Glass rings used to be one of the most common jewellery types in the 10th-13th centuries in Central Europe, especially Silesia. The popularity of this type of decoration in this area could indicate its local origin. The chemical composition of the glass seems to confirm this theory. The Silesian glass rings analysed in this paper were made of high-lead alkaline and nonalkaline glass or of lead-ash glass. There was also a close relationship between the colour of the finished products and the chemical composition of the glass. This provides new data for the study of the problem of production and distribution of glass jewellery in Central Europe.
The following article concerns the functional use of horse bones in the early Middle Ages (mainly in the period from the mid of the 10th to the 12th/13th century). The authors try to explain how such remains were used and how common it was. It is also discussed whether the special role of the horse in medieval societies somehow restricted its post-mortem usage, or perhaps there was no difference between the skeletal remains of horses and other species in this regard. For this purpose, statistical calculations on the use of the bones of various mammals were made. Only the remains of the species determined during the archaeozoological analysis were taken into account. The specific use of individual parts of a horse skeleton was also noted. In addition, the analysis also encompasses all other types of horse remains that could be used by humans (hide, hair, etc.). The consumption of horse meat was discussed separately: on the basis of the preserved traces, an attempt was made to determine whether it had happened, and if so, how popular it had been. Overall, such comprehensive analysis aims to show the various roles of the horse. It was not only a mount, but also a beast of burden, a source of food and raw material as well. The main purpose of this study is to describe the role of horses in human medieval societies of Ostrów Tumski on the basis of accessible equid remains. The highlighting of the human–horse relationship in the past allows us to understand the importance and value of the horse both as a life companion and the source of food or leather and bone tools.
This study concerns glazed objects from two major centres in Silesia: Wrocław and Opole. All the glazed items from layers dated from the late 10th to the first half of the 13th century are appraised, i.e. ceramic and stone Easter eggs, knobbed rattles, ‘stars’ and pottery. Each category of artefacts is appraised separately as they differ from each other in terms of the production technique and presumably their provenance. Therefore, the locations of the workshops that produced these items is considered. Based on the collections from Wrocław and Opole, a different frequency of individual glazed items is observed, which is related to their specific distribution and most likely the different role of both centres. A separate issue is determining the value and social function of the glazed vessels, Easter eggs and rattles. In contrast, less emphasis is placed on their symbolic function, as this issue has been widely discussed by other researchers.
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