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Deposit of bronze ornaments from the Early Iron Age at site 7 in Ludwinowo, Kujavia (central Poland) and its ambiguous ceramic context

DOI: 10.33547/PraceArch.69.17

Deposit of bronze ornaments from the Early Iron Age at site 7 in Ludwinowo, Kujavia (central Poland) and its ambiguous ceramic context

by Karol Dzięgielewski 1, Armand Zyzman 2, Wiesław Koszkul 2, Janusz Kozana 3, Aldona Garbacz-Klempka 3

1 – Institute of Archaeology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland; 2 – Archeo-Explorers Wiesław Koszkul, Kraków, Poland; 3 – AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Foundry Engineering, Kraków, Poland

In: M. S. Przybyła, K. Dzięgielewski (eds.), Chasing Bronze Age rainbows. Studies on hoards and related phenomena in prehistoric Europe in honour of Wojciech Blajer, Prace Archeologiczne 69, Kraków: Institute of Archaeology, Jagiellonian University / Profil-Archeo, 2019, pp. 363-398.

Abstract: During excavations of site 7 in Ludwinowo, a hoard consisting of six bronze objects and a glass bead was found, intentionally deposited in an atypical, elongated pit (feature No. Z55). The assemblage can be counted among hoards of complete (not fragmented) items, composed solely of ornaments belonging to two or three categories (necklaces, small rings, perhaps earrings as well). The bronzes were made using two techniques: by forming from forged sheet metal (necklace No. 1) and by casting (other ornaments). The chronology of the ornaments, which belong to types quite widespread in the Polish Lowlands, decorated with groups of transverse lines (kerbgruppenverzierte Ringe), can be narrowed down to the Ha C2 and Ha D1 periods of the Early Iron Age. What makes the deposit from Ludwinowo of unique value is its discovery in the context of a fairly numerous series of ceramics from the same archaeological feature. The pottery corresponds to materials known from the Ha D period, although with references to both older and younger local and supra-local ceramic styles. Of particular importance are similarities to vessels typical of the so-called Lusatian-Pomeranian cultural transformation in Kuyavia and Greater Poland. Assuming these are not coincidental, the presence of well-dated metals in the same assemblage makes it a very early (Ha D1) indication of this cultural phenomenon.

Key words: hoards from settlements, bronze ornaments, necklaces, bracelets, pottery, Early Iron Age, Polish Lowland

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