Chapter 14 Roman Origin and Military Equipment from Kujawy

Bartosz Kontny and Marcin Rudnicki

1 Introduction

The last decade or so has been a special time in the history of archaeologi- cal research in . This is because a significant quantity of archaeological evidence was obtained during this period from outside regular archaeological fieldwork carried out by qualified archaeologists. A major contributing factor has been the great popularity of searching for historical objects by amateurs using metal-detectors (a phenomenon observed in other European countries too). Even if, according to statistics available from Britannia,1 nearly 90% of metal-detector finds come from the ploughsoil, their importance for recon- structing prehistoric reality cannot be over-stated. This is particularly the case for the Iron Age. On more than one occasion, contributions from ama- teur metal-detecting have led to significant corrections of pre-existing views on the material culture of this period; suffice it to mention only the famous Staffordshire hoard.2 One of the most spectacular examples of the phenome- non have been the discoveries of Migration Period objects made in the Kujawy region (Kuyavia). From the archaeological point of view, Kujawy is an exceptional region in many respects. The features of its physiography, and in particular its favourable location at the intersection of major routes of long-distance contact, contrib- uted to the extraordinary prosperity of the communities living there. While the importance of this region was already recognized, more recent discoveries have revealed new aspects of the Kujawy phenomenon. One manifestation of this prosperity is the extraordinary frequency of metal objects found in archaeolog- ical sites in the region compared with other regions occupied by the , and by the Culture and the populations too. This is not merely just a matter of numbers but also of the sheer diversity

1 “Almost 90% of finds were discovered on cultivated land, where they are vulnerable to agri- cultural damage and natural corrosion processes.” (Lewis, Richardson, Moon 2017, 36). 2 Fern, Dickinson, Webster (eds.) 2019.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004422421_016 Roman Origin and Migration Period Military Equipment 501 of archaeological finds, which include an impressive number of imports from the Roman Empire and from other regions of Barbaricum. An eloquent ex- ample of this phenomenon are Roman coin finds. The much published site at Jakuszowice is now recognized as a settlement with a special significance (a “central place”) within the Przeworsk Culture. One argument in support of this interpretation has been the sheer number of the Roman coin finds – a total of 113 specimens.3 Despite the passage of years this is still an impressive result compared with other settlements of a similar character found between the and the – for instance, at Pełczyska,4 at Janków Drugi-Oszczywilk (with around 80 coins each)5 – and also with the “Zamczysko” settlement of the Masłomęcz Group at Gródek.6 Meanwhile, the settlements in Kujawy have yielded significantly more coins (not infrequently, around 100 specimens). The record-breaker in this respect has been the settlement centre identified in the area of the villages of Gąski and Wierzbiczany, Inowrocław district. Here, an area of a few square kilometres harbours the remains of several settlements identifiable as an Iron Age “central place”. This goes back in its origins to the beginning of the Late Pre-Roman Period, the time of the introduction of a wide-scale, local production of Celtic gold coins.7 At the same time, numerous imports from the South entered this area.8 This process intensified during the Roman Period. Next to an impressive number of dress-accessories, jewellery and vessels, objects from the Roman Empire include a vast quantity of coins. The number of their finds from the Gąski-Wierzbiczany area may be estimated at four to five thousand, a figure that is certainly not exaggerated.9 Besides standard imports – although the numbers of these recorded here are higher than in other settlements of the Wielbark and the Przeworsk Cultures – some categories of objects recovered in Kujawy are unique for Barbaricum, such as Roman lead seals and an enamelled seal capsule. A concentration of imports is observed, understandably, in the area of Gąski-Wierzbiczany. Some individual finds have also been recorded at other sites in Kujawy. A spe- cial place among these non-standard finds is occupied by pieces of military

3 See Marcin Rudnicki 2014, 278. 4 Marcin Rudnicki 2007, 105; other than the coins recorded before 2006 (22 specimens) they are all unpublished. 5 We owe the information about the number of the Roman coins found on the site of the settlement at Janków Drugi-Oszczywilk to the kindness of a personal communication from Sławomir Miłek MA. 6 Bursche, Kaczanowski, Rodzińska-Nowak 2000, 112, 114. 7 Unpublished. 8 Unpublished. 9 Unpublished.