borderlands Pomeranian-Prussian medieval rs Seetah Krish oiaBadura Monika lkadrPluskowski Aleksander G Biała 6 5 4 3 2 1 n iiayodr.Eiec o h rsneo ecat ugssBaaG Biała suggests merchants of monastic the presence with the associated kind for the Evidence of orders. buildings durable military indicate and tiles roof and bricks of caches upeetr aeili rvddoln thttp://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/pluskowski341/ at online provided is material Supplementary earth Crusades. the Keywords: shadowed that network commercial the in outposts many ANTIQUITY C niut ulctosLtd. Publications Antiquity eateto nhoooy tnodUiest,Mi ud ulig5,40SraMl,Safr,CA Stanford, Mall, Serra 450 50, Building Quad, USA Toru Main 94035, University, 87-100 Stanford 44/48, Anthropology, Bydgoska of Szosa University, Department Copernicus Nicolaus Archaeology, Gda of of University Institute UK Archaeobotany, 9AG, Gda and EH8 80-308 Palaeoecology Edinburgh 59, of Place, Stwosza Laboratory Teviot Ecology, Edinburgh, Plant of of University Archaeology, Department and Classics History, of School Staro Malborku, (Email: w UK Zamkowe 6AB, Muzeum RG6 correspondence) Reading for Whiteknights, author Reading, [email protected]; of University Archaeology, of Department 8(04:8382http://antiquity.ac.uk/ant/088/ant0880863.htm 863–882 (2014): 88 oeai,lwrVsua etncOdr rsds ryae tnct,dark ethnicity, Greyware, Crusades, Order, Teutonic Vistula, lower Pomerania, 1 r:tefrotncln nthe in colony forgotten the ora: , ´ 6 4 lxne Brown Alexander & ailMakowiecki Daniel , s,Poland nsk, ´ 1 bgiwSawicki Zbigniew , ´ sci sa1 220Mlok Poland Malbork, 82-200 1, nska ´ 863 1 5 ohPmrna n emnclnss and colonists, German and Pomeranian both with links strong show community. metalwork and borderland ethnicity Pottery this the of and economy into phases and insight expansionist detailed two provides the between G Teutonic Biała the resuming Vistula under Order. century before thirteenth lower stalled the process in the then a the which across by valley, in followed colonisation state was of Polish century the of tenth incorporation into The borderlands Pomerania Europe. Christian Northern disputed of the century in thirteenth early AD or twelfth late the in G Biała iołw Zabilska-Kunek Mirosława , 2 r sasalstlmn founded settlement small a is 3 ora ´ iaMreShillito Lisa-Marie , r suuuli falling in unusual is 3 ora ´ r a n of one was 3 ora ´ ,Poland n, ´ s,Wita nsk, ´ 3 , 5 ,
Research Biała Gora:´ the forgotten colony in the medieval Pomeranian-Prussian borderlands
Figure 1. Location of the site in relation to the Vistula River and other sites mentioned in the text.
Introduction The lower Vistula region lies at the heart of northern Poland, where the delta of this major European river punctuates a landscape of fens and floodplains (Figure 1). The earliest written sources describe this as the borderland between eastern Pomerania, also known as Pomerelia and inhabited by Slavic groups, and the adjacent territories of Pomesania and Pogesania, inhabited by Prussians. By the end of the tenth century AD, the expanding Polish Christian state was securing its control over this region with strongholds, accompanied by the development of religious infrastructure (Buko 2008: 196–99). The borderland became C Antiquity Publications Ltd.
864 ielcto n xeto h utrlhorizon G cultural Biała the of extent and location Site lands the which tribal into Order, Prussian Teutonic conquer territories to the annexed decades by five the took led It re-organise Prussians 1233. and by the Vistula against lower war the reached holy had sanctioned (Jagodzi papally abandoned a east been settlements by had Pomeranian Nogat the River of all the pagan almost of and century, Pomeranians thirteenth Christian the By between escalated. tensions Prussians as colonists for dangerous increasingly a enietfidt h ot ftevlaeo ił G Biała of village the of north Kaliningrad the period Russian to transitional identified the the during been hiatus occupied Poland, has site north-eastern a However, archaeological Lithuania. modern south-western an the and within Oblast in castles with colonies ruined medieval associated and later (Pluskowski villages is theocracy the Christian of lands medieval Many the tribal and 2012). culture Prussian Baltic pre-Christian of the between conquest the century. and centre a over German-speaking its for predominantly at settlements Malbork) of new the of (today wave foundation became Marienburg second the frontier of sustaining a fenland colonists castle by the the accompanied 1309, with 1965), In polity, (Rozenkranz allies. new episcopal the its of and heartland Order Teutonic the by cfcs tvre infiatyi et ewe 0 n 0m,mrigit various into merging 500mm, and and 200 artefacts between of depth quantities in significant significantly varied containing It topsoil, ecofacts. current the below immediately ie akcicddwt natrto ntehdooia eieo h floodplain. the the of of regime use hydrological intensified the the in traces that alteration revealing suggested an investigated, discrete with stratigraphy was coincided of associated slope, bank The set the river wharf. of One base river 2c). the likely (Figure at a structures line of potential oblique an of in traces aligned and signals, of brick, concentrations and reflected excavation, metal following buried which, responses hectares— discrete revealed magnetic four survey high site—around The survey. with the gradiometer areas a of edge and extent walking western The field grove. its coring, Nogat. by that the pine delineated revealed was of small 2b) banks (Figure a former 2011 the by and to south 2008 extended the 2007, in to surveys and and the Marienwerder); Excavations to (formerly floodplain; between 20km the Kwidzyn over to extends and which down Heide), Malbork steeply Stuhmische (formerly drops Sztum which of Forest slope the natural by west a by north the to bordered htfnaetlytasomdteclue n adcpso h otenBli nthe in Baltic processes southern the the within of ‘Ecology it landscapes the situating and century. site, cultures of thirteenth unique the framework this transformed the by fundamentally played within that roles 2011 the Archaeology in of illustrate (Pluskowski excavations and Department project the Malbork research by in Crusading’ 2008 Museum of and 2007 Castle in the excavations of at sustained subject which the borderlands been Vistula has G the Biała unique century. in fourteenth a colony the rural into represents itself medieval It excavated voivodeship). an Pomeranian of County, example (Sztum Malbork of south-west h w hsso ooiainPmrna n emnaeotntetdseparately, treated often German—are and colonisation—Pomeranian of phases two The hs‘utrllyr tBaaG Biała at layer’ ‘cultural This r slctda h deo necrmn vrokn h oa odli.I is It floodplain. Nogat the overlooking escarpment an of edge the at located is 3 ora ´ lkadrPluskowski Aleksander r a nogncrc,dr rysn deposit sand grey dark organic-rich, an was 3 ora ´ r ,fis icvrddrn edsre n1972, in survey field a during discovered first 3, ora ´ 865 tal et 01 Fgr a.Terslsfo the from results The 2a). (Figure 2011) . Ordensstaat— si20) oa oflcswr replaced were conflicts Local 2004). nski ´ Ordensstaat tal. et r frel Weissenburg), (formerly ora ´ hortcsaegoverned state theocratic a r iil oa stowns, as today visible are C niut ulctosLtd. Publications Antiquity c 18km .
Research Biała Gora:´ the forgotten colony in the medieval Pomeranian-Prussian borderlands
Figure 2. a) Location of the site (marked with a red circle) in relation to the village of Biała Gora´ (scale 1:10 000); b) plan of the site showing excavated areas (scale 1:500). Each trench is marked with a number and field season year; c) gradiometer survey of the site with the 2007–2008 trenches indicated. features, mostly pits, cut into the natural sand beneath. It was thicker in the south-western part of the site and disappeared towards the east and south, with a corresponding decrease in artefact and ecofact density (Figure 3). This layer appeared similar to sediments described as ‘dark earth’ in many early urban settlements. This term used to be associated with ideas C Antiquity Publications Ltd.
866 aeili la niao fhmnatvt,adtemxo mde-ie inclusions ‘midden-like’ of mix the and activity, human of anthropogenic indicator with clear association in a fragments of bone is clustering and materials material charcoal different with of of variable, decay presence and is The degradation 4). grains to (Figure relate sand the may than the which the colour types, between in darker material material some a provided fine deposit is this The give information sand. material (further underlying fine remains the organic taken in features black were fragments amorphous pit micro-charcoal of blocks and and frequency four higher profiles The of preserved material). total supplementary well by online from a collected layer face were site; cultural Samples section the the deposit. the across this of from of blocks nature processes cutting the formation directly the assess understand to help conducted to and was micromorphology section Thin layer cultural the of analysis Micro-stratigraphic range wide a (MacPhail to refuse relating of as disposal recognised the now to is cultivation but from abandonment, activities and of decline urban earth’. of ‘dark the of extent the showing map, transect coring Soil 3. Figure aibebooia n eooia rcse cigo itr fdrlc ulig and use. buildings land recent derelict highly most of from the mixture formed from a deposits is on with earth’ acting debris, ‘dark associated processes that pedological identified and have biological studies variable These 2009). Crowther & lkadrPluskowski Aleksander 867 tal. et C tal. et niut ulctosLtd. Publications Antiquity 03 MacPhail 2003; nsitu in
Research Biała Gora:´ the forgotten colony in the medieval Pomeranian-Prussian borderlands
Figure 4. a) Sandy matrix with glauconite grains XPL; b) fungal mass; c) highly degraded bone fragment; d) fragment of ceramic material, probably brick; e) fine organic material; f) degraded charcoal; g) clustering of crystalitic fine material, degraded mortar XPL; h) clustering of fine material; i) degraded charcoal and black amorphous fine material. All others are PPL unless stated otherwise. would support the interpretation of a shallow spread of middening. These observations fit with McPhail’s model of reworked ‘urban’ stratigraphy under waste grassland vegetation (MacPhail & Crowther 2009), and suggest that the site was intensively occupied for a short period of time. This characterisation is reinforced by the diversity and abundance of recovered material culture, and its associated chronology.
Chronology Dating of the site was crucial to situating it within the extended process of colonisation in the lower Vistula valley. A number of methods were used; seeds from features were sent for AMS dating, coins and boat sintels provided relatively specific date ranges and other forms of material culture were situated in a broader, relative chronology. Phases of occupation at the site were dated by AMS and by artefact typology, including coins. The earliest date range is cal AD 1171–1268 (seed from feature 99, GU29835); Table 1) and the latest is cal AD 1307–1421. A silver bracteate minted by the Teutonic Order, found at the base of a rubbish pit (feature 102), was dated to the first quarter of the fourteenth century, with layer 120b dated to cal AD 1255–1305 (GU29833). The other two layers in the pit provided much C Antiquity Publications Ltd.
868 rc ulig;tecoetprlesaelkl ob hs on nGda in potentially found and those timber be of to consisting likely settlement are open parallels an closest been the have buildings; to brick appears site The early the deposits to and through Buildings fourteenth the of from activity. phase dated in intensive reduction be most a can the sees phase and Teutonic is final centuries, and and The fifteenth Pomeranian contexts site. same by the the characterised at in activity is appearing half phase culture second latter the material This to Order with century. dating associated thirteenth phase century subsequent the thirteenth chronology: a the of multi-phase and of a half settlement, mid twelfth/first Pomeranian propose the late pre-Crusade to than the the used later to be no dating can to phase dateable initial dates were an of keys range and This spurs as century. such the buckles, fourteenth artefacts sintels, of of boat categories quarter of several broadly first whilst majority be centuries, the the fourteenth could and to assemblage thirteenth dated ceramic the to extensive be dated the could other 2009); Four Order (Paszkiewicz Teutonic 1281–1395. century AD the fourteenth cal by of minted range total bracteates a silver encompassed both and probabilities, lower osbet u-iietecrmc notoctgre:tes-ald‘rdtoa’tp and type ‘traditional’ so-called is the it categories: but largely two on-going, pits, into currently and ceramics artefacts is layer the Analysis of cultural sub-divide ploughing. category the to by was largest possible from up there recovered broken the pits although were partially Two far sherds fragments bone, By sand. 000 small animal practices. 10 natural of disposal Over the deposits ceramics. waste into was largest in ceramics 1.5m the patterning bone, cutting evident contained animal pit no 82) of deepest and mixture the 25 a with (features typically artefacts, refuse, metal contained and features of majority colonisation The and ethnicity of culture material The Fgr ) ncmaio otedmnin fbik rmvrospae tMalbork at phases various from bricks of recovered dimensions were G fragments the Biała brick to the scattered Castle, comparison and tiles In roof stones), 5). and fragments burnt bricks (Figure with of partially caches along including Three which, buildings. also of timber postholes (one pits of as presence of interpreted the consisted indicated were pugging, majority number of the The a at profiles. and documented irregular depths, were and varying features characterise u-shaped 105 which semi-circular, a ditches settlements. with of or contemporary site, survey embankments of presence field for features the A evidence defensive 2001). to no the (Paner linked revealed century transects been twelfth coring mid has and the superstructure from oak community an merchant German with houses of introduction lmsadrd.Wt h xeto fahat,n te oetcsae eeclearly were spaces domestic other construction no timbers, hearth, joining a for of clamps exception plan. hinges, in the nails, identifiable With iron rods. lock as and and well plates clamps door-handle as bronze fittings, included buildings frame to and linked north- elements corner north-western Other running the site. trench in were the uncovered foundation was and of brick, wall of site, probable fragments another containing a south-west, to of to east remnant transportation One were for behind. materials perhaps left building piles, The ultimately discrete 2002). (Brykowska in century stacked thirteenth deliberately the of decades later the r rcs(esrn 299 (measuring bricks ora ´ lkadrPluskowski Aleksander 869 × 146 × tal. et 3m a etplgclydtdto dated typologically be can 83mm) C niut ulctosLtd. Publications Antiquity s,weethe where nsk, ´
Research Biała Gora:´ the forgotten colony in the medieval Pomeranian-Prussian borderlands ) σ 1364–1385 (7.9%) 1343–1395 (52.2%) 1344–1394 (52.3%) 1385–1421 (38.1%) ) Age range (cal AD, 2 ‰ C( 13 δ 29 –21.22826 1281–1326 –25.1 (43.2%) –23.0 1171–1268 1307–1363 (57.3%) 2828 –22.7 –26.2 1281–1325 (43.1%) 1255–1305 (87.5%) + − + − + − + − + − 649 570 649 816 , Secale , Agrostemma Triticum aestivum , and githago Triticum Secale Secale Fallopia convolvulus Galium spurium Table 1. AMS radiocarbonfaces dates. of Materials excavated dated features. are all charred seedsLab derived no. from bulk samples taken from cut-back and cleanedGU29832 section Trench/feature/sample Tr.6 / F94GU29833 / 120a Depth (cm) Tr.6 / F94 / Material 120b dated 60–70 60–70GU29836 Age (BP) Tr. 8 / F102 / Cerealia 189 0–10 713 GU29834 Tr.6 / F94 / 116 20–30 GU29835 Tr. 8 / F99 / 187 0–15