Institute of Archaeology

"In the years 2011-2012 at the Institute of Archaeology at
UMK Toruń University a research program entitled: Slavic-Balt
borderland in Early Medieval times was realized. This program
fit in the trend of archaeological settlement studies, aiming at
recognizing the problems of settlement of the area defined
as the Slavic-Balt borderland. Four defense sites were subject
to verification and test excavation, of certain or alleged
Early Medieval chronology (strongholds at Domkowo, Grunwald
commune, site 1; Lipowiec, Ostróda commune, site 1;
Morliny, Ostróda commune, site1; and Ornowo-Lesiak, Ostróda
commune, site 3). The main goal of the examinations was
the verification of the strongholds’ chronology, as well as an
attempt to determine their place in the settlement structure
of the upper Drwęca River basin.
The examinations conducted in the stronghold at Domkowo
allowed to define the chronology of the stronghold to
the 1st half of the 11th century. Special attention should be
paid to the cobblestone pavement revealed in the stronghold’s
platform. It is hard to state, however, if the whole platform
was covered with cobblestone, or was it only a part of
it. The research works held in the strongholds at Lipowiec and
Morliny allowed to positively verify their Early Medieval chronology.
The results of the examinations allow to preliminary
define their chronology as the 11th-12th century.
The most spectacular results were obtained by the examinations
held at Ornowo-Lesiak. They allowed to question the
view on the chronology of this settlement existing so far. According
to the latest researches, this stronghold is a relic of
one-phase settlement dated to the period of last decades of
the 10th century and the 1st half of the 11th century.
The examinations of the mentioned defense sites of the upper
Drwęca River basin, realized in recent years, deliver new information
to the studies on the history of settlement of this area in Early
Medieval times. Beside these strongholds, no other sites were
subject to archaeological excavations, which makes it difficult to
undertake broader comprehensive settlement studies. A lot of
questions remain unanswered, and only further fieldwork and
analytical studies can bring an answer to them.
"

In many cultures the human head was treated in special ways and it was attributed different symbolic values. Main aim of the paper is to consider if we find a special treatment of the head in the Prussian culture circle in the Early Middle Ages. Are there any relevant evidence of the head-cult among the Prussians?

The sphere of the sacred in the consciousness of the pagan Prussians is not sufficiently exposed the written sources. The lack of detailed textual information poses great difficulties in defining the nature of the pagan belief system in Old Prussia. The present paper presents the major research problems related to the alleged importance of the human head in the religion and culture of Old Prussians on the basis of the available written accounts and archaeological evidence. The first part of this article concerns textual sources referring to the first Prussian missionaries Adalbert and Bruno. The second part involves a critical revaluation of the recent discoveries from the hillfort of Szestno-Czarny Las, which were interpreted as a testimony of a pagan ‘head-cult’among the Balts in the early Middle Ages. A thorough analysis of the written sources enabled the author to refute the previously posed hypothesis on the existence of this head-cult among the Balts.

The various reports describing the death of Christian missionaries seem to indicate that decapitation was probably the most common and most severe form of punishment for offending the pagan gods. Although the peculiar burials of the so-called ‘Czarny Las type’confirm the custom of storing human remains within houses it is impossible to interpret fragments of human skulls as evidence for the existence of a head-cult. Ultimately, the present article demonstrates that the concept of a ‘Prussian head-cult’, previously advocated by some Polish academics, was based on very weak arguments and that there are no grounds for suggesting that it ever existed among the Balts. """

A lot of issues concerning the sacral sphere of two neighbouring culture circles in the period of Early Middle Ages have been discussed in the article. Authors proposed a comparative analysis of North-West Slavonic and West Baltic sacred landscapes, and objects perceived to be sacred. Review of methodological approaches used in studies of sacrum sphere in humanities has been presented. It has been demonstrated that both Slavic and Prussian sacrum organization was deeply rooted in nature world. The diversity and complexity of the discussed issues related to the problem of sacred landscapes has been revealed. Authors has pointed out major similarities and differences noted within investigated cultural circles.