Survival at the frontier of Holy War: political expansion, crusading, commerce and the medieval colonizing settlement at Biała Gora, North Poland

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

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values in freshwater, brackish and marine fish bone collagen from Mesolithic and Neolithic sites in central and northern Europe

The aim of this research is to examine the isotopic characterisation of archaeological fish species as it relates to freshwater, brackish and marine environments, trophic level and migration patterns, and to determine intraspecies variation within and between fish populations in different locations within central and northern Europe. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis was undertaken on collagen extracted from 72 fish bone samples from eight Mesolithic and Neolithic archaeological sites in this region. Thirty-six (50%) of the specimens analysed produced results with acceptable carbon to nitrogen atomic ratios (2·9–3·6). The fish remains encompassed a wide spectrum of freshwater, brackish and marine taxa (n = 12), which were reflected in the δ13C values (−24·5 to −7·8‰). The freshwater/brackish fish (pike, Esox lucius; perch, Perca fluviatilis; zander, Sander lucioperca) had δ13C values that ranged from −24·2 to −19·3‰, whereas the brackish/marine fish (spurdog, Squalus acanthias; flatfish, Pleuronectidae; codfish, Gadidae; garfish, Belone belone; mackerel, Scomber scombrus) ranged from −14·9 to −9·4‰. Salmonidae, an anadromous taxon, and eel (Anguilla anguilla), a catadromous species, had carbon isotope values consistent with marine origin, and no evidence of freshwater residency (−12·7 to −11·7‰). The δ15N values had a range of 6·2‰ (6·5–12·7‰) indicating that these fish were on average feeding at 1·7 trophic levels higher than their producers in these diverse aquatic environments. These results serve as an important ecological baseline for the future isotopic reconstruction of the diet of human populations dating to the late Mesolithic and early Neolithic of the region

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values in freshwater, brackish and marine fish bone collagen from Mesolithic and Neolithic sites in central and northern Europe

The aim of this research is to examine the isotopic characterisation of archaeological fish species as it relates to freshwater, brackish and marine environments, trophic level and migration patterns, and to determine intraspecies variation within and between fish populations in different locations within central and northern Europe. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis was undertaken on collagen extracted from 72 fish bone samples from eight Mesolithic and Neolithic archaeological sites in this region. Thirty-six (50%) of the specimens analysed produced results with acceptable carbon to nitrogen atomic ratios (2·9–3·6). The fish remains encompassed a wide spectrum of freshwater, brackish and marine taxa (n = 12), which were reflected in the δ13C values (−24·5 to −7·8‰). The freshwater/brackish fish (pike, Esox lucius; perch, Perca fluviatilis; zander, Sander lucioperca) had δ13C values that ranged from −24·2 to −19·3‰, whereas the brackish/marine fish (spurdog, Squalus acanthias; flatfish, Pleuronectidae; codfish, Gadidae; garfish, Belone belone; mackerel, Scomber scombrus) ranged from −14·9 to −9·4‰. Salmonidae, an anadromous taxon, and eel (Anguilla anguilla), a catadromous species, had carbon isotope values consistent with marine origin, and no evidence of freshwater residency (−12·7 to −11·7‰). The δ15N values had a range of 6·2‰ (6·5–12·7‰) indicating that these fish were on average feeding at 1·7 trophic levels higher than their producers in these diverse aquatic environments. These results serve as an important ecological baseline for the future isotopic reconstruction of the diet of human populations dating to the late Mesolithic and early Neolithic of the region

Raně středověký areál v Roztokách z pohledu ekofaktů

The Early Medieval settlement at Roztoky (Prague-west district, Central Bohemia) represents an extraordinary case and, at the same time, a difficult challenge in terms of interpretation among sites of the Prague-type Culture (6th–7th century AD). Primarily, the high overall number of settlement features of the given culture is what makes this site unique and puzzling. To date, more than 300 sunken houses of this culture have been captured at the site (with an area size of min. 22 ha) and their overall number can be estimated as being at least double this amount. On the one hand, the site is specific also by its landscape setting (at the base of a canyon-like valley) and by its discontinuity in relation to the preceding and the following periods. On the other hand, the site lacks finds that would allow for a clear interpretation in terms of its function (e.g. production features, tools or waste materials, luxury goods, etc.). Finds of the Prague-type Culture were first discovered at Roztoky in the 1980s (Kuna — Profantová a kol. 2005). A further extensive excavation took place at the site in 2006–2010 due to road relocation. An integral part of the new excavation was the systematic collection of ecofacts, conducted with the aim of gaining as much information as possible on the nature environment and the basic economic character of the Early Medieval settlement agglomeration. This led to the obtaining and processing of an extensive assemblage of, for example, charcoal fragments, plant macroremains, animal and fish bones, and malacofauna; also conducted was a phosphate analysis of the house floors, a micromorphological analysis of their fill strata and the radiocarbon dating of a series of samples. The results of this work are presented in this article. Interesting findings concern, for example, the relatively minor impact of the Early Medieval settlement on the environment (in contrast to the large amount of settlement features), the focus on pig husbandry (most probably linked to a high population in the community), the growing of millet (the most significant cultural plant in terms of find numbers, but apparently not primary in economic terms), and the minor use for fishing. A range of indicators confirms that the site was settled by a large community of people. At the end of this paper, the hypothesis is presented that the site was originally divided into two parts, one of which (the southern, with the largest concentration of Early Medieval houses), must have been a specialized settlement (activity) area that was mostly used for non-agrarian activities. On the basis of the current results it is impossible to identify the type of activities more precisely, mostly because they must have belonged to activities leaving no clear archaeological traces. Nonetheless, the results of this paper offer a new starting point and a reliable ecological and economic framework to be integrated into further research.Raně středověké sídliště v Roztokách (okr. Praha-západ, střední Čechy) představuje výjimečnou lokalitu a zároveň obtížný interpretační problém. Mimořádný a záhadný je zde především počet sídlištních objektů kultury pražského typu (6.–7. století n. l.). Celkem bylo na lokalitě (s plochou min. 22 ha) zatím zachyceno přes 300 zahloubených domů této kultury a jejich celkový počet lze odhadnout na nejméně dvojnásobek. Sídliště charakterizuje řada nezvyklých rysů, např. umístění na dně kaňonovitého údolí a sídelní diskontinuita, na druhé straně ale také absence dalších, funkčně lépe interpretovatelných nálezů (výrobních zařízení, luxusních výrobků apod.). Nálezy daného období byly v Roztokách poprvé zkoumány v 80. letech minulého století (Kuna — Profantová a kol. 2005); v letech 2006–2010 zde v souvislosti s přeložkou silnice proběhl další rozsáhlý odkryv. Jeho součástí byl i systematický sběr ekofaktů, prováděný s cílem lépe poznat původní přírodní prostředí a základní rysy ekonomiky sídelní aglomerace. Získán a zpracován byl např.rozsáhlý soubor uhlíků, rostlinných makrozbytků, zvířecích kosti, rybích kostí a malakofauny; provedena byla též fosfátová analýza podlah domů, mikromorfologický rozbor vrstev výplní a radiouhlíkové datování série vzorků. Výsledky těchto postupů jsou přehlednou formou představeny v této práci. K zajímavým zjištěním patří např. poměrně malý vliv osídlení na přírodní prostředí (v kontrastu s množstvím sídlištních pozůstatků), důraz na chov prasat (nejspíše související s větším počtem lidí v komunitě), pěstování prosa (početně nejvýznamnější kulturní plodina, byť ekonomicky zřejmě nikoliv hlavní) a malé uplatnění rybolovu. V závěru práce je formulována hypotéza, že lokalita byla původně členěna do dvou částí, z nichž jedna (jižní, s největší koncentrací raně středověkých domů) byla specializovaným areálem, jehož obyvatelé se do značné míry věnovali nezemědělským činnostem