The archaeology of early medieval Poland

• Introduction
• p. xi

• List of Figures
• p. xv

• Chapter 1
• Archaeology of Early Medieval Poland: beginnings of interest, birth and development
• p. 1

• 1
• The earliest beginnings
• p. 1

• 2
• The 19th century: in search of the roots of the Slavic identity
• p. 2

• 3
• Birth and slow growth: the first two decades of the 20th century
• p. 6

• 4
• The 1930s: Early Medieval archaeology on the offensive, continuation of debate on the Slavs and systematic excavations of Early Medieval sites
• p. 9

• 5
• Two post war decades: the coming Millennium and research on the origins of the Polish state
• p. 11

• 6
• The 1970s and 1980s: fruitful aftermath of the Millennium research
• p. 14

• 7
• The last decade of the 20th century: old questions and new possibilities
• p. 18

• 8
• Archaeology of Early Medieval Poland: an archaeology of regions or archaeology without borders?
• p. 22

• Chapter 2
• Sources and methods
• p. 29

• 1
• Early Medieval archaeological sites and their stratification: problems in exploration
• p. 29

• 1.1
• Stratification of early urban sites
• p. 30

• 1.2
• Stratification of rural settlements
• p. 32

• 1.3
• Stratification of sacral sites and pagan cult centers
• p. 35

• 1.4
• Stratification of multi-layer cemeteries
• p. 36

• 2
• Layers and their portable content: mass finds
• p. 38

• 2.1
• Pottery as a source of information about past societies
• p. 39

• 2.2
• Archaeozoological data
• p. 42

• 3
• Small finds
• p. 45

• 4
• Soil and its natural components
• p. 47

• 5
• Written sources
• p. 48

• 6
• Iconography
• p. 51

• Chapter 3
• How did the Slavs gel to Polish lands?
• p. 55

• 1
• 'Autochthonists', 'Allochthonists' and others: the long history of the debate on the origins of the Slavs
• p. 55

• 2
• The Polish lands between Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages: a gap or continuity?
• p. 61

• 3
• One or many models of the Slavs' material culture?
• p. 63

• 4
• The phenomenon of the Slavs: how to explain it?
• p. 69

• Chapter 4
• Mysteries of the pre-state period
• p. 75

• 1
• 'Tribal' geography and archaeology
• p. 75

• 2
• The first Early Medieval strongholds: when did they appear?
• p. 84

• 3
• One or many burial rites?
• p. 99

• 4
• Many questions and few answers
• p. 104

• Chapter 5
• Holy mountains
• p. 107

• 1
• Large cult centers of the pre-state period: Lysa Gora
• p. 107

• 2
• The mysteries of Mount Sleza
• p. 110

• 3
• Other mountains-supposed places of pagan cult
• p. 117

• 4
• The mysterious Zmigrody
• p. 126

• Chapter 6
• Pagan cemetery or holy grove?
• p. 133

• 1
• Open air shrines
• p. 133

• 2
• An old cemetery and new problems
• p. 134

• 3
• Forgotten or living tradition?
• p. 139

• Chapter 7
• Monumental mounds in Little Poland
• p. 143

• 1
• Monumental mounds, admired throughout the ages
• p. 143

• 2
• Przemyslaw's (Tatars') Mound in Przemysl
• p. 144

• 3
• Supposed monumental mounds in the Przemysl region
• p. 147

• 4
• Salve Regina Hill in Sandomierz
• p. 148

• 5
• The Mounds of Krak and Wanda in Cracow
• p. 150

• 6
• Other monumental mounds in Little Poland
• p. 154

• 7
• The European context
• p. 157

• 8
• The Great Mounds of Little Poland: when and why were they raised?
• p. 159

• Chapter 8
• The earliest Medieval script in Poland?
• p. 167

• 1
• A fascinating discovery
• p. 167

• 2
• What was found on the tablets from Podeblocie?
• p. 169

• 3
• The tablets in the light of the most recent analyses
• p. 170

• Chapter 9
• How Poland came into being
• p. 175

• 1
• Between archaeology, dynastic tradition and legend
• p. 175

• 2
• Where Poland began: Great Poland just before the rise of the state
• p. 178

• 3
• Where did the Piasts come from?
• p. 183

• 4
• From Great Poland to Little Poland: the first step of expansion of the Piasts
• p. 190

• 5
• Towards the north: the Piasts on the Bay of Gdansk
• p. 196

• 6
• 'Forgotten' Mazovia or a strategic territorial reserve?
• p. 199

• 7
• From the Baltic Sea to the Sudeten Mountains: Silesia and Western Pomerania
• p. 206

• 8
• Bohemian or Piast Silesia?
• p. 207

• 9
• Western Pomerania: 'urban republics' and old 'tribal' territories
• p. 211

• 10
• Cracow Land: the last stage of the state formation process
• p. 214

• 11
• Summing up
• p. 216

• Chapter 10
• Towns still under investigation
• p. 223

• 1
• The capitals of the Gniezno state: contested priority
• p. 226

• 2
• From the legendary Lech to Mieszko I
• p. 228

• 3
• A strong contender for primacy
• p. 233

• 4
• Kalisz: The Stronghold on the Amber Route
• p. 241

• 5
• Wolin: The town with twelve gates
• p. 246

• 6
• Early state or pre-state Gdansk?
• p. 250

• 7
• The origins of Plock still unknown
• p. 256

• 8
• Sandomierz: First large investment of the Piasts in Little Poland?
• p. 262

• 9
• Zawichost: intriguing rival of Sandomierz
• p. 266

• 10
• Mysteries of the Cathedral Hill in Chelm
• p. 272

• 11
• Przemysl: The center at the periphery
• p. 279

• 12
• Wislica: in the shadow of a pagan prince
• p. 283

• 13
• Cracow, Wawel and archaeology
• p. 294

• 14
• Who built the earliest Wroclaw?
• p. 300

• Chapter 11
• Other central places
• p. 307

• 1
• Cherven and Volyn: central places in the eastern borderlands
• p. 307

• 2
• Ostrow Lednicki: residence of first Piast rulers or first Polish episcopium?
• p. 309

• 3
• Giecz: Unfinished large-scale investment
• p. 317

• 4
• Chelmno as a sedes regni principalis?
• p. 322

• 5
• Pultusk: The stronghold below the castle
• p. 324

• 6
• The stronghold and masonry tower in Stolpie
• p. 328

• Chapter 12
• Rural landscapes
• p. 333

• 1
• Off the beaten track
• p. 333

• 2
• How do we envisage Medieval rural settlements?
• p. 335

• 3
• Unexploited research potential: service settlements
• p. 343

• 4
• Mysterious villages
• p. 346

• Chapter 13
• The earliest monastic complexes
• p. 351

• 1
• The earliest monasteries and archaeology
• p. 351

• 2
• At the threshold of Christianization: the first Benedictine abbeys
• p. 352

• 3
• In the shadow of Wawel Hill: the Benedictine Abbey at Tyniec near Cracow
• p. 355

• 4
• A church and a monastery in a stronghold
• p. 359

• 5
• A double foundation and the controversy over a princely burial
• p. 363

• 6
• Archaeology and the earliest Cistercian foundations
• p. 369

• 7
• The 'little monastery' at Lekno
• p. 371

• 8
• Wachock: a monastery on the ruins of a palatium?
• p. 374

• 9
• Monasteries still under investigation
• p. 378

• Chapter 14
• The puzzle of the century: pottery marks
• p. 383

• 1
• The long history of research and ambiguous results
• p. 383

• 2
• Signs on the bases of vessels from Kalisz and Ostrow Lednicki: an abundance of qualitatively new archaeological sources
• p. 387

• 3
• Unusual signs
• p. 388

• 4
• Where did the custom come from and why were the vessels marked?
• p. 392

• Chapter 15
• Locals and migrants
• p. 395

• 1
• From cremation to inhumation: burial grounds of the early state period
• p. 396

• 2
• Pomeranians and Veleti in Great Poland?
• p. 400

• 3
• The Graves of Vikings?
• p. 404

• 4
• A large warriors' necropolis
• p. 408

• 5
• Not only warriors
• p. 411

• 6
• Who was buried in the Mazovian graves with stone constructions?
• p. 414

• 7
• Strangers in the south
• p. 421

• 8
• Who were they and what did they have in common?
• p. 425

• Appendix 1
• Some Notes on the Translation of Andrzej Buko's 'Archaeology of Early Medieval Poland'
• p. 431

• Appendix 2
• A brief guide to the pronunciation of Polish words
• p. 439

• Bibliography
• p. 441

• Index
• p. 465