD 92–98 (Kolendo 2008a: compatible only with the traditions of the people of Wielbark 24–44). Therefore, the description of the Aestiorum gentes culture, in whose society there apparently was a proscription would correspond to the late 1st century AD. Archaeological on iron, which was rarely deposited in graves – weapons the analysis of the settlement situation on the Vistula Lagoon in least of all. This strange tradition may have been noted by the late 1st and early 2nd centuries has revealed the presence the Roman informant. of sites which correspond to two widely diferent archaeologFurthermore, Tacitus noted some observations reical cultures (Fig. 4) – in the east, almost as far as the Pasłęka lating to the ideology of the Aestiorum gentes, such as the River, the Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture, identiied with Balt tribes; importance of Magna Mater in their beliefs. Although female in the west, down the coast of the Vistula Lagoon and the deities are to be found in the mythology of Baltic peoples (e.g. inlets of the future Lake Drużno, the Wielbark culture identiied Laima, Žemyna, Žvoruna), none of them enjoys a position with Germanic tribes (Bitner-Wróblewska, Wróblewski 2015: equal or superior to the position of male deities (Trinkūnas 260 Introduction 1999: 76–80, 89–94). Not so in Germanic or Finnish beliefs. Tacitus himself described in detail the centre of worship of the goddess Nerthus, noting that she occupied an extremely high position within the Germanic pantheon. In the beliefs of Finnish peoples a major role was played by Rauni/Ravdna, spouse of the main Uranic deity – the god of thunder, Ukko (Haaivo 1979: 161). On the other hand, the reference made by Tacitus that the Aestii wear the images of wild boars (as a mark of their beliefs and as amulets) is quite incompatible with the archaeological and archaeozoological sources amassed from the Balt territory. There is ample evidence for the role played by horses in the religious beliefs of these societies, but none whatsoever to conirm that this was so with wild or domestic pigs. In contrast, the boar was indeed a prominent divine and emblematic animal of Celtic and Germanic peoples. To summarize the information found in Germania relating to the Aestiorum gentes, it is clear that this record is hard to reconcile with the view of a single people known from archaeological sources or from the later ethnographic and historical record. But if we chose to treat the Aestiorum gentes as more than one people inhabiting the amber-rich land described by Tacitus, this discrepancy may well prove supericial. The Balts may then be safely understood to represent one of the constituent parts of the Aestiorum gentes. Researchers have been grappling with the question of the time of the arrival of the Balts on the Baltic Sea and the location of their original homeland. In the archaeological sources we ind a relection of some continuity of their material culture starting from at least c. 6th century BC. This is the time of the appearance in the region of the irst barrows with multiple burials and a new set of artefact forms and cinerary vessels (cf. Hofmann, Rzeszotarska-Nowakiewicz, in this volume). If there is a change of the grave forms around AD 1, the forms of personal ornaments and pottery become modiied, but continue to be developed creatively by successive generations of craftsmen. After the turn of the era there is no major change of settlement zones either. This continuity Fig. 3. Dredging of Baltic amber in the early 20th c. After Bitner-Wróblewska, Wróblewski 2015 The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad 261 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD Fig. 4. Archaeological sites of the Wielbark and Dollkeim-Kovrovo cultures at the Vistula Lagoon in the beginning of the 1st and the end of the 2nd c. AD. Black dots and circles – Wielbark culture; red and green squares – Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture; Purple lozenges – Bogaczewo culture. After Cieśliński 2010; Bitner-Wróblewska, Wróblewski 2015 of tradition is one of the characteristic qualities of the Balt peoples (cf. Bitner-Wróblewska 2010; Bitner-Wróblewska, Mączyńska 2016). It is important to note that when Balt tribes established themselves on the Baltic Sea the region was not empty of settlement, but rather was occupied by communities of a poorly understood ethnicity – possibly ‘Old Europeans’, presumably also Finno-Ugrians. With time, this indigenous population became acculturated by the Balts adopting the model of life of the newcomers. As to the original homeland of the Balts, this is another puzzle. There is much to show that they migrated to the region from the broad expanses 262 of the European forest zone, on the upper Dnieper, Oka, and the Volga. This is supported by archaeological sources, but even more so by linguistic data, most of all, hydronymic (Būga 1924; 1925; Toporov, Trubačev 1962; Okulicz 1986). The names of lakes, rivers, minor streams, and wetlands are a category of toponyms which is the most enduring in the cultural landscape of a given region – indeed, the least likely to change. Lithuanian and Russian linguists have assembled a truly impressive record of Balt hydronyms from the forest zone. Their Balt lineage is beyond any doubt, but their chronology is less certain because linguistic evidence can only rarely be dated with more precision. The appearance and development of Bogaczewo culture The irst centuries BC (the late pre-Roman period, in the periodization used for the region found to the south and west of the Balt territory) bring a change in the culture model in the area of present-day north-eastern Poland, a change associated with the crisis and decline of the West Balt Barrow culture (cf. Hofmann, Rzeszotarska-Nowakiewicz, in this volume). This transition is particularly evident in the burial rite. At the turn of the eras (the onset of the Roman period) the inhabitants of these lands abandoned the custom of building barrows in their cemeteries and withdrew from their upland settlements, establishing new habitation sites and cemeteries on a wide scale on gentle, insolated slopes rising over lakes or water courses. The earlier settlement model had ceased being attractive for the inhabitants of the Mazury region. The new developments are now associated with the population of the Bogaczewo culture (named after the cemetery at Bogaczewo-Kula; Okulicz 1957; Nowakowski 2007). This process is still imperfectly recognized in the archaeological material. Some elements of the archaeological record (more notably, vessel forms and pottery wares discovered in some settlements) are nevertheless understood to conirm demographic continuity in the Mazury region. That the earlier traditions of the early Iron Age were continued by the local communities is documented by only a small number of artefact forms, more notably, dress pins type A with a rolled, triangle-shaped lat head (Rollenkopfnadeln) – these being dress accessories of Balt women. In their origin these often elaborate pins made of bronze go back to earlier iron specimens with a rolled head, dating to the early Iron Age, possibly as late as the late Pre-Roman period (Juga-Szymańska 2014). The nature of the cultural transition described here is intimated by the presence in the archaeological record of objects obviously imported from the neighbouring Przeworsk culture and Jastorf culture territories. Still in the early pre-Ro- The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad man period there is evidence in the border region between Mazury and northern Mazowsze of a coexistence of West Balt Barrow culture and Pomeranian-Cloche culture groups. In the late pre-Roman period, as a result of the migration of a Jastorf culture population through areas of Mazowsze and the emergence of a new element – communities of the Przeworsk culture (cf. Maciałowicz, in this volume) – the local population starts adapting to the new situation. One of the efects of this process was the withdrawal to the north of the Balt inhabitants of these lands, into the hinterland of the Mazury region, something which to some extent contributed to a settlement crisis. On the other hand, the lively interest of the Przeworsk culture people in penetrating the Balt territories Fig. 5. Shield-boss from grave no. 102 and a spear-head from grave no. 120 at Muntowo, fmr. Alt-Muntowen. After Nowakowski 2003 263 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD resulted in an intensiication of contacts between these two groups. The Balt communities gradually came to adopt new culture models, evolving structures resembling those observed within the latenized societies of Central Europe. From the late 1st century BC onwards the region continues under lourishing communities of the Bogaczewo culture. Brooches, still of a ‘Late La Tène design’, are an artefact form characteristic for this period. Their inds recorded in north-eastern Poland can hardly be interpreted otherwise than as evidence of one of the last stages of the Celtic commercial route running towards the amber-rich coast of the Baltic Sea. The route ran through northern Mazowsze, its operation conceivably a catalyst in the shift which led to the emergence of Bogaczewo culture, or at least a factor which contributed to the establishing of relations between Fig. 6. Quartzite ire-stone from barrow no. 38 at Czerwony Dwór, site the Przeworsk culture enclave in northern Mazowsze and the XXI. Investigations of Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw. Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski inhabitants of the Mazury region. st Around the turn of the eras and during the 1 century AD southern inluences are observed in diferent categories of weaponry making up the outit of the ‘Bogaczewo’ warrior, e.g., The impact during this age of the Przeworsk culture circular shield-bosses, spearheads (some of them decorated people, interested in proits from the amber trade, evident with a wavy indentation of the blade edge) (Fig. 5), and spurs. also in many elements of the burial rite, conirms their intenForms which gained popularity during the irst two centuries sive penetration of the region. On the other hand, contacts include buckles with a prong elongated into the belt plate presumably had the nature of intimate neighbourly relations and quartzite ire-stones (Fig. 6) (Iwanicki, Juga-Szymańska rather than armed intervention. The binding factor would have 2007; Kontny 2007; Iwanicki 2015)1. been the promise of mutual beneits. Fig. 7. Imported brooch, Knotenring and a pendant from barrow no. 38 at Czerwony Dwór, site XXI. Investigations of Institute of Archeology, University of Warsaw. Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski 1 The authors wish to express their gratitude to Paweł Szymański, PhD (Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw) for sharing inds from excavations in Czerwony Dwór, site XXI. 264 The appearance and development of Bogaczewo culture The inhabitants of the Mazury region, living close to the source of ‘the gold of the North’, became increasingly prosperous thanks to their involvement as go-betweens in the long-distance exchange along the ‘Amber Route’ which began in the Roman provinces. In the territory of present-day Poland the main route ran through the Przeworsk and the Wielbark culture territories, across the Vistula estuary, to Sambia and the coast of today’s western Lithuania; a parallel branch ran through the Mazury Lake district. Material trace of this exchange would be the inds of brooches produced in the Roman provinces in the Danube region (Fig. 7) (cf. Nowakowski 1995; Bitner-Wróblewska 2010; Juga-Szymańska, Szymański 2013). *** The material culture that evolved in the Mazury region in the irst centuries AD proved suiciently attractive for other peoples, and so much so that some of its elements are observed in the archaeological record in regions far to the east of their territory. What is more, the inhabitants of Mazury must have been markedly curious about the outside world and journeyed outside their region; this is suggested by burials which display characteristic features of their burial rites recorded far to the north-east, east, and south-east of the parent territory of Bogaczewo culture. Even in the 1st century AD cremation graves with a cinerary urn and a set of artefacts typical for the Mazury region are noted in the drainage of the Gołdapa (Lisy, fmr. Lissen), the lower Pregolya (Radužnoe, fmr. Rominten, now in the Kaliningrad Oblast), and in the Ełk Lake district (Przytuły, Judziki, Bargłów Dworny, Romoty, fmr. Romoten) (Engel et al. 2006: 185, ig. 2–3; Iwanicki 2007: 142–145, ig. 2–3). In the 2nd century and around AD 200, there is ample evidence of the east- and north-eastward expansion of Bogaczewo culture in the Suwałki region and the Augustów Plain, and even in Lithuania (Grižas, Bitner-Wróblewska 2007; Bliujienė 2016). The irst burials established in the cemeteries at Bród Nowy, Przebród, Osowa and Netta were urned graves, the cremated remains deposited in vessels with a high, cylindrical or a funnel-shaped neck, so characteristic of the burial rituals of the inhabitants of Mazury (Bitner-Wróblewska 2007: 112; Żuberek 2007). Furthermore, as evidenced by a handful of cremation graves recorded at Zapsė and Stanaičiai of a form diverging from other burials in these grave-sites, the arrivals from the Mazury Lake district must have made their way to southern Lithuania (Grižas, Bitner-Wróblewska 2007: 266, 269–273). In these burials the cremations had been deposited in cinerary urns identical in their shape, execution technique, and ornamentation with specimens recorded in the Mazury region (Fig. 8). The cemetery at Stanaičiai yielded a silvered bronze hinged brooch (Fig. 9), something (type A.133) regarded as a diagnostic form of ‘Mazurian’ dress accessories (Nowakowski 1995: 38–41). The newcomers from Mazury also had some impact on local pottery, its efect being the presence of ‘hybrid’ vessels which combine the ‘Mazurian’ form and technology with local ornamentation. This phenomenon is illustrated in particular by cinerary urns excavated in the grave-ield at Pažarstis – biconical, with a cylindrical neck, sometimes with a multipartite handle, decorated below the shoulder by brushing, which is rare for ‘Mazurian’ pottery, but common in southern and eastern Lithuania (Grižas, Bitner-Wróblewska 2007: 261–266, ig. 2, 4). In any case, the inluence of the material culture known from the Mazury Lake district reached deep into the Lithuanian hinterland – distinctly ‘Mazurian’ dress accessories have been recorded in central and western Lithuania. The cemetery at Marvelė on the middle Neman, now a part of the city of Kaunas, yielded a large series of dress accessories provenanced to Mazury, e.g., type A.133 brooches, spoked wheel pendants, and many diferent forms of dress pins (Bertašius 2007). Type A.133 brooches are a striking example of Fig. 8. Stanaičiai. Lithuania. Cinerary urn from grave no. 2. After Grižas, Bitner-Wróblewska 2007 The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad 265 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD the migration of this design (Banytė-Rowell, Bitner-Wróblews- inds of brooches of this type have been recorded in western ka 2005: 114–118, ig. 8). A typically Mazurian form of showy Lithuania (Labatakiai, Barzdūnai, fmr. Barsduhnen, Vilkyčiai, brooch, with a broad bow, an expanded, richly decorated fmr. Wilkieten), northern Lithuania (Karpiškiai), and northern head, often silvered or tinned, came to be an attractive ‘export Estonia (Truuta, and unknown locality). The form and design commodity’ (Fig. 10), and it is even possible that many of these of these brooches became an inspiration for Letto-Lithuanian personal ornaments were introduced to the eastern regions and Estonian jewellers, as suggested by inds of specimens with dowries of ‘Mazurian’ brides. A few of these brooches with a hinge design of the fastening, a wide, triangular foot, have been recorded recently, as if ‘en route’, in the Suwałki recorded in Latvia and Estonia, and a few specimens also region, most notably within the settlement complex at Szurpiły. known from Lithuania. It is important to note that diferent types of Mazurian Next to the specimens recovered at Stanaičiai and Marvelė, dress pins (in particular, specimens with a triangular, lat head and a folded terminal, with a biconical head, some variants with a ring head) had a wide distribution across the eastern Baltic seaboard (Fig. 11), demonstrating that the style of dress accessories of the inhabitants of the Mazury district was found attractive outside that region (Juga-Szymańska 2014: 139–154, 161–167). These communities apparently came to act as go-betweens in transmitting farther eastward items of dress accessories typical for other areas of Poland, as for example, iron crossbow brooches of a form typical for the eastern zone of the Przeworsk culture (Nowakowski 2001). Fig. 9. Stanaičiai, Lithuania. Imported brooch of Mazurian type discovered from destroyed grave. After Grižas, Bitner-Wróblewska 2007 Fig. 10. Brooches from the cemetery at Paprotki Kolonia, site 1. The District Museum in Suwałki. Photograph by A. Ring 266 Fig. 11. Dress pins with biconical head. After Juga-Szymańska 2014: pl. XXXI, altered On the north-eastern periphery. Sudovian culture During the irst centuries AD the eastern area of Mazury and the Suwałki region was under the expanding settlement of Bogaczewo culture. Many archaeological objects recovered in sites dating to that time may be interpreted as evidence of contacts with Przeworsk territories, contacts very likely to be associated with a search for new routes to the amber-rich coast of the Baltic Sea. Under the impact of these cultural stimuli and also, of contacts with the people of Dollkeim-Kovrovo culture living in nearby Sambia and in the lands on the Pregolya River, the communities in our region were subject to an intensive development. The main features noted in the region at this time are graves under small cairns, stone settings and cists, the burial rite being cremation. In the lands of the Gołdap region this process had started already at the close of the 2nd century. A little later, the same developments are observed in the Suwałki region, where the irst barrow cemeteries come into being, at irst biritual in character, with time wholly dominated by the cremation rite (see below: burial rites). The Augustów Lake district was the last to come under The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad these processes. The sum total of these developments is referred to as ‘Sudovian culture’. The people of this culture unit have been identiied with some conidence with the tribe of the Sudinoi whom Ptolemy named alongside the Galindai (Nowakowski 1996; Engel et al. 2006; Szymański 2013). Starting from the end of the 4th century the archaeological situation becomes fairly uniform: everywhere in the ‘Sudovian’ territory multiple burial barrows are built; the local pottery workshops evolve a distinctive assortment of vessel forms. Finds recovered in this region include remarkable interregional forms similar to those recorded in the neighbouring territories. They are understood to document the long-term, often long-distance connections of the local population, connections which would lourish in the centuries that followed, during the Migration period. At that time these territories deinitely become part of a vast barrow burial zone extending e.g., to eastern Lithuania (Nowakowski 2000; Bitner-Wróblewska 2010; Bliujienė 2016). 267 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD Archaeology of the landscape – settlement and economy Fig. 12. Landscape of the Mazurian Lakeland – Lake Nidajno. Photograph by T. Nowakiewicz In choosing sites for their settlements the inhabitants of the West Balt territory were largely guided by features of the natural landscape. There is evidence that the pattern of settlement continued to be similar over the Roman period through to the close of the Migration period. Preference was shown for sites with direct access to potable water found in a gently folded terrain, on sunny, well-deined promontories descending down to the water (Fig. 12). Settlements were more rarely established on islands (e.g., the sites at Wyszembork, Ptasia Wyspa island at Szestno, and the island on Lake Zyzdrój), although they are suspected of being more seasonal in character. In any case, given the present status of research it is hard to specify the character of some of these sites, among which several have been interpreted tentatively as sites of worship (Szymański 268 2005) (Fig. 13, 14). Larger watercourses in the region served as communication routes. It is likely that the movement was mostly along the rivers, and only the larger navigable streams like the Pregolya and its larger tributaries, were used for transport in boats. Communication and transport would have been easier down postglacial ice-margin valleys which, while not drained by any larger streams, were more accessible than the surrounding moraines, as e.g., the area dividing the Borek Forest (cf. Engel et al. 2006; Karczewski 2011). Most of the West Balt settlements are known to us only from surface scatterings of pottery, daub from the walls of buildings, charcoal, and ire-cracked stones from hearths. The sites vary in size: from small hummocks and promontories to sprawling settlement complexes several hectares in Archaeology of the landscape – settlement and economy Fig. 13. The island site on Lake Czos. Photograph by T. Nowakiewicz Fig. 14. Head of shafted weapon from the Lake Czos at the island site. After Nowakiewicz, RzeszotarskaNowakiewicz 2013. area, many of them with archaeological features dating to the West Balt Barrow culture phase. The most common ind in the settlements are pits, their function identiied mostly as ‘economy-related’ with little means to specify matters more closely. It seems that some of these features might be the remains of recessed hearths or primitive ovens. Other features of this sort, identiied as storage pits, would have been used for stockpiling foodstufs. Quite a few had a secondary function as rubbish dumps. Another category of features is that of hearths – small pits set about with stones, illed with a burnt residue. Another interesting category concerns postholes, understood to represent the outlines of deteriorated timbers, possibly structural elements of homesteads; some were identiied within settlements at Niedrzwica-Piękne Łąki and at Boćwinka Nowa and interpreted as the remains of dwellings with a small hearth within. A number of features with postholes unearthed at Niedrzwica did not display a regular pattern. Their possible interpretation is as the remains of a temporary shelter (cf. Engel et al. 2006). A settlement dating to the Roman period marked by its prosperity and size was identiied at Tałty in the Mrągowo Lake district. Situated on Lake Mikołajki next to a stream The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad feeding into the lake the site extends to a peninsula jutting into the lake. The indings include more than 1,200 features, among them the remains of homesteads, hearths, storage pits, rubbish dumps, and ovens. The settlement functioned from the early Iron Age until the late Migration period, and there is some evidence that it was still in use during the early medieval period. The site yielded an impressive pottery assemblage which included some intact vessels. The assemblage of inds recovered at Tałty suggests the importance of this site, which served both residential and production functions. It is apparent that the inhabitants of this settlement sustained contacts with remote regions of Europe in the period from the 2nd to the late 7th century (Dymowski et al. 2012). Sites dating to the Roman period clearly follow a speciic rule, observed in the spatial relationship between settlements and cemeteries which make up individual settlement complexes. Sited nearby (usually not more than a few score metres apart), they are separated by a watercourse: larger, or quite small, recognizable at present only from the presence of a waterlogged depression. It seems that the rule of separating the sacred from the secular was strictly adhered to, similarly as during the earlier periods. 269 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD their external surface, which is rusticated or left unsmoothed everywhere below the rim, which mostly has a pinched or Pottery vessels manufactured by the inhabitants of the Mazury a scored decoration (Fig. 15, 16, 17). region during this age may be divided, depending on their The tableware is a much more diverse group. It includes form and supposed utilitarian function, into kitchenware and basins, tureens, and beakers. Made from clay containing tableware. Such kitchenware, discovered mostly in settlement a more inely-grained temper they have thinner walls and carecontexts, is mostly that of pots of a quite simple form and fully smoothed surfaces. A small number of specimens were with thick walls. Their material is clay tempered with coarse- rusticated on their lower body above the base. Decoration is grained crushed granite to increase the vessel’s resistance mostly of engraved lines. Specimens found in settlement conto changing temperatures – both during iring and later use. texts presumably were used as tableware. Those discovered Quite often the interior surface of these vessels retained burnt in cemeteries served as cinerary urns and accessory vessels, remains of food – traces of cooking in a hearth or in a crude imaginably containing food deposited as an ofering to the oven. This kitchenware tends to have a careless inish of deceased (cf. Szymański 2013) (Fig. 18, 19). Pottery Fig. 15. Clay vessel from settlement site at Niedrzwica, site XVII. State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. Fig. 16. Clay pot of Wyszembork type from settlement site at Niedrzwica, site XVII. State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. Fig. 17. Clay pot from settlement site at Niedrzwica, site XVII. State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski 270 Fig. 18. Miniature vessel from cemetery at Muntowo, fmr. AltMuntowen, grave no. 42. Museum of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. Fig. 19. Miniature vessel from cemetery at Muntowo, fmr. AltMuntowen, grave no. 83. Museum of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. Photograph by B. Olszewski Photograph by B. Olszewski Archaeology of the landscape – settlement and economy Crafts The manufacture of textiles and having them made into clothing was a sustained and obligatory daily occupation. Unfortunately, the cremation burial rite makes it almost impossible to reconstruct textiles used during that age by the inhabitants of north-eastern Poland. The few inds available to us show that textiles were mostly made of sheep wool, and possibly also of lax. One of the more frequent items of grave goods in women’s burials are spindle-whorls, ones which have also surfaced in settlement contexts. The remains of a loom were recovered in a settlement at Ławny Lasek in the Mrągowo Lake district – namely, eleven weights found inside a dwelling which presumably belonged to an upright loom (Mellin-Wyczółkowska 2007). There is evidence from the West Balt territory of a quite well-developed metallurgy of locally extracted iron, documented by inds of iron slag and remnants of bloomery furnaces. In local workshops iron was made into weapons, tools etc. The working of non-ferrous metals was conirmed by the study of the settlement at Ławny Lasek. The remains of a posted building, and other areas of this settlement yielded a large quantity of inds of bronze alloy, an ingot of silver, and a number of clay moulds, one of them a casting mould (MellinWyczółkowska 2007). Other crafts pursued include antler working and smithing; everyday items were manufactured from organic materials such as wood, bark, wicker, or plant ibres. The small number of bone and antler analyses at hand has documented the use in the bone and antler working shops of bones of domestic animals next to red deer antler, although the latter was preferred as more durable. Agriculture, animal breeding, pastoralism Past human activity in the Mazury region may be traced using data from pollen analysis. On the evidence of studies made of the microregion around Lake Salęt in the Mrągowo Lake district it appears that in the period when this area was settled by the communities of the West Balt Barrow culture and the Bogaczewo culture there is no recognizable break – on the contrary, the settlement activity in the Mazury region may be seen to continue uninterrupted until the close of the Migration period. In the period c. 441 BC – 86 AD there is an evident increase in the agricultural activity in the area around Lake Salęt, with some luctuation around the turn of the eras (which has been attributed to the scattering of The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad previously more concentrated settlement). Examinations conducted document a steady increase (more apparent especially around 150 AD) and an intensive development of settlement during the Roman period. The most recent analyses of pollen proiles obtained in the eastern region of Bogaczewo culture and of the Sudovian culture settlement, from lakes Orzysz, Wigry, and Szurpiły, additionally conirm the lourishing of settlement activity during the so-called Sudovian phase (100–600 AD). In any case, the results of environmental analyses are consistent with data documenting climatic warming, something favourable for settlement in Central Europe, particularly in the period 3rd century BC – 3rd century AD. A climate milder than today would be conirmed by inds of charcoal of beech, which does not occur in this part of Poland today. Tracts of open land were turned over to the cultivation of cereal crops (Cerealia), and at some point rye started to be grown. Expanding land use is conirmed by the presence of microcharcoals, presumably from hearths (in settlements), or the burning down of the forest for farmland, a process which became especially intensive around the middle of the 2nd century and continued to around the middle of the 6th century. The presence of rye pollen would document its cultivation in the region during the Roman period and continuation during the Migration period. An increase in the indicators of human settlement activity is noted also for the period between 100 and 650 AD in the Mazury region around the locality Miłki, and between 50 and 500 AD in the area of Staświny-Ruda and Lake Łazduny. Cropland and grassland were a stable, but not a dominant element of the environment during this age. Species identiied among the charred grains recovered from dwelling and utility features in the settlement at Wyszembork include common barley, rye, and millet. There were also grains of cannabis, peas, and turnip. Weeds of cultivation known to lourish in agricultural ields were represented by cornlower, cockspur, white goosefoot, and annual knavel. The growing need for ever higher yields and new tracts of land to be brought under cultivation must have prompted the inhabitants of the Mazury region to clear the alder forest by slash-and-burn methods, to open up for agriculture soils which owed their fertility to the natural nitrogen-ixing properties of this tree. Alder wood presumably was used as a fuel in smelting iron ore – during this period there was a rapid increase in the demand for iron tools needed by the expanding agriculture. Slash-and-burn agriculture forced 271 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD the farmers to change location within a cycle of sowing and extensive cultivation, which necessitated access to suiciently large clearances of fallow land. Trees were cut down, left to dry, and burnt, their ash used to enrich the soil, and the obtained ield plot brought under cultivation for several years. Next, the ield would be left fallow or used for pasture. According to the data at hand, in the Lake Salęt microregion the land was cleared by felling trees, but without burning them. However, there is evidence that during the Migration period the economy may have been of the shrub-fallow type. It is possible that the soil was enriched with ash obtained by burning trees (Szal et al. 2014a; 20014b). Other branches of the economy, i.e., the breeding of cattle, sheep (Fig. 20), and pigs, are documented by inds of animal faeces, more precisely – the remains of fungi and eggs of parasites of livestock animals put out to graze in the grassland. There is some evidence to suggest the practice of pastoralism, not infrequently the livestock not fully domesticated. Settlement sites excavated in the Mazury Lake district and Suwałki region have also yielded bones identiied as the consumption remains of sheep or goats, pigs, cattle, but also horses and game animals – red deer, roe deer, wild pig, elk, fox, hare, and beaver, along with various bird species. An important element of the economy was ishing, which is no surprise in a region teeming with lakes and watercourses. The local communities also made use of the littoral zone of lakes, as conirmed by the domination of Cyprinidae in ish bone assemblages, mostly of common bream, carp, and common roach. Next to these were the remains of northern pike, European perch and tench, zander, wels catish, as well as sturgeon and riverish: European chub, orfe, and molluscs (which were also fed to the pigs). The diet was complemented by collecting edible plants growing in the wild, e.g., hazel nuts, wild bee honey, and bird eggs (cf. Mellin-Wyczółkowska 2007; Karczewski 2011). Fig. 20. Cinerary urn from Łabapa, fmr. Labap, decorated with plastic igurines of rams. After Bitner-Wróblewska ed. 2008; legacy of C. Engel / R. Grenz 272 Burial customs Fig. 21. Cemetery at Gąsior, fmr. Gonschor in Mazury. Excavations in the early 20th c. After Jakobson 2009 Grave forms and furnishings In the irst centuries AD the burial customs of the inhabitants of north-eastern Poland were quite diverse. In the Mazury region the decidedly dominant rite was cremation (Fig. 21), although a small number of inhumation graves has been recorded, as well (Nowakowski 2007; Karczewska, Karczewski 2007). The cremated remains were placed either in a cinerary urn or directly inside the grave pit. The vessels used for cinerary urns had a broad body and a high, cylindrical neck, quite a few provided with distinctive multipartite handles (Fig. 22) (Szymański 2000). Handles of this design are already observed on West Balt Barrow pottery, but become more widespread only after the turn of the era, when they are seen to have lost their functional character, becoming only a decorative element. Most of the cinerary urns were carefully smoothed above the shoulder and decorated, and were roughened below the shoulder (Fig. 23, 24). The dominant decoration was engraved, often arranged into designs built The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad by horizontal lines alternating with rows of triangles, vertical strokes, zigzag, and recumbent crosses. Also encountered are engraved herringbone and ‘envelope’ motifs, as well as dimples and incisions, and quite rarely, moulded decoration (cordons, bosses), and inger impressions. Only a very small group of vessels has a decoration of zoomorphic motifs. One elaborately decorated cinerary urn found at Nikutowo, fmr. Nikutowen in grave no. 369 features an image of a deer (Peiser 1919). An urn found in grave no. VI at Kruklanki, fmr. Kruglanken was decorated with a depiction of a horseman, whereas an image of a pair of horses (tarpans?) decorates a pottery lid recovered at Raczki (Stadie 1919: 398–399, ig. 177–179; La Baume, Gronau 1941: 61, pl. 1g). Another exceptional decoration appears on a cinerary urn found in grave no. 72 at Paprotki Kolonia, on which its maker, next to horizontal and vertical lines, engraved a row of arrowheads (Bitner-Wróblewska, Karczewska, Karczewski 2001: ig. 11). This decoration was not a random one – the same grave inventory included a set of ten arrowheads. 273 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD a b Fig. 22. Cinerary urn from Czerwony Dwór, site XV, grave no. 2 (a). Detail of an ornament (b). State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski Fig. 23. Cinerary urns of diferent forms, typical for the Bogaczewo culture. After Engel et al. 2006 274 As a rule, cinerary urns were covered with a bowl – more rarely, with a stone or a lid – and placed in a pit, often together with pyre debris. Some cinerary urns were discovered standing on a stone slab; stone constructions e.g., settings or pavements, are rare in Mazury. One unique form of ‘cinerary urn’ was that of organic containers, sometimes bark, possibly a bag made of cloth. Traces of similar containers survive extremely rarely, but their presence is conirmed by the closely packed arrangement of bones inside a pit. Graves were marked with an individual, oval-shaped stone (Fig. 25). In some cemeteries in the Mazury region (e.g., at Bogaczewo Kula, fmr. Kullabrücke, Paprotki Kolonia) the remains of the cremation site have been identiied on the margin of the grave-ield recognized from variously regular layers of burning containing small fragments of burnt human bone, scraps of incinerated bronze objects, and melted down glass beads. In the Bogaczewo culture inhumation burials are rare (Nowakowski 2007; 2008: 62–63). The dead were laid to rest aligned north-south, with the head pointing north, set about with stones, sometimes placed inside a coin made from a hollowed out log. Individual burials of this description have been identiied at Radužnoe, fmr. Rominten, Przytuły, Sławosze, fmr. Henriettenfeld, Widry, fmr. Widrinnen, Zarečenskoe, frm Gross Zobrost and Równina Dolna, in the western and the eastern outlying areas of the Bogaczewo culture territory. Three grave-ields identiied on the west- Burial customs a b Fig. 24. Cinerary urn and clay vessel from Czerwony Dwór, site XXI (a, b). Investigations of Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw. Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski ern periphery lie in the drainage of the Łyna River, on the others were given a cremation burial, both types of grave traditional route linking the Mazury region with the valley of being buried under a mound of earth and stones. Flat graves the Pregolya River and the Sambian Peninsula, from which are recorded much more rarely. The base of the barrow was areas this burial tradition was presumably introduced to the demarcated by laying a circle of larger stones within which Mazury Lake district, possibly documenting the presence one or more layers of stones were laid. The height of the of immigrants from Sambia. Inhumation graves recorded at barrows is in the range of 0.5–0.6 m, very rarely as much as Radužnoe and Przytuły have a similar character. A truly outstanding grave is no. 496 found in the cemetery at Równina Dolna, site III (Kawiecka, Stanaszek 2000). Here a woman of maturus age (35–40 years old) had been buried with a pair of bronze brooches, a necklace of 57 diferent glass beads, a clay spindle-whorl and a bowl-accessory vessel. Both the brooches and the necklace, mostly consisting of lat, diminutive orange-coloured beads, are unusual for the outits of Balt women, but highly characteristic for the inhabitants of the neighbouring Wielbark culture, identiied with a Gothic population. Also typical for this culture is the vessel and the burial rite. Very likely, the woman buried in this grave came from the region on the lower Vistula, wed a person of high status in the local community, possibly as security of some agreement. When she died, she was buried according to her native custom, in an outit characteristic for her community. Inhumation graves are recorded with a greater frequency in cemeteries of the Suwałki region where biritualism Fig. 25. Cremation urned grave no. 176, from Paprotki Kolonia, site 1. prevailed (Kaczyński 1976: 263–267). In one and the same After Bitner-Wróblewska 2010 burial ground some of the dead could be inhumed while The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad 275 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD 1 m, the diameter between 3–5 m and 10–15 m (Fig. 26), only sporadically, 18–20 m. As a rule, the barrows have been found to contain a single, centrally placed burial, but often there could be two or three graves, rarely an even larger number. The same burial mound could contain both inhumation and cremation burials. The pit of the inhumation graves was rectangular, set about with stones, or with stones placed at the corners. In some barrows traces of wooden constructions have been identiied over a male burial. An extremely rare ind are the remains of log coins (Szwajcaria, barrow XX, grave no. 2 and barrow XLVII, grave no. 2 – Jaskanis 2013: 48–49). The deceased individual lay in a supine position, aligned N-S, with some deviation NW–SE. In the space over his head some chosen elements of grave goods had been placed, likely to be associated with magic, e.g., animal bones (pig, sheep/goat), drinking horn mounts, and pottery mugs. The other efects – personal ornaments, dress accessories, and spurs were found in a location corresponding to their function. Shafted weapons rested by the right side of the deceased, the shield in the loin area. Exceptional in many respects, a chieftain grave found in barrow no. 2 at Szwajcaria also had an unusual arrangement of some of the grave goods, e.g., some mounts from an ostentatious horse bridle were found resting above the head of the buried individual (Jaskanis 2013: 76–80). Fig. 26. Barrow from the cemetery at Garbas in the Suwałki region. After Bitner-Wróblewska 2010 276 Cremation graves were mostly unurned with – interestingly enough – the grave pit made to imitate the shape and size of inhumation pits, and like these burials provided with a stone setting. The cremated remains were deposited in a concentration at the centre of the pit, or alternately spread over its entire surface. In a remarkable grave, no. 3, found in barrow no. 18 at Szwajcaria (Jaskanis 2013: 88–89, Pl. CXLVIII), where the burnt bone remains had been arranged in imitation of an inhumation burial resting on its side. Most of the cinerary urns are vessels of a biconical form with a inger-impressed decoration. A biritualism prevalent in the Suwałki region sets this area of north-eastern Poland apart in terms of the burial customs. The appearance of inhumation in this region may be attributed to strong impact from areas in Lithuania where inhumation burial was the dominant form during this age (Banytė-Rowell 2007; Bliujienė 2013). A little more to the south of the Suwałki Lake district, in the Augustów Plain and the Ełk Lake district, this impact of religious beliefs from Lithuania is hardly seen. In this part of north-eastern Poland the only burial rite was cremation (Kaczyński 1976: 271–277). Here we ind a fusion of elements of the burial rite practiced in the Mazury region and the Suwałki region. Next to lat graves some burials under barrows have been recorded here (Bitner-Wróblewska 2007: 101–105). The barrows were set inside a stone ring, the Burial customs mound built of earth and stones, with a diameter of 4.5–5 m. The ratio of urned to unurned burials is approximately even everywhere in this region, with a slight domination of unurned graves. Pyre debris is recorded more often in unurned than in urned burials. Grave pits come in diferent shapes: rectangular, oval, square, some provided with a stone setting or a pavement, at times, a single stone to mark the grave. There is quite a number of large, rectangular graves, reminiscent in their shape and size of inhumation burials known from the Suwałki region. A relatively frequent phenomenon is the presence of double graves, containing a pit burial and a cinerary urn holding a cremation, or two urned burials, and of collective graves containing several cinerary urns, and on occasion, also a pit burial. Osteological analyses have established that a single cinerary urn or a single pit burial quite often held the remains of more than one individual – in fact, two, three, or even four (Balukiewicz 2007). The double burials are mostly of an adult (male or female) and a child, less often, two adult individuals, usually a man and a woman. The rule in the triple burials is the presence of bones of a woman, man and child. In the West Balt territory multiple burials of this type are nothing extraordinary. In some urned cremation burials the arrangement of the cremated bones was quite interesting. They had been deposited in an anatomical arrangement, with cranium fragments of more than one individual found at the top, and the bones of the feet and limbs at the bottom of the urn. On occasion, care had been taken to deposit the remains of each burial individuals in the cinerary urn separately, the bones of one individual placed irst, in an anatomic arrangement, followed by the remains of the second. Funeral vessels come in diferent shapes – tureen, jug, angular, biconical, also large bowl, the latter used in Mazury only to cover the urn. Cinerary urns were decorated by engraving, stamping, with inger-impressions, also, using moulded decoration, i.e., bosses and cordons. Especially elaborate decoration is seen on bowls, where engraved and stamped motifs build entire bands of decoration. The funeral pottery manufactured by the inhabitants of the Augustów Plain exhibits an evident impact of pottery-making traditions known from other parts of Poland (Bitner-Wróblewska 2007: 90–96), more notably, the territory settled by Przeworsk culture and Wielbark culture communities (a pronounced tripartite division of the vessel body, with a well-marked neck, rim and lower body). This would be the region which provided inspiration of the maker of an extraordinary diminutive piece deposited as an accessory vessel in a grave at Netta. This is a tripartite The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad vessel combining a large biconical vessel with an everted rim and a well-marked base with two smaller pots of an identical form attached to it below the shoulder. The smaller vessels are joined to the larger by openings in their walls. As in the Augustów Plain and the Ełk Lake district, the burial rite practiced by the inhabitants of the valley of the Gołdapa and the Borek Forest was invariably cremation, with burial in a lat grave, usually provided with some form of stone construction, or under a barrow (Rzeszotarska-Nowakiewicz 2007; Szymański 2013: 44–59, 63–64). Barrows were conined by a ring of stones, with a cairn or an earth-and-stone mound, ranging in diameter from 3 to 8–9 m, very rarely more, rising to a height of 0.5 m. Approximately at the centre of the barrow a stone cist was put in place, to hold an urned burial or a cremation pit burial. Diferent ritual practices are in evidence – some graves contain pyre debris, complete or partial, some graves are covered with stones. A characteristic feature of the burial grounds in this region is the presence of circular or rectangular stone pavements, their idea introduced apparently under the impact of traditions followed by the inhabitants of the Sambian Peninsula and Nadrovia with whom the communities of the region were in lively contact. Most of the cremation burials are urned, the graves provided with a stone setting; often the cinerary urn was deposited on a stone slab and covered with a stone. Graves containing a larger number of burials are frequent, and may hold up to six cinerary urns deposited within the same stone setting (Grunajki, fmr. Gruneiken, grave no. 3). Funeral pottery is represented by tureens, biconical vessels, basins, and bottle-shaped forms. The most typical decoration are inger-impressions, moulded cordons, and bosses. There is evidence in the second half of the 4th century of a growing uniformity of burial customs in the broad region to the east of the Great Mazurian Lakes (Kaczyński 1976: 268–271, 281; Bitner-Wróblewska 1998). The only form of burial is barrow burial, with several to a few dozen graves, mostly urned, buried under a single mound. The irst stage of the burial ceremony was to demarcate the area of the future barrow with a stone circle, sometimes additionally a shallow ring ditch, sometimes with traces of burning and fragments of pottery – this being interpreted as evidence of sepulchral ritual. A central grave constructed inside the barrow would have a stone setting where one or more urns would be deposited; more rarely the cremated bones were placed directly in a pit dug in the ground. The whole was covered by a cairn or a mound of earth and stones. There is evidence that the 277 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD barrow was breached to insert more cinerary urns between the stones. Sometimes, additional burials were inserted in the central grave. Presumably, a barrow of this description was used by a family group over several generations, which conclusion has led researchers to describe these structures as ‘family’ establishments (cf. Bitner-Wróblewska, Rzeszotarska-Nowakiewicz, volume 5 in this series). There is evidence of grave robbery in the barrow cemeteries dating to the irst centuries AD in this region; this mostly concerns inhumation burials which tend to be the more richly furnished (Karczewski 2016). Archaeologists have identiied robbery tunnels apparently cut in Antiquity into the central part of a barrow expected to harbour a rich burial. Next to this proof of violating the taboo on disturbing the peace of the dead we ind ample evidence of pains taken to damaging older graves by later established burials. Only rarely does a later grave intrude on an earlier burial. Another remarkable phenomenon is that of symbolic graves in the form of a pit or a cinerary urn without skeletal remains or grave goods. A small number of graves of this sort has been recorded in diferent parts of Balt territory (e.g., individual features at Netta, Osinki, Żywa Woda). In the irst centuries AD everywhere in north-eastern Poland the dead were given oferings for their journey to the afterlife. Their number and quality would have been dictated by the prosperity of the buried individuals and their status within the local society. In the second half of the 4th century there is an evident tendency towards reduction of the grave goods, although the intensity of this process is diferent in individual regions, being the most marked in the Suwałki region where the percentage of graves without furnishings dating to this period is the highest (Kaczyński 1961; Bitner-Wróblewska 2005: 37). The list of objects placed in graves is headed by personal ornaments and dress accessories, e.g., buckles and belt ittings. Bronze coins are found quite often (Fig. 27), something which sets Balts apart from other peoples of the Barbaricum. A large number of sestertii struck in the 2nd and the irst half of the 3rd century has been recorded in burials in the western part of the Balt territory: in Sambia, western Lithuania, and Mazury – more rarely in the Suwałki region (Bursche 1992; Zapolska 2008). Women’s graves are identiied by the presence of spindle-whorls – men’s graves by weapons, elements of horse bridles, and spurs (Fig. 28). Nevertheless, osteologi- Fig. 27. Roman coin from the cemetery at Paprotki Kolonia, site 1, grave no. 67. Fig. 28. Assemblage from equestrian warrior’s grave at Dłużec, fmr. Langendorf. Photograph by A. Ring After Nowakiewicz, Rzeszotarska-Nowakiewicz 2013 278 Burial customs cal analysis has in some cases overthrown the evidence of archaeological gender markers for some graves containing weapons, but holding the remains of women (Amazons?). It is interesting that in the 3rd–4th century in some parts of north-eastern Poland, i.e., in the Mazury and the Suwałki region, the tradition of weapon deposition in graves dies of (Bitner-Wróblewska 2005: 37–40; Kontny 2008). This phenomenon may be attributed to the inluence of Gothic tribes in which environment there was a very strong rule against placing weapons in graves and, at a certain point, this taboo was adopted by their neighbours in Mazury, and through their agency, passed on to the Suwałki Lake district. Also important to note is the presence of woodworking tools in grave inventories from this region (Bitner-Wróblewska, Wyczółkowski 2017, in print). This sets West Balt cemeteries apart from grave-ields in other parts of Poland. Next to the more commonly recorded planing tools, adzes, and axes, more specialized tools have been recovered as e.g., a set of three iron rods with a tapering working part found in grave no. 138B at Netta (Bitner-Wróblewska 2007: 37, pl. LXXII). The frequency of carpentry tools in grave inventories would demonstrate the importance of such woodworking in the economy of Balt societies. What is striking at the same time is that richly furnished ‘warrior’ burials usually contain, next to the full array of weapons, a set of carpentry tools. Apparently, skilled craftsmen enjoyed a high status within the society. e.g., in the ratio of burials containing pyre debris to graves without pyre debris, the ratio of pit graves to urned ones, or the ratio of single to collective graves, or inally, the domination of a particular form of grave. Sometimes, the similarities within a given group concern a more subtle sphere, like the decoration of cinerary urns (cf. the similarity of vessels found in barrow no. V and grave no. 10A–F at Netta). There is evidence that individual grave groups include burials belonging to diferent chronological phases, which suggests that the entire space of the cemetery was being used at a given time, only by diferent ancestral groups (Bitner-Wróblewska 2007: 107–110). Each of these groups buried their own dead within a closely delimited space, separated from the neighbouring family ‘plots’. The question arises as to how the concept of kinship and ancestral groups was understood during this particular period. In studies addressed to date on social issues in the irst centuries AD the clan and ancestral group have been treated as basic units of economic and social structure. Presumably, the ancestral group was a cognatic group, based on ties of consanguinity, patri- and matrilineal, and, although it had a speciic structure, was not a closed group. Although these conclusions are based largely on the analysis of codiications of leges barbarorum of Germanic tribes (e.g., Lex Salica, Lex Longobardorum), written down at the threshold of the early medieval period or during its early phase, they relect a much older oral tradition (Modzelewski 2004). This would be conirmed by a comparison of later codices with the text of Tacitus, and by the marked convergence of these Cemetery location and layout narrations. It bears recalling at the same time that Tacitus Cemeteries recorded in the study region were established deinitely assigned the Balt Aestii to the same civilizational mostly on small rises near a waterbody – a lake, stream, or model as the Germanic tribes he was describing, which in river. In the Mazury Lake district grave-ields were often located turn makes it legitimate to draw on sources from the Geron necks of land between lakes, as for example at Paprot- manic world in an analysis of Balt cemeteries. In any case, ki Kolonia, Bogaczewo Kula, Kruklanki, Ławki, fmr. Lawken, attention has been drawn in historiography to the fact that it Wilkasy, fmr. Willkasen (Hollack, Peiser 1904: 5–6; Jaskanis is justiiable to view Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, and Baltic tribes 1974: 38–42, 46, 263; Karczewska, Karczewski 2007: 200). as one culture circle within which traditional societies were A feature which distinguishes cemeteries in this region from organized along similar principles. grave-ields of the same age found elsewhere in Poland is their layout, wherein graves are seen to form a cluster, separated Horse graves from other clusters by a strip of empty ground (e.g., at Netta, Bogaczewo Kula, Wyszembork, Tałty, fmr. Talten – Okulicz In the Balt world horses must have played a signiicant role, 1958; Juga-Szymańska 2004; Szymański 2005: 99–104; Bit- not only as mounts or draught animals, but also in the sacred ner-Wróblewska 2007: 107–110). When the diferent elements sphere and religious beliefs. The earliest horse graves datof the burial rite observed in individual concentrations of ing to the turn of the era have been discovered in Mazury graves were compared it became evident that individual (Muntowo), fmr. Alt Muntowen (Nowakowski 2003). Soon, this groups of burials difer in some respect from other groups, tradition may be seen to spread across the entire Balt territory, The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad 279 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD where it would be cultivated deep into the early medieval period (Jaskanis 1966; Bitner-Wróblewska 2010: 171–176). Horses, invariably male, were interred unburnt (Fig. 29), other than that there were no other particular preferences as to the animal’s age, height, or health. All of them represent the tarpan subspecies, of low to medium stature, withers in the range of 115–120 and 141 cm (Serwatka 1970; Piątkowska-Małecka 2000: 192, ig. 3; Gręzak 2007: 359–360; Karczewska, Karczewski, Gręzak 2009). As a rule, they were buried individually, more rarely, in twos. The grave pits were rectangular or oval, sometimes found under a stone pavement. The animal was laid on its side or belly, oriented along the north-south axis, with a delection to the east or west. Sometimes the arrangement of a horse’s bones suggests that the animal was buried alive, but if so, it would have been drugged or deliberately worn out, because there is no sign it tried to escape from the pit. At times the horses had been quartered, representing a fragmentary burial (e.g., at Osowa, barrow no. 76, Mojtyny, fmr. Moythienen, grave no. 93). It could happen that a horse was Fig. 29. Horse grave no. 278a in the cemetery at Wyszembork, site IVa. After Nowakiewicz, Rzeszotarska-Nowakiewicz 2013 280 layed, the grave pit containing only the bones of the skull and limbs (e.g., at Netta, grave no. 30A, Wyszembork, feature no. 251). We may suspect some obscure magical practices in the cemetery at Paprotki Kolonia where a horse was buried cut in half down the sagittal plane (grave no. 291). The siting of horse graves in relation to human burials is far from regular (Gręzak 2007: 355–357; Bitner-Wróblewska 2010: 171–172). They tend to be unrelated to human burials, sited on the outskirts of a burial ground (e.g., at Mojtyny) or on the margin of a cluster of human graves (e.g., Paprotki Kolonia). They may accompany a grave pit holding human remains, e.g., grave no. 30A at Netta found next to a burial of a man (grave no. 30). In the Suwałki region horse graves accompanied the burials of men-warriors and were found under the same barrow (Szwajcaria, barrow no. 25, Osowa, barrows no. 11 and 41, Korkliny, barrow no. 3). Also recorded are cases where unburnt horse bones had been added to a cinerary urn containing human remains (grave at Popielno, fmr. Popielnen, Onufryjewo, fmr. Onufrygowen, feature no. 22). Burial customs The irst furnishings are recorded in horse graves only in the 3rd century, and are rather unassuming, especially in comparison to the richness of burial inventories dating to the period after 500 AD (Szymański 1998; Gręzak 2007: 357–359). Prior to that date, only the bit and girth buckles were deposited in the grave (Fig. 30), and exceedingly rarely, fragments of pottery vessels (Wyszembork, site IVa, grave 298, Wyszembork, site II, feature no. 120). A larger number of bridle trappings have surfaced in the graves of horsemen-warriors: numerous ittings, rivets, cross-shaped strap-separators, and headpieces (e.g., Netta, grave no. 79; Żywa Woda, barrow 14, grave no. 2), not to mention the unique ind of an imported diminutive bell made of bronze found in grave no. 94 at Mojtyny. A truly unique assemblage recorded in grave no. 72 at Paprotki Kolonia included a set of elements of a horse bridle. There was a bit folded four times at right angles, a rod throatlatch, metal reins made of iron rods and rings, and strap clasps. This speciic form of bridle ofered horsemen full control over their mounts, something which was of a major importance during combat. Horse bits of the described type have been recorded mostly in Sambia and Scandinavia, only there did they have chain-link reins (see discussion below). Fig. 30. Horse grave no. 166 with a bit and girth buckles, in the cemetery at Wyszembork, site IVa. After Szymański 2005 The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad 281 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD Social structure, the emergence of elites The irst centuries AD were a time of signiicant social processes within the European Barbaricum leading to a social stratiication and the emergence of elites (Lund Hansen 1995; Quast 2009). Apparently, these developments were assisted by contacts of the inhabitants of this region of Europe with the Roman Empire. In the archaeological material these phenomena would be documented by the marked variation in the grave furnishings when it comes to the number of objects placed in the graves, their variety and quality. Seen for the irst during this period, elite graves contain inventories which are standardized to a certain extent with practically the same items of prestige observed across much of the Barbaricum (Schuster 2010; Lau 2012). The most notable of these are items imported from the Roman Empire, e.g., wine drinking sets made of bronze or glass, personal ornaments, and weapons, imports from other barbarian areas, gold and silver objects, and dress accessories we may interpret as power insignia – gold neckrings with a keyhole fastening, gold bracelets with thickened terminals, and rings decorated with stylized snake heads. Also the form of these graves and their location is special. These rich burials tend to occur outside the perimeter of grave-sites traditionally used by the community, in small groups or on their own. The tombs were quite imposing, the most extraordinary of them having the form of chamber graves, where a burial chamber for the deceased was constructed of wood or stones, the corpse laid to rest wearing a ceremonial outit, accompanied by many splendid grave goods. In the Balt territory no burials of this description have been recorded, grave inventories do not include wine drinking sets, and objects made of precious metals are rare. Virtually none of the criteria used in identifying the ‘chieftain’ graves are met. Nevertheless, the disparity of grave furnishings unearthed in Balt cemeteries suggests that these societies were by no means egalitarian and that individual members difered in their status; one indication of this would be grave 282 goods (Bitner-Wróblewska 2001: 121–127; Banytė-Rowell, Bitner-Wróblewska, Reich 2012: 209–214, ig. 10). Marks of prestige in this environment were diferent than in other parts of the Barbaricum, although some interregional features have been observed, such as the presence of horse harness trappings and sets of weapons understood to communicate social status. The special position occupied by warrior-horsemen within the barbarian world is easily recognized in the archaeological record. An important criterion which assigns a given category of inds conclusively to the group of prestige objects would deinitely be the frequency of their occurrence in grave inventories – inds with a low frequency must have been particularly appreciated. One class of inds of special signiicance recorded in burials of Balt men and women alike would be local ornaments decorated with enamel. These superb objects, many of them made upon individual commission, may be regarded as a local marker of social prestige. The tradition of decorating bronze objects with noble metals, silver foil, and Fig. 31. Bronze brooch decorated with silver, from the cemetery at Netta, grave 31. State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski Social structure, the emergence of elites Fig. 32. Enamel-decorated pennanular brooches from the cemeteries at Netta and Bargłów Dworny. After Bitner-Wróblewska 2010 wire is another example of how an individual’s prosperity could be highlighted (Fig. 31). Nor to be disregarded is the presence of imports, Roman and barbarian, used to manifest the social position of the deceased. Arresting imported objects include brooches, specimens decorated with enamel in particular (Fig. 32), elaborate glass beads (e.g., with a checkerboard pattern), other pieces of jewellery (e.g., a inger ring with an intaglio), swords and daggers, some rare vessels made of glass, bronze or terra sigillata. From Netta comes an extraordinary iron razor with a bronze panther-head terminal Netta (Kaczyński 2007), from Mojtyny – iron fetters (Czarnecka 2013), discussed at more length below. Some rich male grave inventories recorded in the Balt territory contained drinking horn mounts, observed only in the most imposing burials. The tradition of using drinking horns itted with metal appeared in the Balt environment under the inluence of Germanic neighbours where these vessels were widespread. Analysis of grave furnishings recorded in the cemeteries of north-eastern Poland helped identify many rich burials of the representatives of local elite. In every grave-ield at least a few such outstanding inds have been found, in every phase of that cemetery, but none of them suiciently out of the ordinary to identify the buried individual as more than a local ruler with a status similar to that of the burials found in chieftain graves elsewhere in the territory of the Barbaricum. An exception in this regard would be the grave of the man discovered under barrow no. 2 at Szwajcaria, dating to the 3rd century (Antoniewicz, Kaczyński, Okulicz 1958: 23–31, ig. 1–5, pl. I–IX; Jaskanis 2013: 76–80, pl. CXVII–CXXV; Kontny 2013). Although no attributes typical for the representatives of the highest ranks of the barbarian aristocracy were present The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad in this inventory, this burial is evidently very special in the Balt environment. A man of senilis age (around 55 years) was found resting inside a rectangular grave pit, measuring 3 x 1.35 m at the base, under several stone pavements, the fourth directly covering the burial. The grave pit was under a barrow with a diameter of 20 m and a height of approximately 0.6 m. The burial mound was formed by two, in places four layers of stones. Even the form of the barrow diverged from what was standard in that cemetery, but the richness of the grave inventory leaves no doubt that this was a burial of someone special. Not without reason has this grave been described by researchers as a chieftain grave. Fig. 33. Crossbow brooch decorated with wire-rings, from the cemetery at Szwajcaria, barrow no. 2. State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski 283 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD Fig. 34. Fittings of balteus-type belt, from the cemetery at Szwajcaria, barrow no. 2. State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski Because the burial had been placed away from the centre of the barrow, the grave escaped looting during Antiquity. It was possible to reconstruct the outit of the dead man and the set of weaponry deposited with this outstanding warrior. The man’s garments had been fastened with a pair of matching bronze brooches decorated with coiled beaded wire, some of it silver (Fig. 33). Next to a belt provided with metal ittings found lying in a standard position, there was a sword belt, a balteus, resting across his chest. A two-edged sword in an oaken scabbard was found by the left side of the burial. The sword belt was decorated with unusual metal ittings – a bronze zoomorphic mount in the shape of a stag, a silver crescent-shaped mount, a pair of gilt silver discs, and a bronze plaque decorated with gold foil (Fig. 34a–d). The belt was fastened with a bronze buckle (Fig. 35) and had strap ends made of bronze. Next to the sword, the weapons deposited with the deceased included a pair of shafted weapon heads, a shield (its presence documented by an iron shield-boss found in the grave), and an axe (Fig. 36a–b). The spearheads are exceptional in themselves too – one was decorated originally with a silver inlay, the other with a zigzag motif. They ind analogy in the Germanic world, the spearhead with a zigzag decoration only in Scandinavia. This is not the only trace of a b Fig. 35. Bronze belt buckle from the cemetery at Szwajcaria, barrow no. 2. State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. Fig. 36. Warrior’s equipment from the cemetery at Szwajcaria, barrow no. 2: a – spear-heads; b – an axe. State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski 284 Social structure, the emergence of elites Fig. 37. Elements of extraordinary horse bridles, from the cemetery at Szwajcaria, barrow no. 2. State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad 285 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD Scandinavian connections of the chief buried at Szwajcaria. Next to being a warrior he had also been a horseman, as documented by a pair of spurs found at his feet and elements belonging to two splendid pieces of horse harness trappings – one of them placed by the side of the burial, the other at his head (Fig. 37a–j). The former consisted of a bit, iron buckles, bronze and silver rivets, and a pair of square mounts made of bronze and silver repoussé foil. The second bridle set consisted of a bit, assorted decorative bronze strap separators, more than 50 decorative bronze rivets, rings and strap clasps, and an extraordinary headpiece (Fig. 38) – an element of a horse bridle suspended on the horse’s forehead (Lau 2014: 54). The piece in question consists of a plaque, rectangular stamp-decorated linking pieces and ornamental rivets with coiled beaded wire decoration. The longer of the linking pieces has a stylized animal head terminal; the plaque has at its centre a decoration of a human head in relief and bosses of blue glass and silver. Unknown in the Balt environment, anthropomorphic designs are often encountered in the Scandinavian world. This would be the likely provenance of the headpiece unearthed at Szwajcaria, even if researchers have not succeeded to date in identifying any analogies to this object – not in Scandinavia, the Roman Empire, or anywhere else. Another remarkable object present in the same grave inventory is that of the remains of a wooden hide-covered saddle which include fragments of iron mounts, bronze nails, and some organic residue. There is not enough data to reconstruct the original form of this saddle. Not easily identiiable in terms of its function is a U-shaped mount; there was also a set of bronze nails with a residue of wood and leather. According to one hypothesis, these could be the remains of a bucket made of an organic material, probably mostly leather. Similar buckets, much better preserved, have surfaced in bog deposits in Scandinavia (i.e., Illerup). They are thought to be a vital piece of equipment of warrior-horsemen who used them to water their horses. Another object present in the same assemblage, and tentatively associated with horse grooming, is a pair of iron shears (Fig. 39). The chief buried at Szwajcaria had been provided in death with his toiletry articles – a comb and bronze tweezers (Fig. 40). The number and character of objects found in this grave leave no doubt as to the status of the buried individual – not only within the local community, but also in the region at large. Many of the objects discovered in this grave suggest long-distance contacts, particularly with Scandinavia, proving that the man was one of the interregional warrior elite. Next to the remarkable inds like the grave inventory excavated at Fig. 38. Unique element of a horse bridle – a decoration for a horse’s forehead, from the cemetery at Szwajcaria, barrow no. 2. (a). Detail of an ornament (b). State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. a 286 b Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski Social structure, the emergence of elites Fig. 39. Iron shears from the cemetery at Szwajcaria, barrow no. 2. State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski Fig. 40. Toiletry articles from the cemetery at Szwajcaria, barrow no. 2. State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski Szwajcaria there is no lack in the Balt world of richly furnished graves interpreted as burials of the local elite. One of these would be the cremation grave no. 72 recorded at Paprotki Kolonia, dating to c. AD 200, and holding the remains of two individuals: a pit burial of a man aged adultus–maturus, and an urned burial identiied as female (or a male of slender build) aged late adultus–early maturus (Bitner-Wróblewska, Karczewska, Karczewski 2001). Most of the grave goods were found resting inside the pit, some of them inside the cinerary urn. It is important to note that objects that we may interpret as furnishings of the male burial were found both inside the vessel and the pit. Similarly, the efects attributed to the woman were spread in diferent areas of the grave. There were only two bronze brooches (Fig. 41) – perhaps each of the buried individuals had had his and her clothes fastened with only one brooch. Two belt sets were present, one of them a so-called warrior’s belt – over 9 cm in width, fastened with a heavy iron buckle with a double prong, the ends of the belt strap were itted with diferent types of iron mount, one of them a broad specimen tapering to a ring terminal (Fig. 42). There were also belt hangers for attaching a knife or small implements to the belt. The second belt was much more narrow, approximately 3.5 cm wide, and fastened with a bronze buckle which had a stamp-decorated buckle The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad plate and engraved zigzag designs. An identical ornament was observed on a bronze rectangular mount; moreover, the belt was itted with four decorative cross-shaped mounts. The woman’s outit was rounded of by a textile cap documented by its only survivors – bosses-appliqués. This form of headgear was widespread across the broad region around the Baltic Sea, in western Lithuania, and on Gotland in particular. The man is identiied as an archer by the presence in the grave pit of a group of ten tanged arrowheads (Fig. 43), each with a diferently shaped blade and proportions. One of the arrowheads, with a tapering trapezoid point, apparently was used in stunning game, meant to prevent damage to the pelt. Next to the arrowheads there was also a knife and a shield, the latter surviving as an iron shield-boss with high spike, an additional element of defence (Fig. 44). Arrowheads datable to the irst centuries AD are rare in Balt territory, individual specimens have been recorded in the cemeteries at Mojtyny and Szwajcaria. The specialized archery set found in the grave at Paprotki Kolonia is an unprecedented ind in the study area. The skills of the dead archer would have been communicated also by the decoration observed on some other items in the grave inventory: four arrowheads engraved on the upper body of the cinerary urn, and another depicted on the one of the elements of the horse harness trappings. 287 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD Fig. 41. Bronze brooches from the cemetery at Paprotki Kolonia, site 1. District Museum in Suwałki. Fig. 42. Iron buckle and a belt itting of a warrior’s belt, from grave no. 72 at the cemetery at Paprotki Kolonia, site 1. District Museum in Suwałki. Photograph by A. Ring Photograph by A. Ring An iron bridle with a ring bit and chain-link reins is yet another special item of the grave goods in the same inventory (Fig. 45). Besides the bar bit, bent four times at right angles, it consists of a rod which went under the horse’s chin. The bridle reins have the form of oblong links, decorated with groups of engraved strokes and an engraved triangle, a lozenge, and diagonal cross-hatching or an arrow motif. The links are connected by and terminate in a ring. Bridles with chain-link reins and a one-piece bit are noted during the Roman Period and the Migration period in the central European Barbaricum, with a special concentration in Scandinavia and on the Sambian Peninsula (Baranowski 1973; Wilbers-Rost 1994; Lau 2014). This type of mouthpiece in the form of a bar, bent at right angles and coupled with a rod throatlatch, guaranteed efective control over the horse, something that was essential in conditions of combat. At the time of writing, the bridle from Paprotki Kolonia has no known parallels and is a unique ind, lending weight to the special status of its owner. While a few bits with a mouthpiece bent four times are known from the Mazury region (from the cemeteries at Mojtyny, Popielno and Knis, fmr. Gneist), none of them had metal reins. Two bronze chain-links of an oblong form, identiied as elements of reins, have been discovered at Wilkasy, fmr. Wilkasen. Many inds of imposing bridles with chain-link reins have been recorded Fig. 43. A set of ten tanged arrowheads from grave no. 72 at the cemetery at Paprotki Kolonia, site 1. District Museum in Suwałki. Fig. 44. Shield-boss from grave no. 72 at the cemetery at Paprotki Kolonia, site 1. District Museum in Suwałki. Photograph by A. Ring Photograph by A. Ring 288 Social structure, the emergence of elites Fig. 45. Horse bridle with chain-link reins from grave no. 72 at the cemetery at Paprotki Kolonia, site 1. District Museum in Suwałki. Fig. 46. Elements of iron fetters and a padlock from Mojtyny. After Hollack, Peiser 1904 Photograph by A. Ring in Sambia, Natangia, and Nadrovia; all had reins in the form of bronze links of diferent shape, rather than being made of iron rod. The bridle from Paprotki is a remarkable example of a locally made object modelled on a non-local design, presumably Sambian. As noted earlier, this particular form of horse bit, in the form of a bar bent four times at right angles, had been excavated from grave 17 in the cemetery at Mojtyny (Hollack, Peiser 1904: 45–46, pl. III). The warrior buried at this location apparently was not less special in his own way. Besides the special-duty horse bit, spurs, a pair of shafted weapon heads, a buckle, and mounts from a large warrior’s belt, and also, brooches fastening his clothes, his burial contained the remains of fetters and a padlock (Fig. 46). Fetters of this form may have been in common use in the Roman Empire, worn by slaves, but in Balt territory they are a truly unprecedented ind (Czarnecka 2013). It is not impossible that the warrior-horseman buried at Mojtyny had been involved in the trade of slaves, that most valuable of commodities in the Antique world, and that the fetters were placed in his grave to commemorate this occupation. Not only some of the male grave inventories excavated in Balt cemeteries were outstanding, as some women’s graves have also yielded rich and varied grave goods. One of these assemblages was present in an inhumation grave of a woman and child found in barrow no. XX at Szwajcaria, dated to the turn of the 2nd and the 3rd century (Jaskanis 2013: 38–40, pl. XXIX–XXXII). The barrow itself did not stand out in any way, its diameter 3.6 m, its superstructure a single layer The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad of stones. Nevertheless, grave no. 2 found in this barrow draws attention by its remarkable furnishings and form. The deceased woman and her child had been laid to rest in a log coin, which is a very rare piece of mortuary furniture in Balt territory. The grave goods included two pairs of bronze comb brooches, one of them of a form very rarely seen in the Balt environment (with an upper comb and an openwork bow), but typical for the outits of Przeworsk culture women. Interestingly enough, three brooches were discovered near the cranial bones, suggesting they were used to fasten some form of headgear. The woman’s garment had been fastened using a suite consisting of a pair of bronze dress pins with a proiled head, openwork rectangular plates, and rows of ive chains. They combined to make a splendid chest ornament in which gold-hued bronze elements were set of by the white colour of the silvered, possibly tinned elements. The woman had been buried wearing two necklaces: one of imported transparent glass beads with a gold insert, and another of bronze beads and cylindrical pendants made from the same material. There were moreover four glass beads, three amber pendants, and a large bronze biconical bead. On her lower arms the woman had wide, richly decorated cuf bracelets. Around her middle was a ine, 7 cm-wide girdle with, at each end, a rectangular piece made of bronze – i.e., the fastening of the belt. The two were decorated along the edges and at the centre with a prominent ridge. Additionally, the belt had 27 bronze boat-shaped mounts attached to it. Girdles of this description are not an item of personal inery typically worn by the women who lived in the Suwałki region during that age, but are characteristic for 289 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD Sambia, from which area the inspiration for making the belt colours side by side with ‘golden’ beads made of bronze, presumably came, or possibly even the inished girdle itself. bronze pendants and spirals, and iron ‘silvery’ bell pedants It is important to note that belt sets consisting of many (Bitner-Wróblewska, Bliujienė 2003: 123). The remarkable popularity of glass beads, especially metal elements are a characteristic ind in archaeological deposits attributed to the Balts (Madyda-Legutko 1987). Next opaque red glass specimens has led researchers to conjecture to buckles with an elaborate buckle plate, the belt could have that some beads, their less elaborate forms in particular, could variously shaped mounts – most often rectangular, but also have been produced locally. Still, the likelihood of recovering cruciform, boat-shaped, etc. Moreover it is remarkable how a local glassmaking workshop is very small, given that such mounts made of diferent materials were brought together an establishment could have been itinerary, leaving no trace in one belt: bronze and iron placed over a sub-base of birch in the archaeological record. At the same time, the popularity bark, the whole producing a polychrome efect of gold, sil- of some bead types, taken together with the fact that local ver, and white. The Balts evidently took some care about craftsmen were familiar with enamelling techniques, lends the colour scheme of their personal ornaments given that in substantial weight to the hypothesis on the local production their necklaces they chose to place glass beads of diferent of some of these ornaments. The votive ofering bog site on Lake Nidajno Lying in a scenic setting on the now defunct Lake Nidajno in the Piecki commune in the southern area of the Mazury region, the site at Czaszkowo is the irst in Poland to yield evidence of rituals performed alongside the Germanic custom, known from many votive oferings recovered from the bogs of southern Scandinavia, notably, at Illerup, Nydam, Thorsberg, Ejsbøl, Vimose. It involved casting into the waters of marshy lakes various weapons and equipment of defeated enemy warriors, but only after these objects had been ritually destroyed: bent, broken, or burnt (Fig. 47). Similarities are visible in all aspects of the ritual behaviour and are suicient to argue that there must be a connection between these phenomena. More open to discussion is the wider context of such an ‘import of ideas’ from the Germanic environment to Balt territory, and its impact on the origin of the site on Lake Nidajno. It is not without importance that the region of Mazury lay on the itinerary of major communication highways linking the Baltic seacoast and Scandinavia with the Black Sea region. In light of current research this particular phase of the site on Lake Nidajno belongs in the period between the second half of the 3rd and early 4th century. Fig. 47. Rituals performed at the votive ofering bog site on Lake Nidajno. Reconstruction by T. Nowakiewicz. Drawing by M. Szyszko 290 Social structure, the emergence of elites Fig. 48. Fragment of iron chain-mail from the bog site on Lake Nidajno. After Nowakiewicz ed. 2016 The votive site yielded fragments of weapons: spearheads, imported two-edged swords, items of horse gear, dress accessories, and personal efects. One extraordinary ind provenanced to the Roman Empire is that of fragments of intricately worked chainmail (Fig. 48). Other precious objects that we may trace with some conidence to the workshops of the Mediterranean region are elements of a horse harness made of gold, silver, gold-plated, nielloed, and decorated with zoomorphic representations (Fig. 49, 50). An outstanding prestige object is a superb sword with gold ittings decorated with an intricate motif of loral elements, representations of lions, birds, and dolphins (Fig. 51). This unique specimen was accompanied by a gilded silver bird igurine interpreted as a battle or family standard. Another rare ind is a sword bead made of quartz (Nowakiewicz, Rzeszotarska-Nowakiewicz 2012; Nowakiewicz ed. 2016). Fig. 49. Silver, gold-plated and nielloed applique with representation of ive beasts, from the bog-site on Lake Nidajno. After Nowakiewicz ed. 2016 Fig. 51. Golden scabbard mount from the bog site on Lake Nidajno. After Nowakiewicz ed. 2016 Fig. 50. Palmette-shaped applique with representation of tree of life, from the bog site on Lake Nidajno. After Nowakiewicz ed. 2016 The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad 291 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD Contacts and connections The communities of Bogaczewo culture had a notable connection outside their region – namely, with provinces of the Roman Empire exhibiting an interest in amber – ‘the gold of the North’ – which was greatly valued by the inhabitants of Rome. The long-standing nature of these contacts is conirmed by written sources (see below). Beyond these contacts, the archaeological situation in the region was also inluenced by exchange with other areas, e.g., the Letto-Lithuanian, Scandinavian, Finnish, the forest zone of Eastern Europe, not to mention the ‘Germanic’ neighbours to the south and the west – i.e., the communities of the Przeworsk and the Wielbark cultures. The nature of the direct contacts between the communities in the Mazury region and Lithuania touched on earlier is demonstrated by inds of typically Mazurian burials recorded at Zapsė and Stanaičiai, which may even be said to demonstrate migrations of small groups from the west (Grižas, Bitner-Wróblewska 2007: 266, 269–273). Many dress accessory forms typical for the Mazury Lake district, more notably, dress pins and brooches, have surfaced in Lithuania, particularly in its western region and in the middle Neman drainage. But there is also evidence from north-east Poland of reciprocal inluences from Letto-Lithuanian territory. What is interesting, this impact is apparent both in the sphere of the sacred and the profane; inluences from the sphere of ideology would be relected by the introduction of the inhumation rite in the Suwałki region. This burial custom, dispensing with cremation, was common at this time in Lithuania and Latvia, and the close connections of the inhabitants of the Suwałki Lake district with their fellow tribesmen in the east go back to the early Iron Age. It is only natural that burial rituals would be adopted from the Letto-Lithuanian environment. With time, the biritualism prevalent in the Suwałki region gives way to cremation, dominant in the West Balt world, but the region still continues to form part of the same barrow zone as eastern Lithuania and Latvia. Similarly, some dress accessory forms characteristic for the Letto-Lithuanian environment were borrowed by the inhabitants of today’s north-eastern Poland. Of these the most notable are various forms of chest ornaments (pectorals) – a piece of inery made up of a pair of plaques decorated with openwork geometric designs linked by several strands of chains (Bitner-Wróblewska, Bliujienė 2003: 124–125; Bitner-Wróblewska 2009: 387–394). The pectoral was fastened Fig. 52. Bronze, enamel-decorated pectoral from grave no. S.1 in the cemetery at Szwajcaria. After Bitner-Wróblewska 2010 292 Contacts and connections to a garment with a pair of dress pins or brooches. Several of deposition in the grave, which is in contrast to other grave outstanding chest ornaments have been recorded in the goods (brooch, belt mounts, spindle-whorl) largely consumed Suwałki region, in cemeteries at Szwajcaria and at Żywa by the ire of the cremation, and surviving only in the form of Woda. A pectoral found in a rich woman’s grave at Szwajcaria heavily burnt fragments. was described earlier. The same grave-ield yielded a splenYet another fashion item characteristic for rich burdid bronze piece decorated with enamel (Fig. 52). Each of ials known from Lithuania adopted by the inhabitants of its disc-plates has an individual openwork decoration, an north-eastern Poland is a special form of woman’s headdress elaborate arrangement of triangles, rectangles, half-circles, known mostly from western Lithuania but encountered also with some additional large rectangular cells for the enamel on Gotland (Blumbergs 1982; Bitner-Wróblewska, Iwanicki (Bitner-Wróblewska, Stawiarska 2009: 308–309, 332, ig. 2002: 126–127; Banytė-Rowell 2008: 104–105, 110–111). The 5, 14). What is interesting, the two disc-plates difer in their wearing of caps made of cloth decorated all over with small execution technique and quality. One plate was made very round plates made of bronze is conirmed by inds of these thoroughly, cast whole, with the openwork design already in appliqués recorded in the Mazury region, in e.g., grave no. 72 place, using the lost wax technique; the other plate was cast at Paprotki Kolonia, and in burial no. 134 at the same location. solid, the openwork design cut out only later; it is not symmet- More than 130 small round plates were found there (in grave rical, but irregular and with rough edges. Both plates were no. 134), representing two variants – plano-convex buttons decorated with powdered enamel but in the inferior piece and lat circular specimens with an impressed ornament of this was spread with less skill. It is reasonable to conclude concentric rings. Alternately, some of these pieces may be that these two elements of the pectoral from Szwajcaria have interpreted as belt ittings; this is supported by evidence from a diferent origin and are the work of two diferent craftsmen. Lithuanian inds. It would appear after having been damaged, the pectoMany dress pins noted in ‘Mazurian’ assemblages ral was repaired in a local workshop, the missing plate came to be adopted by fellow Balt tribes in Lithuania and replaced, but the local artist had skill suicient only to Latvia, as well as vice-versa, as there is evidence that imitate with success of the more superior piece crafted typically Letto-Lithuanian forms were worn by the inhabin a specialized workshop. itants of north-eastern Poland – more notably, pins with The cremation grave found in barrow no. 14 a spool-shaped or ring head, along with specimens in at Żywa Woda contained a bronze chest ornament the form of a wheel with four spokes (Juga-Szymańska with rectangular plates, which make it unique in its 2014: 113–114, 167–170, 119–120). class (Ziemlińska-Odojowa 1961: 204–205, ig. 8, pl. VII). Its openwork decoration includes swastikas, *** unusual in the Balt world, much better known in During the period of interest the inhabitants of the Germanic environment. This is an interestnorth-eastern Poland maintained close, manifold ing example of adaptation of foreign decorative contacts with Scandinavia. Undoubtedly a major role motifs in the local ornaments. Additionally, the was played by connections between interregional plates were decorated with metal foil impressed groups of elite warriors of which Balt warriors also with geometric designs of circles, rectangles, and formed part; an excellent demonstration of this would be the horizontal ribs. Originally the plates were connected male burial found in barrow no. 2 at Szwajcaria discussed by seven strands of chain, one of which no longer previously (Kontny 2013; Banytė-Rowell, Bitner-Wróblewssurvives. The grave furnishings found in the womka, Reich 2016: 144–145). These rich grave furnishings are an’s grave included a pair of bronze snake-head ample evidence of the status enjoyed by this individual bracelets, imitative of silver bracelets known from when alive – not only in the local community, but also on an Wielbark culture assemblages (Ziemlińska-Odojowa 1961: 204–205, ig. 7; Wójcik 1982). This remarkable Fig. 53. Head of shafted weapon with a single barb from grave no. 81 suite of personal ornaments – pectoral and bracelets in the cemetery at Netta. State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw. – must have held special importance for the dead Photograph by R. Sofuł woman, given its undamaged condition at the time The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad 293 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD interregional scale. We ind in this grave inventory a number of remarkable items of an unmistakably Scandinavian origin: a unique headpiece from a horse bridle with an anthropoand zoomorphic decoration and a spearhead with a zigzag ornament. Metal ittings of a leather bucket and ine mounts of a sword belt (balteus) lend further support to the existence of connections of the individual buried in the Suwałki region with the Scandinavian environment. It is reasonable to claim that the warrior elite of barbarian Europe during that age would have found it useful to trade their experience in warfare and weaponry. This would explain the presence in the Augustów Plain of north-eastern Poland of a spearhead with a single barb (Fig. 53) discovered in grave no. 81 in the cemetery at Netta (Bitner-Wróblewska 2007: 26, 76–77, pl. XLII). This is a weapon form entirely without analogy in the Balt territory, with the closest parallels available in Scandinavia, irst of all, southern Norway (e.g., Bakkejordet u/Valle, Oppland; Bråten, Buskerud; Troje, Rogaland). a The contacts between the elites on both sides of the Baltic Sea were not limited to an exchange of objects – there would also have been an exchange of ideas and of fashions in ornaments, so useful to display the special social status of owners of this inery. An excellent example of relations of this sort would be the Sösdala and Sambian horizons (Bitner-Wróblewska 2001: 89–120). They are represented by a very special category of dress accessories, ornaments, and horse harness trappings which are noted in the Baltic Sea region between c. 350 and 450. From southern Scandinavia of that period we know of a series of outstanding artefacts, many of them made of noble metals e.g., of silver plated with gold, richly decorated by stamping. The elaborate ornament usually covers the entire surface of an object; the most commonly seen decorative motifs are all manner of star designs, illed in triangles, multi-centric rings, half-circles, and rows of dots. Similar decoration is observed on Scandinavian Blechibel brooches, assorted pendants, and pelta-shaped b Fig. 54. Decorative style of ‘Sambian horizon’ on brooches (a), and belt elements (b). After Tischler, Kemke 1902 294 Contacts and connections horse harness ittings. This Scandinavian ornamentation was adopted and developed by the jewellery-makers of Sambia, and spread from the Sambian Peninsula across much of the south-eastern Baltic coastal region. We ind this decorative style on dress accessories assigned to the Sambian horizon, which includes star- and spade-footed brooches, tongueshaped, and beak-shaped strap ends, buckles with a square buckle plate and with a prong decorated with a metope (Fig. 54). The material of the brooch foot and of the assorted elements of the belt set is mostly bronze, decorated with silver foil, richly stamp-decorated with the same motifs as the Scandinavian inds. There is evidence too that the northern models had been adapted to suit local tastes, and creatively transformed. Forms assigned to the Sambian horizon may be seen to have spread across the West Balt world, the territory of modern north-eastern Poland, as well as more northerly areas, including the Finnish environment (in today’s Estonia and southern Finland). Next to the outstanding items belonging to the Sambian horizon decorated with silver foil we also ind in the archaeological record simpliied variants of ornaments of this type – attesting to the egalitarian character of Balt society. What is also interesting is that brooches with a staror a spade-shaped foot became a source of inspiration for Scandinavian jewellery-makers, who went on to make some elements of local cruciform brooches (a half-round plate decorating the brooch foot) modelling themselves on Balt forms (Bitner-Wróblewska 2001: 70–74). While artefacts classiied to the Sösdala and the Sambian horizons illustrate contacts between elites, ties between other groups within these communities are suggested by other dress accessory forms datable to the late 4th and the 5th centuries. A common type of clothes fastening in use at this time was the crossbow brooch with an elongated, straight foot and a variously designed catch (a long or a short catch-plate). Brooches of this description have a broad distribution in the Baltic Sea basin, ranging from the Baltic islands to the southern and south-eastern Baltic Sea coast (Bitner-Wróblewska 2001: 33–57). An in-depth analysis of this ornament category suggests the existence of close ties between inhabitants of Gotland and Öland on the one hand, and Balt communities across the Baltic Sea on the other, which fact ofers proof of the exchange of expertise between craftsmen who made these brooches. For instance, when found on the Baltic islands, Gotland in particular, many of these brooches have a stamped ornament, a later inspiration for the craftsmen of Sambia. Similarly, the relief decoration was borrowed from Scandinavia and is encountered – even if only rarely – on some Balt specimens. Finally, such details as metopes decorating the brooch bow or the presence of a double chord were introduced to the islands from Sambia. *** In the period from the late 2nd up to the 5th century there is evidence of the manufacture of objects decorated with champlevé enamel from a broad region of central and east Europe extending from the Mazury and the Suwałki regions, central and eastern Lithuania, through Latvia, Estonia, and south-western Finland, as far as the upper and middle drainage of the Dnieper, and the drainages of the Desna and the upper Oka (Bitner-Wróblewska 2011). In this technique the surface of Fig. 55. Cells illed with enamel, details of the pennanular brooches. Photograph by M. Gmur The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad 295 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD a bronze object was cut to make geometric cells; alternately, the piece could be cast complete with the recessed cells. These were next illed with a powdered glaze – a mixture of quartz, soda ash (sodium carbonate), magnesite (magnesium carbonate), chalk, litharge (lead oxide), and other metal oxides, the latter selected to obtain the desired colour of the enamel (Fig. 55). Enamelwork required experience to prepare the base and the glaze appropriately, and to choose the exact time and temperature of iring. The complexity of this process is described in the medieval treatise of Theophilus Presbyter, Benedictine monk and goldsmith, a native of Germany, possibly Westphalia. In his excellent text on goldsmithing written in the 12th century Theophilus gives a detailed description of individual stages of the enamel working. The goldsmiths active in the Balt territory and in the eastern regions of Europe would have been introduced to the enamel working craft presumably by enamelled brooches imported from provincial Roman workshops in Pannonia, on the Rhine and Danube, many of which have surfaced in the central and the east European Barbaricum (Bitner-Wróblewska, Stawiarska 2009: 326–334). It is also possible that craftsmen active on the middle Dnieper and in the drainage of the Desna learned their new skills by way of direct contacts with workshops operating in the Danube region. The earliest inds of barbarian enamelwork date to the late 2nd century; it is important to note that quite an impressive number of these early ornaments has surfaced in the West Balt territory, especially in the Mazury region. The local production of enamels lourished in East-Central Europe chiely in the 3rd and the 4th centuries and is observed everywhere in their distribution range. The latest enamelled pieces date to the irst half of the 5th century. (Bitner-Wróblewska 2009: 400–424). The largest group of objects decorated with enamel recorded in the part of the Balt territory under discussion are penannular brooches and various pendant types, lunular forms in particular (Fig. 56). The second largest group includes inger rings, openwork shield-shaped brooches, other brooch forms, parts of chest ornaments and drinking horn chains, and bracelets. The cells carved in the surface of the decorated object meant to hold the enamel inlay were geometric in shape, usually round or rectangular. Other shapes include the lozenge, triangle and, very rarely, the eight-pointed cross. In quite a few of the pieces decorated with enamel the cells had several diferent geometric shapes, sometimes illed with enamel of a diferent colour. The dominant red colour 296 of the enamel would have created a pleasing contrast with the golden hue of the copper alloy used in making the piece. The addition to these colours of enamel of a diferent shade (blue, white, green, yellow, orange) or coating some of these pieces with tin to obtain a silvery hue, produced an attractive polychrome efect. One truly extraordinary object decorated with enamel found in the Balt territory is a bronze neckring-tiara excavated at the cemetery at Babięta, fmr. Babienten (Hollack, Peiser 1904: ig. 34; Bitner-Wróblewska 2009: 415–416). It has high, cone-shaped terminals and a very wide central part decorated with an engraved ornament and four bosses in which circular cells holding red enamel. The history of this artefact is also far from ordinary. Discovered more than a hundred years ago, the neckring entered the Prussia-Museum in Königsberg and subsequently shared the fortunes of many pieces stored in collections that were subsequently destroyed or stolen. After World War II, it disappeared from view for ive decades, presumed to have gone missing or lost irretrievably, like nearly all of the extremely rich holdings of the Prussia-Museum. Only quite recently has it become apparent that an unexpectedly large number of museum objects and archival records of the Königsberg museum have in fact survived, their fortunes a subject worthy of a separate publication. The neckring from Babięta is one of the lucky survivors; it came to light during the 1990s in Fort III in Kaliningrad and is at present kept by the city museum (Bitner-Wróblewska ed. 2008). Fig. 56. Lunula-shaped pendant from the cemetery at Machary, fmr. Macharren. After Hollack, Peiser 1904 Contacts and connections The Balt lands have yielded a series of inds which appear to have direct links with enamel workshops found farther to the east, on the middle Dnieper and upper Oka, i.e., in the territory of Kiev culture and Moščino culture (Pamyatniki kievskoy kultury 2007). The workshops on the upper Oka River are likely to be the source of origin of a wide sheet copper alloy bracelet decorated with triangle-sectioned crests, found at Krzywólka in the Suwałki region. Its prototype would be enamelled bracelets of this form known from the upper Oka region. Triangular brooches are another category of enamelled objects which point to the direct links of the West Balt territory with enamel working centres found farther east. These original ornaments have a triangular, openwork body with a triangular or a cross-shaped terminal; the openwork design is geometrical. The main centres of production of these ornaments have been identiied in the region on the Dnieper and Desna, and on the upper Oka. The brooch form is thought to belong to the 3rd–4th century. In the Mazury region two triangular brooches decorated with enamel have been recorded in the cemetery at Grunajki on the Gołdapa River and in the grave-ield at Zdory, fmr. Sdorren on Lake Śniardwy (Tischler 1879: 210–211, pl. V, 1; Bujack 1891: pl. II; Bitner-Wróblewska 2000). Both these brooches came to light in the 19th century, but were no longer to be seen in museum collections after the turmoil of World War II. The brooch from Grunajki has a more elaborate ornament than most of these forms. The geometric design decorating its body is in three parts – two triangles, each topped by a roundel, ill the irst tier, with a single triangle forming the second tier, and a rectangular bar decorated with a zigzag line found at bottom. The triangles were all inlaid with red enamel. A disc inlaid with silver and a triangular foot decorated with red enamel completed this exquisite piece of metalwork. The exchange of the Balt world with eastern European enamelling workshops is also conirmed by the presence in our region of large lunular pendants. Specimens unearthed at Podliszewo, grave no. 14, and at Szwajcaria, barrow XV, grave no. 3, are close in their style to pieces known from the Dnieper region (Bitner-Wróblewska, Iwanicki 2002: 111–112, 124–125, ig. 3; Jaskanis 2013: 36, pl. XXII). The pendant found at Podliszewo has a typical openwork design of three sub-circular openings at the top, over a row of three circular cells illed with red enamel linked by two bars, each decorated with a zigzag (Fig. 57). The lunular pendant from Szwajcaria has a similar design but lacks enamel. The two pendants have been interpreted as imports from the middle Dnieper region. The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad That the inluence was reciprocal is conirmed by the presence in the Dnieper and upper Oka region of typically West Balt lunular pendants and variants of penannular brooches. Equally interesting are the contacts of the inhabitants of West Balt lands with Finnish enamelling centres. These connections and inluences were apparently bilateral. A ind that may be safely attributed to inluences from Finnish enamelling workshops is that of an incomplete enamelled neckring found in grave no. 28 at Bargłów Dworny (Bitner-Wróblewska, Stawiarska 2009: 309, ig. 6). Neckrings of this form, with coiled wire terminals, a few with an additional enamelled plate, are forms quite widespread in the eastern Baltic zone. Specimens with large discs decorated with red and/or blue enamel are almost never recorded outside the territory of the Finnish culture with tarand graves. A remarkable example of contacts between Balt and Finnish enamel working centres would be inger rings decorated with enamel, one of the earliest categories of enamelled ornaments. These rings have a lozengic central part with cells to hold the enamel. Their distribution range is restricted to the Mazury region, with one of the few exceptions being the Fig. 57. Enamel-decorated ‘large lunular pendant’ from the cemetery at Podliszewo. After Bitner-Wróblewska, Stawiarska 2009 297 Chapter 8 The Balt societies in Poland, 1–500 AD inds from fmr. Plauen in Sambia and a tarand-grave at Truuta in Estonia which deinitely imitate the forms known from the Mazury region (Bitner-Wróblewska 1993: 123, footnote 8; 2011: 14, footnote 2, 21). The rapid migration of styles of barbarian enamelwork across the entire distribution range of these artefacts shows that a major role was played in their production and distribution by itinerant craftsmen (Bitner-Wróblewska 2011: 19–22) whose skills varied widely, as demonstrated by artefacts which represent diferent levels of technological proiciency (cf. the penannular brooches with enamel from Netta and from Bargłów Dworny). Beyond the references made in Greek and Roman written sources, the contacts of the Balts with the Roman Empire are documented by a sizeable assemblage of imported objects. Larger concentrations of these inds are noted in Sambia, the Mazury region, as well as in western and central Lithuania. These imported objects include dress accessories (enamelled and Noric-Pannonian brooches), beads, inger rings, and Roman coins made of copper alloy. Much less common are vessels made of bronze, glass, terra sigillata, weapons, and horse harness bells (Fig. 58). Two inds are truly unique: an iron razor with a bronze panther-head terminal excavated at Netta and iron fetters found at Mojtyny (cf. Fig. 46). The imported Roman items were used by their owners as highly prized marks of status, as is evidenced by the time that they apparently remained in use: it is not unusual to ind objects dating to an earlier period in grave inventories of a much later date (Fig. 59). Yet another phenomenon is the widespread occurrence of bronze Roman coins in Balt grave inventories (especially, in the Mazury region, Sambia, western Lithuania, and on the lower Neman River, more rarely, in the Suwałki region). These are mostly sestertii minted during the 2nd and the irst half of the 3rd century. Their presence in the study area is a research problem which is still in need of resolution. Fig. 59. Enamel-decorated brooch imported from Roman provinces found in younger grave in barrow cemetery at Czerwony Dwór, site XXI. Investigations of Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw. Fig. 58. Bronze bell from the cemetery at Mojtyny. After Hollack, Peiser 1904 298 Photograph by M. Bogacki & M. Dąbski Conclusions The year 375, the date when the Huns appeared on the Black Sea, is regarded as a symbolic starting point of the Migration period, the time of great population shifts which swept across much of Europe. The Hunnic invasions of territories within the Barbaricum were an element of a domino efect which precipitated major changes in the cultural situation in Europe. Not to be disregarded is that the long-term crisis sweeping the Roman Empire, for many centuries a stabilizing force and the main ‘moderator’ of the world in that age, was not without its signiicance for changes within the barbarian world. The perspective of easy spoils to be wrested in the weakened, disintegrating Roman Empire attracted, like a magnet, the hosts of warriors and plunderers descending from the north. This situation afecting Europe at large was not without impact on the inhabitants of the Balt territories, although it bears recalling that this particular region experienced a stability of settlement exceptional during that age. The most tangible signs of change at the end of the 4th and early into the 5th century are noted in the Mazury region, in the territory of Bogaczewo culture. There is evidence here of a marked settlement crisis, but this does not mean that the area became depopulated. Nevertheless, to judge from the decrease in the number of burials in cemeteries, and the abandonment of some of these grave-sites, at least a part of the population of the Mazury region, mostly young warriors, may have left their native land, joining the Germanic bands on their way south. Another crucial element which has a bearing on our perception of the settlement situation in the Mazury region during this period is the depletion of grave goods and a new way of depositing the remains of the dead in the ground. The depletion of grave inventories in the Mazury region is an element of a more widespread phenomenon which is observed at this time everywhere on the Baltic littoral. On the other hand, graves were now dug to a very shallow depth, The Past Societies 4: 500 bc – 500 ad which signiicantly afected their survival – and hence their examination by archaeologists. They were more likely to be destroyed by human economic activity (e.g., ploughing) and natural processes (e.g., soil erosion). No wonder therefore that the archaeological record from the period of interest in the Mazury region is more modest than that from the preceding age. Quite a large part of this record concerns stray inds, lacking in context. Nevertheless, we may surmise that these objects originally belonged to grave inventories, subsequently lost to ploughing or natural processes. Observation of the distribution map of these inds clearly shows that settlement in the Mazury region in late 4th and the irst half of the 5th century did survive, and the area by no means had become depopulated. A somewhat diferent situation is observed in the territory of the Sudovian culture, i.e., in the Suwałki region, in the lands on the Gołdapa River, and the Augustów Plain. Here settlement may be seen to continue without interruption throughout the 4th and the 5th centuries, and also, during the 6th and even later. In the Suwałki region we note only a marked depletion of the grave inventories, and also the disappearance of weapons from graves, presumably the efect of impact from the neighbouring Mazury region – and indirectly, of the impact of Gothic customs. As for the lands on the Gołdapa River, its prosperity during the period of interest is conirmed by a large number of inds of imported objects attesting to the long-distance contacts of the local population. Contacts of this sort, taking in broad reaches of southern, western, and northern Europe, ones conirmed for the period starting from the second half of the 5th century but much more pronounced in the century that followed, were also experienced by the inhabitants of the Mazury region. 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