Biała Góra: the forgotten colony in the medieval Pomeranian-Prussian borderlands

Pluskowski, Aleksander; Sawicki, Zbigniew; Shillito, Lisa‐Marie; Badura, Monika; Makowiecki, Daniel; Zabilska-Kunek, Mirosława; Seetah, Krish; Brown, Alexander

doi:10.1017/s0003598x00050742

Cited by 7 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…Intentional anthropogenic accumulation of organic matter on cultivated soils was discussed for an early medieval motte in Belgium by Gebhardt and Langohr (1999). A rich admixture of artefacts (potsherds, burned stones) and ecofacts (animal bones, plant macroremains, charcoal) clearly indicate a soil made by man (Anthrosol) (Pluskowski et al 2014;Mazurek et al 2016). Furthermore, the enriched total P and δ 15 N values of profile RP M2 are typical for soils which were manured or contained excrements (Glaser and Birk 2012;Simpson et al 1997).…”

Section: The Rozprza Dark Earth Layer-a Man-made Soil?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Horizontal layers of dark, strongly humic deposits were more or less frequently found at medieval sites in Poland (e.g. Niewęgłowski 1984;Olczak and Krasnodębski 2002;Buko and Dzieńkowski 2008;Sokołowski et al 2008;Pluskowski et al 2014). Difficulties in the interpretation of such deposits can be demonstrated by the example from Bonikowo (com.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the rampart construction of the medieval ring-fort in Rozprza, Central Poland

Sikora

Kittel

Frączek

et al. 2019

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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During archaeological excavations of a medieval stronghold in Rozprza, a buried thick deposit of deep black (Dark Earth type) soil was discovered. A multianalytical (sedimentological, geochemical and archaeobotanical) study was carried out in order to identify traits the Rozprza Dark Earth. The analyses demonstrated that the soil was formed as an effect of surface accumulation of organic deposits from swampy areas and waste materials with rich admixtures of organic materials. The organic carbon content of the soil of the Rozprza Dark Earth was twice as high, and the total concentration of P was many times higher as compared with the adjacent soil outside the stronghold. Plant macroremains which were recorded within the buried soil and a cultural layer are evidence for human activity, mainly wood gathering and agriculture. In the Early Middle Ages, summer crops could be cultivated there with the use of tilling methods characteristic for root crops or gardens. The accumulation of the Rozprza Dark Earth commenced in the second half of the tenth century AD. In the period between the eleventh and thirteenth century, a ring-fort was established there. The deep black soil is partly covered by the ring-fort's rampart. The rampart was built with the use of re-deposited earlier cultural layers and sand of the subsoil. It was then clad with sod bricks. Such a construction of a medieval rampart has been recorded for the first time in the territory of Poland. A new interpretation of archaeological structures and cultural layers offers a basis for new conclusions concerning the chronology and the development stages of the medieval settlement and ring-fort in Rozprza.

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Section: The Rozprza Dark Earth Layer-a Man-made Soil?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the rampart construction of the medieval ring-fort in Rozprza, Central Poland

Sikora

Kittel

Frączek

et al. 2019

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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“…Between the Nogat and Dzierzgoń rivers, archaeological evidence for Pomeranian activity into the crusading period is extremely limited. The best known example, to date, of a settlement with a transitional period of occupation is represented by the site adjacent to the village of Biała Góra (Pluskowski et al, 2014).…”

Section: Missionary Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With no aboveground remains, it has not been affected by subsequent building development or the growth of woodland, although the western parts of the site were destroyed following various hydrological modifications of the Nogat's course. A summary of results from the excavations and associated fieldwork at Biała Góra (site 3) has recently been published ( Figure 3; Pluskowski et al, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to situate the colony within a more detailed landscape context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Survival at the Frontier of Holy War: Political Expansion, Crusading, Environmental Exploitation and the Medieval Colonizing Settlement at Biała Góra, North Poland

et al. 2015

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Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries AD, the Lower Vistula valley represented a permeable and shifting frontier between Pomerelia (eastern Pomerania), which had been incorporated into the Polish Christian state by the end of the tenth century, and the territories of western Prussian tribes, who had resisted attempts at Christianization. Pomeranian colonization eventually began to falter in the latter decades of the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, most likely as a result of Prussian incursions, which saw the abandonment of sites across the borderland. Subsequently, the Teutonic Order and its allies led a protracted holy war against the Prussian tribes, which resulted in the conquest of the region and its incorporation into a theocratic state by the end of the thirteenth century. This was accompanied by a second wave of colonization, which resulted in the settlement pattern that is still visible in the landscape of north-central Poland today. However, not all colonies were destroyed or abandoned in between the two phases of colonization. The recently excavated site of Biała Góra, situated on the western side of the Forest of Sztum overlooking the River Nogat, represents a unique example of a transitional settlement that included both Pomeranian and Teutonic Order phases. The aim of this paper is to situate the site within its broader landscape context which can be characterized as a militarized frontier, where, from the later twelfth century and throughout much of the thirteenth century, political and economic expansion was combined with the ideology of Christian holy war and missionary activity. This paper considers how the colonists provisioned and sustained themselves in comparison to other sites within the region, and how Biała Góra may be tentatively linked to a documented but otherwise lost outpost in this volatile borderland.

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“…Here, excavations were led by Zbigniew Sawicki and Waldemar Jaszczyński, and the faunal assemblage is being studied by Krish Seetah, Aleksander Pluskowski, Mirosława Zabilska and Daniel makowiecki. The most intensive phase of occupation has been tentatively dated to the 13th century, representing a relatively short-lived Slavic (Pomeranian) and Teutonic Order colony, with activity continuing on a significantly reduced scale into the 15th century (Pluskowski et. al, 2014).…”

Section: Linas Daugnora N E W Te C H N O L O G Y O Rmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Technology or Adaptation at the Frontier? Butchery as a Signifier of Cultural Transitions in the Medieval Eastern Baltic

Seetah

Pluskowski

Makowiecki

et al. 2013

Archaeologia Baltica

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This paper focuses on a number of examples of cut marks on animal bones from a range of sites associated with the cultural transformations in the eastern Baltic following the Crusades in the 13th century. Recorded observational and interpretational characteristics are quantified and explained through more detailed selected case studies. The study represents a pilot project, the foundation for a more detailed and systematic survey of a larger dataset within the framework of the ecology of Crusading project. Relatively clear differences between sites are observable on the basis of the cut marks; however, the initial trends do not suggest a straightforward connection between butchery technology and colonisation in the east Baltic region.

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Biała Góra: the forgotten colony in the medieval Pomeranian-Prussian borderlands

Cited by 7 publications

References 6 publications

A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the rampart construction of the medieval ring-fort in Rozprza, Central Poland

A palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the rampart construction of the medieval ring-fort in Rozprza, Central Poland

Survival at the Frontier of Holy War: Political Expansion, Crusading, Environmental Exploitation and the Medieval Colonizing Settlement at Biała Góra, North Poland

New Technology or Adaptation at the Frontier? Butchery as a Signifier of Cultural Transitions in the Medieval Eastern Baltic

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