Biala Gora: the forgotten colony in the medieval Pomeranian-Prussian borderlands.
Pluskowski, Aleksander ; Sawicki, Zbigniew ; Shillito, Lisa-Marie 等
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
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 increasingly dangerous for colonists as tensions
between Christian Pomeranians and pagan Prussians escalated. By the
thirteenth century, almost all of the Pomeranian settlements east of the
River Nogat had been abandoned (Jagodzihski 2004). Local conflicts were
replaced by a papally sanctioned holy war against the Prussians led by
the Teutonic Order, which had reached the lower Vistula by 1233. It took
five decades to conquer Prussian tribal lands and re-organise the
annexed territories into the Ordensstaat-a theocratic state governed by
the Teutonic Order and its episcopal allies. In 1309, the fenland
frontier became the heartland of the new polity, with the castle of
Marienburg (today Malbork) at its centre (Rozenkranz 1965), accompanied
by a second wave of predominantly German-speaking colonists sustaining
the foundation of new settlements for over a century.
The two phases of colonisation--Pomeranian and German--are often
treated separately, and the conquest of Prussian tribal lands is
associated with an archaeological hiatus between the pre-Christian
Baltic culture and the medieval Christian theocracy (Pluskowski 2012).
Many of the later medieval colonies in the Ordensstaat are visible today
as towns, villages and ruined castles within modern north-eastern
Poland, the Russian Kaliningrad Oblast and south-western Lithuania.
However, a site occupied during the transitional period has been
identified to the north of the village of Biala Gora (formerly
Weissenburg), c. 18km south-west of Malbork (Sztum County, Pomeranian
voivodeship). It represents a unique example of an excavated medieval
rural colony in the Vistula borderlands which sustained itself into the
fourteenth century. Biala Gora 3, first discovered during a field survey
in 1972, has been the subject of excavations in 2007 and 2008 by the
Department of Archaeology at the Castle Museum in Malbork and in 2011
within the framework of the 'Ecology of Crusading' research
project (Pluskowski et al. 2011) (Figure 2a). The results from the
excavations illustrate the roles played by this unique site, situating
it within the processes that fundamentally transformed the cultures and
landscapes of the southern Baltic in the thirteenth century.
Site location and extent of the cultural horizon
Biala Gora 3 is located at the edge of an escarpment overlooking
the Nogat floodplain. It is bordered to the north by a natural slope
which drops steeply down to the floodplain; to the west by the Forest of
Sztum (formerly Stuhmische Heide), which extends over 20km between
Malbork and Kwidzyn (formerly Marienwerder); and to the south by a small
pine grove.
Excavations and surveys in 2007, 2008 and 2011 (Figure 2b) revealed
that its western edge extended to the former banks of the Nogat. The
extent of the site--around four hectares--was delineated by coring,
field walking and a gradiometer survey. The survey revealed discrete
areas with high magnetic responses which, following excavation,
reflected concentrations of buried metal and brick, and traces of
potential structures (Figure 2c). One set of discrete signals, aligned
in an oblique line at the base of the slope, was investigated, revealing
traces of a likely river wharf. The associated stratigraphy suggested
that the intensified use of the river bank coincided with an alteration
in the hydrological regime of the floodplain.
This 'cultural layer' at Biala Gora 3 was an
organic-rich, dark grey sand deposit immediately below the current
topsoil, containing significant quantities of artefacts and ecofacts. It
varied significantly in depth between 200 and 500mm, merging into
various 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 of urban decline and
abandonment, but is now recognised as relating to a wide range of
activities from cultivation to the disposal of refuse (MacPhail et al.
2003; MacPhail & Crowther 2009). These studies have identified that
'dark earth' is formed from highly variable biological and
pedological processes acting on a mixture of derelict buildings and
associated debris, with deposits from the most recent land use.
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]
Micro-stratigraphic analysis of the cultural layer
Thin section micromorphology was conducted to assess the nature of
the cultural layer and to help understand the formation processes of
this deposit. Samples were collected by directly cutting blocks from the
section face from well preserved profiles and pit features across the
site; a total of four blocks were taken (further information is provided
in the online supplementary material). The higher frequency of amorphous
black organic remains and micro-charcoal fragments in the fine material
give this deposit a darker colour than the underlying sand. The fine
material between the sand grains is variable, with clustering of some
material types, which may relate to degradation and decay of different
materials in situ (Figure 4). The presence of charcoal and bone
fragments in association with anthropogenic material is a clear
indicator of human activity, and the mix of 'midden-like'
inclusions
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.
[FIGURE 4 OMITTED]
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 1235-1305 (GU29833).
The other two layers in the pit provided much lower probabilities, and
both encompassed a total range of cal AD 1281-1395. Four other silver
bracteates minted by the Teutonic Order could be dated to the first
quarter of the fourteenth century (Paszkiewicz 2009); the extensive
ceramic assemblage could be broadly dated to the thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries, whilst several categories of artefacts such as the
majority of boat sintels, buckles, spurs and keys were dateable to no
later than the mid fourteenth century. This range of dates can be used
to propose a multi-phase chronology: an initial phase dating to the late
twelfth/first half of the thirteenth century associated with the
pre-Crusade Pomeranian settlement, and a subsequent phase dating to the
second half of the thirteenth century. This latter phase is
characterised by Pomeranian and Teutonic Order material culture
appearing in the same contexts and is the most intensive phase of
activity at the site. The final phase can be dated from the fourteenth
through to the early fifteenth centuries, and sees a reduction in
activity.
Buildings and deposits
The site appears to have been an open settlement consisting of
timber and potentially brick buildings; the closest parallels are likely
to be those found in Gdansk, where the introduction of houses with an
oak superstructure has been linked to the presence of a German merchant
community from the mid twelfth century (Paner 2001). A field survey and
coring transects revealed no evidence for embankments or ditches which
characterise the defensive features of contemporary settlements. 105
features were documented at the site, with semi-circular, u-shaped and
irregular profiles. The majority consisted of pits of varying depths,
and a number were interpreted as postholes which, along with fragments
of pugging, indicated the presence of timber buildings. Three caches of
bricks and roof tiles (one also including partially burnt stones), and
scattered brick fragments were recovered (Figure 5). In comparison to
the dimensions of bricks from various phases at Malbork Castle, the
Biala Gora bricks (measuring 299 x 146 x83mm) can be typologically dated
to the later decades of the thirteenth century (Brykowska 2002). The
building materials were deliberately stacked in discrete piles, perhaps
for transportation to another site, and were ultimately left behind. One
remnant of a probable wall foundation trench running northeast to
south-west, containing fragments of brick, was uncovered in the
north-western corner of the site. Other elements linked to buildings
included bronze door-handle plates and lock and frame fittings, as well
as iron nails, hinges, clamps for joining timbers, construction clamps
and rods. With the exception of a hearth, no other domestic spaces were
clearly identifiable in plan.
The material culture of ethnicity and colonisation
The majority of features contained refuse, typically a mixture of
animal bone, ceramics and metal artefacts, with the deepest pit cutting
1.5m into the natural sand. Two pits (features 25 and 82) contained the
largest deposits of animal bone, although there was no evident
patterning in waste disposal practices. By far the largest category of
artefacts was ceramics. Over 10 000 sherds were recovered from the
cultural layer and pits, largely small fragments partially broken up by
ploughing. Analysis is currently on-going, but it is possible to
sub-divide the ceramics into two categories: the so-called
'traditional' type and 'Greyware' dateable to the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Both were wheel-thrown, but the
traditional fragments are characterised by firing in oxidising or
uncontrolled conditions, with a coarse-grained sand, gravel and grog
temper. The range of vessel forms is limited and consists of
standardised pots. The Greyware, on the other hand, was fired in a
reducing atmosphere within a kiln and is characterised by a homogenous
compact fabric, tempered with fine-grained sand. The range of Greyware
vessel forms is much more diverse, with different types of pot, handled
pitchers and lids. The presence of both traditional and Greyware
ceramics in the same contexts within the same pits strongly suggests a
period when both types were produced at the same time, with two
different technologies present at the site.
[FIGURE 5 OMITTED]
Morphologically, the traditional ceramics are comparable to pottery
found locally in eastern Pomerania from the twelfth to early thirteenth
centuries, although they differ from the assemblage at the nearby
stronghold of Wegry. Greyware, on the other hand, is associated with the
heterogeneous groups who arrived during the Crusading period in Prussia.
From 1230, the activities of the Teutonic Order in the lower Vistula
region resulted in the protracted arrival of different groups of
colonists: knights of the Order and their retinues, participants in the
Crusades against the Prussian tribes which lasted until 1283, and
non-combatant colonists, including merchants, artisans, sailors,
carpenters, smiths and various other skilled groups. These soldiers and
colonists originated from different regions in the eastern provinces of
the Holy Roman Empire, and predominantly spoke German (Tandecki 2009:
440-44). Wheel-thrown, kiln-fired, hard Greyware (Harte Grauware)
appears in the vicinity of Lubeck around 1200, and differs from
contemporary Slavic pottery. It is subsequently found on various sites
across the Baltic with documented German colonisation, shadowing
Crusading events and the development of the Hanse. There has been
extensive discussion of the problematic link between material culture,
ethnicity and migration, especially in the early medieval period
(summarised in Curta 2011). In the case of Greyware, interpretations
have changed in recent years. The link between ceramic traditions and
ethnicity in the German province of Brandenburg, which saw a gradual
Germanisation of the Slavic population from the twelfth to fourteenth
centuries, has been challenged; the adoption of Greyware on Slavic sites
is no longer seen as necessarily reflecting the presence of German
colonists (Jeute 2007). At the extreme periphery of German colonisation,
in Novgorod, the introduction of Greyware and the abandonment of earlier
forms of ceramics have been linked to the interaction of both German and
Russian potters, but with the former responsible for initially
introducing the technology (Brorsson 2012: 433-34). This issue concerns
the relationship between technological choice and social identity, and
is relevant to all categories of material culture during the
Crusading/colonisation period. To what extent can the widespread
presence of a new technology be correlated with the presence of a new
social group?
In the case of the medieval Vistula fenlands, the distinction
between Pomeranian and German groups is clearly made in the documentary
record of town charters, place names, personal names and various forms
of correspondence (Biskup 1991), and is consistently paralleled in
certain categories of material culture, including architecture
(Pluskowski 2012). In Elblqg (Elbing), just over 40km north-east of
Biala Gora, there is no evidence of material culture associated with
Prussians or Pomeranians in the newly founded thirteenth-century town,
where the abundance of excavated Greyware vessels can be readily linked
to the presence of colonists from specific German-speaking regions
(Marcinkowski 2003). Whilst the Elblqg assemblage is the best known
example from the Teutonic Order's urban colonies, Greyware is
regularly associated with sites founded by the Order and its allies in
Prussia, to the extent that it marks a noticeable archaeological hiatus
between the indigenous pre-Christian Baltic culture and that of the
medieval Ordensstaat. On the other hand, because of this ethnic
association, the surviving indigenous Prussians, who may well have
adopted the trappings of the incomers, are in danger of becoming
archaeologically invisible in the post-Crusade period. In Elblag, for
example, documentary sources suggest Prussians made up 3 per cent of the
old town's population and were also present in the new town (Czaja
2009: 447). Biala Gora is an unusual example of a rural site with an
assemblage of diverse material culture that is otherwise associated with
contemporary urban communities such as Gdansk and Kolobrzeg. In both of
these cases, the introduction of Greyware has been linked to the
documented presence of German colonists, whether they are directly
involved in production or indirectly disseminating its use (Kruppe 1981:
102-103; Rybkowski 1995) . While it is difficult to reconstruct the
ethnic composition of the settlement at Biala Gora, the presence of
Greyware, alongside traditional forms of vessels, can be synchronised
with the well-documented process of colonisation in this region, which
intensifies from the last two decades of the thirteenth century
(Dlugokycki 2009).
[FIGURE 6 OMITTED]
The material culture of industry and trade
The settlement at Biala Gora appears to have had special economic
functions, focusing on manufacturing and trade. A significant quantity
of metal artefacts has been recovered during the three seasons of
excavation. These alone point to the social and economic complexity of
the community occupying the site in the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries and its access to varying natural resources, as well as the
importance of the river. Among the most commonly encountered utilitarian
artefacts in medieval settlements are iron knives, and at Biaia Gora
there are examples of small, medium and large blades, as well as
riveted, scale-tanged handles (Figure 6). The largest blade measures
250mm and is incomplete; complete blades range from l?5mm to 195mm in
length. Complete and partial wooden and antler handles were attached to
tangs with three to four iron rivets (Figure 6 right) and, in one
example, bronze rivets. These multi-purpose blades, which are paralleled
by the diversity of cut-marks on animal bone (see below), would have
been used for a range of functions (Cowgill et al. 2000). Finds of
scale-tanged handled blades elsewhere in the eastern Baltic have been
interpreted as German imports, attributed to the integration of these
societies into the Hanseatic trading network (Mugurevics 2008:
100-101).A number of hone-stones were also recovered. Evidence for
small-scale industrial activities is represented by iron scissors and
drills, clay spindle whorls, pieces of lead and raw amber. Evidence for
bone-working is limited, although an antler die, bone awls and a comb,
as well as antler tools, were probably sourced from the regular supply
of dead stock, and furriers were also present at the site (see below)
(Figure 7).
Commerce clearly played an important role and the significance of
the river in this respect is underlined by the presence of boats at the
site. Alongside boat rivets, a number of iron sintels, used to fasten
together hemp (or animal hair) caulking, were recovered and could be
securely dated on typological grounds (Figure 8). The majority belonged
to the last quarter of the thirteenth to the late fourteenth century
(Vliermans group 'D'), whilst a few could be dated to the
first half of the thirteenth and to the fifteenth centuries (Vlierman
1996). The lower Vistula was essential for moving and supporting
military resources during the Crusading period in Prussia, and equally
important for commerce, particularly in the later thirteenth and
fourteenth centuries (Czaja 2006). The presence of merchants at the
site, or at least individuals handling traded commodities, is hinted at
by an iron seal decorated with a stylised ship (or anchor) design. Its
perforated end suggests it would have hung from a cord. A number of keys
for use on mounted locks and padlocks, as well as examples of the
latter, are indicative of a level of security for valued commodities. On
the other hand, imported artefacts have not been found, and it seems the
site was oriented more towards export.
[FIGURE 7 OMITTED]
A military presence, which can be expected at such a frontier
colony, is clearly attested by several tanged crossbow bolts, socketed
and tanged arrowheads, three spearheads, caltrops and a small fragment
of armour (Figure 9). Equestrian equipment is represented by bridle
fittings, horseshoes and spurs, and the presence of war-horses is
further suggested by the character of the faunal assemblage (Figure 10).
The high number of recovered horse bones may be partially related to the
military and equestrian elite presence at the site, although horses
would also have been used as draught and pack animals. It is clear that
whole horse carcasses were processed here, and several sizes of animal
were observed. The largest were represented by hoof bones, which
corresponded to those recovered from medieval contexts in the outer
bailey of the castle at Malbork (Maltby et al. 2009); at the opposite
end of the scale were pony-sized animals. Local horses were
comparatively small, and the Teutonic Order is known to have introduced
significantly larger animals during the Crusading period (Ekdahl 1998).
The presence of knights at the site is also suggested by a miniature
bronze heraldic shield interpreted as a dress accessory, and other
higher status commodities include fragments of bronze vessels, amber and
glass beads, a bronze ring with an amber setting, and a diverse range of
buckles, strap ends and other belt fittings (Figure 11).
The artefacts recovered to date from Biala Gora point to a
composite community, with the presence of small-scale industry, commerce
and military personnel. The caches of bricks and roof tiles can be
linked to significant investment in durable buildings, associated in
this region with the Cistercians and the Teutonic Order (Brykowska
2002). Our understanding of how this community sustained itself in the
turbulent frontier region of the lower Vistula can be significantly
refined by examining how it was provisioned.
Provisioning the colony
The dietary staples at Biala Gora would have been derived from
cultivated plants. The range of cereals--particularly rye and
barley--and weeds indicates access to permanent rotational field systems
or perhaps to imported grain, although the intensity of crop production
is difficult to gauge. Finds of sickles and quernstones certainly point
to local harvesting and cereal processing on site. The palynological
profile from nearby Parpary suggests continuity in cereal cultivation
within the vicinity in the early and later medieval periods (Brown pers.
comm.); the events of the Crusading period do not represent a
significant hiatus in local agriculture. The fruits and nuts present at
the site could also have been sourced from the fringes of the nearby
woodland.
The fields utilised by the community at Biala Gora were most
probably ploughed by cattle, which feature as the second most important
species bred and slaughtered at the site, with many individuals
slaughtered at three--five years, most likely after they were replaced
in the plough teams (Makowiecki 2009: 435). The assemblage of 2841 bone
fragments recovered in 2008 is typical of a medieval settlement insofar
as it is dominated by domestic mammals, which represent 92 per cent of
identifiable bone fragments (Table 2). Within this category, the most
represented species is pig, closely followed by cattle and a
significantly smaller number of sheep and goat bones, as well as horse,
dog, cat and poultry. The high proportion of pig remains is a trend
associated with both Pomeranian and Prussian sites in the region
(Makowiecki 2009: 430), and one that can be linked to the nearby wooded
landscape. Most anatomical elements were present, indicating that whole
carcasses were processed at the site, with a prevalence of older
individuals kept for the purposes of breeding. Few individuals were
slaughtered before 12 months, with only a single neonatal pig bone
identified. Although pork and beef represented the main forms of meat at
the colony, beaver evidently formed part of the diet at the site, as
indicated by a clear large-blade chop mark across the shaft of a femur
(Figure 12C), and medieval Christian communities in the eastern Baltic
certainly considered beaver meat as a viable Lenten food (Mand 2004).
[FIGURE 8 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 9 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 10 OMITTED]
The butchery data suggests a degree of standardisation, although at
present there is no evidence for professional butchers at the colony.
The range of cut-marks indicate that a diverse suite of good-quality
tools was present; in particular, thin, sharp-bladed knives (Figure 12A,
B & D). These have been employed on the full range of species and
suggest the availability of quality metal-working at the site, rather
than specific tools developed and used for butchering per se.
Long-bladed knives are already known on Pomeranian borderland sites from
the twelfth century (e.g. Wegry; Trupinda 2004: 120, cat. 260), but the
introduction of specialist butchery equipment, as well as riveted
blades, is typically associated with towns and castles in the Teutonic
Orders state, where both cut-marks and extant tools indicate the
introduction of heavy cleavers (Seetah et al. in press). The character
of butchery at Biaia Gora suggests that colonists were bringing and
forging good-quality metal blades, but meat processing was conducted on
a small scale with multi-purpose knives. The standardisation of certain
portions may reflect shared commercial values attached to meat, or even
culinary preferences.
There is also diverse evidence for fur-working, which included
harvesting pelts from otter, polecat and pine marten. At the lower end
of the commercial fur hierarchy, a mandible from one of at least three
individual cats included evidence of fine cut-marks reflecting skinning
for fur removal, a widely observed activity in medieval Northern
European proto-urban and urban centres. Cats occur less frequently in
northern Poland before the thirteenth century, when the intensification
of human settlement and accompanying ecological changes are associated
with rising numbers of these commensals (Makowiecki 2009: 435).
Alongside the evidence for skinning, the remains of red deer (including
a sawn antler tine), wild boar, bear, fox and possibly wolf, also point
to the exploitation of the nearby woodland. The presence of both hare
and roe deer can be linked to more open landscapes, whilst bones from
rat, shrew, vole, water vole and frog reflect a variety of specialised
habitats. Rooks are also attested in the assemblage, and would have been
drawn to nearby meadows and pasture (Kasprzykowski 2003: 29). The
exploitation of wild mammals in the economic hinterland' of the
site points to opportunistic exploitation rather than sustained
harvesting. This corresponds with the frontier location of the colony
prior to and during the Crusading period, and the presence of merchants
at the site suggests this was one of many outposts in the commercial
network shadowing the Crusades. With the establishment of the Teutonic
Orders state, the exploitation of the woodland would be managed by
specialised manors or Vorwerks (Polish folwarks) situated around the
Forest of Sztum, subservient to the convent at Marienburg (Chec 2003,
2009).
[FIGURE 11 OMITTED]
The assemblage of fish bones, numbering 989 fragments (Table 3), as
well as a significant quantity of fish scales, finds of fish hooks of
varying sizes and fishing weights, indicates that diverse fishing was
practised at the site, during a period of intensification in fishing
associated with the emergence of the Teutonic Orders state. Freshwater,
migratory and marine species, including sturgeon and cod, are evident at
the site. The latter are relatively small in size (300-600mm), derived
from the population in local Baltic waters. The presence of cod is first
evident in Gdansk from the end of the thirteenth century/early
fourteenth century whilst carp, present in the town from the thirteenth
century, is documented at the Marienburg convent in 1396 and
subsequently in the fifteenth century (Makowiecki 2003: 116; Chec 2009).
This situates the most intensive phase of the Biala Gora colony within
the provisioning networks promoted by the Order and its allied merchants
during and after the Crusades against the Prussian tribes.
Conclusion
Excavations at Biaia Gora have revealed the presence of intensive
settlement associated with the protracted process of colonisation and
Christianisation of the lower Vistula valley. The colonists were engaged
in a range of industrial activities, supported by a suite of natural
resources and local and international trade. The proximity of the river
and the woods provided the site with natural shelter within a region
that remained a complex and dynamic military frontier between Pomeranian
Slavs, Prussians and the Teutonic Order until the early fourteenth
century. The character of the material culture, alongside the absence of
segregated phases of occupation, suggests a Pomeranian community,
present from the thirteenth century, was replenished by new colonists,
with a period of co-existence that coincides with the events of the
Prussian Crusade and intermittent warfare across the lower Vistula
valley. Against this backdrop the intensity of activity at Biala Gora is
remarkable. There is no evidence of fortifications; instead this appears
to have been an open settlement with a possible wharf and harbour,
strategically located between the river and the expansive woodland. In
the later half of the thirteenth century, the colony was re-founded or
further developed by a new wave of settlers who introduced a different
type or firing technology, represented by significant quantities of
Greyware.
[FIGURE 12 OMITTED]
Within the context of the emerging commercial networks shadowing
the crusading campaigns, the site at Biala Gora 3 can be tentatively
characterised at the very least as a trading post, engaged in the
exploitation of a diversity of natural resources, fur processing,
metal-working, and artefact and ceramic production. In contrast to the
more successful trading centres established by the Teutonic Order and
its allies, this outpost was neither planned as a town nor developed
urban characteristics, perhaps as it was a relatively short-lived
appropriation of an existing Pomeranian settlement which outlived its
primary function with the dissolution of this frontier. In the absence
of any evidence for destruction, the decline in activities at the site
can instead be linked to the transformation of the frontier zone into a
political heartland within the Ordensstaat. In 1309 the international
headquarters of the Teutonic Order was relocated to Marienburg,
accelerating the reconfiguration of the management of the surrounding
landscape--a process that had already begun in the 1280s with the
designation of the early castle as a convent (Jozwiak & Trupinda
2007). This scenario provides the strongest evidence for tentatively
associating the site at Biaia Gora with the historically documented
Santir--a Pomeranian Cistercian missionary outpost functioning from
1235-36 and subsequently a Teutonic Order commandery centre (rendered as
Zantyr/Zantir) that was officially relocated to Marienburg c. 1280. The
association between Zantyr and Biaia Gora, as well as its relocation,
was maintained by local inhabitants into the eighteenth century, and
remains the most likely location for the early commandery centre
(Pollakowna 1967; Haftka 1971, Powierski 2003: 115).
The site at Biaia Gora contributes to the idea of a more complex
process of colonisation within this borderland. Rather than simply
consisting of two waves--Pomeranian and German--there were a number of
sustained attempts at founding colonies east of the River Nogat from the
eleventh to thirteenth centuries. This unique site retains signincant
potential for contributing extensively to our understanding of the
multiple waves of colonisation which eventually transformed the Vistula
fenland frontier into a political and economic heartland, and of how
crusading, commerce and adaptation to local environments were
synchronised in the forging of a new society in the south-eastern
Baltic.
Acknowledgements
The excavations at Biaia Gora were undertaken and supported by the
Castle Museum in Malbork (Muzeum Zamkowe w Malborku), and the authors
would like to thank all those who participated, in particular Waldemar
Jaszczynski. The gradiometer survey was conducted by David Thornley
(University of Reading), using a Bartington Grad 601-2 dual fluxgate
gradiometer. Preparation of micro-morphological thin sections was done
by John Jack (University of Reading). The research leading to these
results has received funding from the European Unions Seventh Framework
Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 263735. Part of the
archaeobotanical work has been carried out within the parallel project
2012/05/B/ST10/00243, financed by the National Science Centre in Poland.
Photographs of artefacts by Lech Okonski.
References
BISKUP, M. 1991. Das Problem der ethnischen Augehorigkeit im
mittelalterlichen Landesbau in Preussen. Zum Stand der Forschung.
Jahrbuch fur die Geschichte Mittel- und Ostdeutschlands 40: 3-25.
BRORSSON, T. 2012. Pottery production in the Novgorod region: local
traditions and foreign influences, in M. Brisbane, N. Makarov & E.
Nosov (ed.) The archaeology of medieval Novgorod in context-. 425-34.
Oxford: Oxbow.
BRYKOWSKA, M. 2002. Studia nad wschodnim zasiegiem architektury
ceglanej, in M. Arszynski & M. Mierzwinski (ed.) Cegla w
architekturze srodkowo-wschodniej Europy: 30-42. Malbork: Muzeum Zamkowe
w Malborku.
BUKO, A. 2008. The archaeology of early medieval Poland.
Discoveries, hypotheses, interpretations. Leiden: Brill.
CHEC, A. 2003. Folwarki krzyzackie na terenie komturstwa
malborskiego w swietle zrodel archeologicznych i historycznych, proba
lokalizacji, in K. Grazawski (ed.) Pogranicze polsko-pruskie i
krzyzackie: 325-38. Wloclawek: Lega.
--2009. Huntsmanship and hunting weapons in Malbork commandery, in
J. Maik (ed.) Fasciculi Archaeologiae Historicae: the hunt and hunting
weapons in antiquity and the Middle Ages: 95-100. Lodz: Polish Academy
of Sciences.
COWGILLL, J., M. DE NEERGAARD & N. GRIFFITHS. 2000. Knives and
scabbards. Woodbridge: Boydell.
CURTA, F. 2011. Medieval archaeology and ethnicity. Where are we?
History Compass 9: 537-48.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-0542.2011.00787.x
CZAJA, R. 2006. Strefa baltycka w gospodarce europejskiej w
XIII-XIV wieku ze szczegolnym uwzglednieniem Prus krzyzackich, in S.
Gawlas (ed.) Ziemie polskie wobec zachodu. Studia nad rozwojem
sredniowiecznej Europy. 195-246. Warszawa: DiG.
--2009. Struktura spoleczna, in M. Biskup, R. Czaja, W. Dlugokecki,
M. Dygo, S. Jozwiak, A. Radziminski & J. Tandecki (ed.) Panstwo
zakonu krzyzackiego w Prusach: Wladza i spoleczenstwo: 444-50. Warszawa:
PWN.
DLUCOKECKI, W. 2009. Kolonizacja ziemi chelminskiej, Prus i Pomona
Gdanskiego do 1410 r., in M. Biskup, R. Czaja, W. Dlugokecki, M. Dygo,
S. Jozwiak, A. Radziminski & J. Tandecki (ed.) Panstwo zakonu
krzyzackiego w Prusach: Wladza i spoteczenstwo: 200-17. Warszawa: PWN.
EKDAHL, S. 1998. Horses and crossbows: two important warfare
advantages of the Teutonic Order in Prussia, in H. Nicholson (ed.) The
military orders. Volume 2: welfare and warfare: 119-52. Aldershot:
Ashgate.
HAFTKA, M. 1971. Uwagi w sprawie wczesnosredniowiecznego osadnictwa
w polnocnej Pomezanii i kwestia lokalizacji Santyra. Pomorania Antiqua
4: 455-76.
JAGODZINSKI, M.F. 2004. Podstawy zrodlowe--analiza. Przekazy
pisane--odkrycia archeologiczne, in J. Trupinda (ed.) Pacifica Terra:
Prusowie-Slowianie-Wikingowie u ujscia Wisly: 21-40. Malbork: Muzeum
Zamkowe w Malborku.
JEUTE, G.H. 2007. Social and ethnic aspects of rural non-agrarian
production in Brandenburg (East Germany) in the Middle Ages and the
modern era, in J. Klapste & P. Sommer (ed.) Arts and crafts in
medieval rural environment (Ruralia VI): 363-73. Turnhout: Brepols.
JOSWIAK, S. & J. TRUPINDA. 2007. Organizacja zycia na zamku
krzyzackim w Malborku w czasach wielkich mistrzow (1309-1457). Malbork:
Muzeum Zamkowe w Malborku.
KASPRZYKOWSKI, Z. 2003. Habitat preferences of foraging rooks
Corvus frugilegus during the breeding period in the agricultural
landscape of eastern Poland. Acta Ornithologica 38: 27-31.
KRUPPE, J. 1981. Garncarstwo poznosredniowieczne w Polsce. Wroclaw:
Zaklad Narodowy im. Ossolinskich.
MACPHAIL, R.I. & J. CROWTHER. 2009. Soil micromorphology,
chemistry and magnetic susceptibility, in V. Birkbeck & J. Shuster
(ed.) Living and working in Roman and later London. Excavations at 60-63
Fenchurch Street (Wessex Archaeology Reports 25): 113-20. Salisbury:
Wessex Archaeology.
MACPHAIL, R.I., H. GALINIE & F. VERHAEGHE. 2003. A future for
dark earth? Antiquity 77: 349-58.
MAKOWIECKI, D. 2003. Historia ryb i rybolowstwa w holocenie na Nizu
Polskim w swietle badan archeoichtiologicznych. Poznan: Instytut
Archeologii i Etnologii PAN.
--2009. Animals in the landscape of the medieval countryside and
urban agglomerations of the Baltic Sea countries, in Citta e campagana
nei secoli altomedievali: Spoleto, 27 marzo--1 aprile 2008: 427-44.
Spoleto: Fondazione Centro italiano di studi sull'alto Medioevo.
MALTBY, M., A.G. PLUSKOWSKI & K. SEETAH. 2009. Animal bones
from an industrial quarter at Malbork, Poland: towards an ecology of a
castle built in Prussia by the Teutonic Order. Crusades 8: 191-212.
MAND, A. 2004. Beaver tails and roasted herring heads: fast as
feast in late-medieval Livonia. Medium Aevum Quotidianum 50: 5-12.
MARCINKOWSKI, M. 2003. Sredniowieczny warsztat garncarski ze
Starego Miasta w Elblagu. Pomorania Antiqua 19: 193-250.
MUGUREVICS, E. 2008. Viduslaiku ciems un pils Salaspils novada.
Riga: LVLA.
PANER, H. 2001. 10th- to 17th-century domestic architecture in
Gdansk, in B. Dahmen, M. Glaser, U. Oltmanns & S. Schindel (ed.)
Lubecker Kolloquium zur Stadtarchaologie im Hanseraum III: der Hausbau:
491-509. Lubeck: Schmidt-Romhild.
PASZKIEWICZ, B. 2009. Brakteaty--pieniadz sredniowiecznych Prus.
Wroclaw: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Wroclawskiego.
PLUSKOWSKI, A.G. 2012. The archaeology of the Prussian Crusade:
holy war and colonisation. London: Routledge.
PLUSKOWSKI, A.G., A.D. BROWN, L.-M. SHILLITO, K. SEETAH, D.
MAKOWIECKI, M. JARZEBOWSKI, K. KLAVINS & J. KREEM. 2011. The Ecology
of Crusading project: new research on medieval Baltic landscapes.
Antiquity 85(328) Project Gallery. Available at:
http://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/pluskowski328/ (accessed 14 January
2014).
POLLAKOWNA, M. 1967. Zantyr. Komunikaty mazursko-warminskie 4:
413-84.
POWIERSKI, J. 2003. Prussica (I). Malbork: Muzeum Zamkowe w
Malborku.
REBKOWSKI, M. 1995. Sredniowieczna ceramika miasta lokacyjnego w
Kolobrzegu. Kolobrzeg: Feniks.
ROZENKRANZ, E. 1965. Ksztaltowanie sie granicy pomorsko-pruskiej w
okresie od XII do poczatku XIV w. Zapiski Historyczne 30: 335-38.
SEETAH, K., A.G. PLUSKOWSKI, D. MAKOWIECKI & L. DAUGNORA. In
press. New technology or adaptation at the frontier? Butchery as a
signifier of cultural transitions in the medieval eastern Baltic.
Archaeologia Baltic a.
TANDECKI, J. 2009. Liczebnosc i pochodzenie terytorialne
(Mieszczahstwo), in M. Biskup, R. Czaja, W. Dlugokecki, M. Dygo, S.
Jozwiak, A. Radziminski & J. Tandecki (ed.) Panstwo zakonu
krzyzackiego w Prusach: Wladza i spoleczenstwo: 437-44. Warszawa: PWN.
TRUPINDA, J. (ed.). 2004. Terra Pacifica:
Prusowie-Slowianie-Wikingowie u ujscia Wisly. Malbork: Muzeum Zamkowe w
Malborku.
VLIERMAN, K. 1996. "Van zintelen, van zintelroeden ende mossen
...": een breeuwmethode als hulpmiddel bij het dateren van
scheepswrakken uit de hanzetijd. Lelystad: Nederlands Instituut voor
Scheeps- en Onderwaterarcheologie.
Table 1. AMS radiocarbon dates. Materials dated are all charred seeds
derived from bulk samples taken from cut-back and cleaned section
faces of excavated features.
Lab no. T rench/feature/sample Depth (cm) Material dated
GU29832 Tr.6/F94/120a 60-70 Secale
GU29833 Tr.6/F94/120b 60-70 Cereal ia
GU29834 Tr.6/F94/116 20-30 Secale, Triticum
aestivum and
Agrostemma githago
GU29835 Tr.8/F99/187 0-15 Galium spurium,
Triticum, Secale
GU29836 Tr.8/F102/189 0-10 Fallopia convolvulus
Lab no. Age (BP) [[delta].sup.l5]C ([per thousand])
GU29832 649 [+ or -] 28 -22.7
GU29833 713 [+ or -] 28 -26.2
GU29834 649 [+ or -] 29 -21.2
GU29835 816 [+ or -] 28 -25.1
GU29836 570 [+ or -] 26 -23.0
Lab no. Age range (cal AD, 2[sigma])
GU29832 1281-1325 (43.1%) 1344-1394 (52.3%)
GU2983 1255-1305 (87.5%) 1364-1385 (7.9%)
GU29834 1281-1326 (43.2%) 1343-1395 (52.2%)
GU29835 1171-1268
GU29836 1307-1363 (57.3%) 1385-1421(38.1%)
Table 2. Mammal and bird bones recovered from the site of Biata Gora.
Common name Latin name NISP
Domestic mammals
pig Sus scrofa 554
Cattle Bos taurus 381
Goat Capra a. hircus 1
Sheep/goat Ovis aries/Capra a. 71
hircus
Horse Equus caballus 68
Dog Canis familiaris 8
Cat Felix catus 5
Wild mammals
Red deer Cervus elaphus 22
Roe deer Capreolus capreolus 5
Cervid (sp.) Cervus 3
Beaver Castor fiber 40
Fox Vulpes vulpes 4
Bear Ursus arctos 2
Hare Lepus europaeus 2
Polecat Mustela putorius 1
Marten Martes martes 2
Otter Lutra lutra 1
Rat Rattus rattus 6
Shrew Sorex araneus 4
Mole Talpa europaea 1
Water vole Arvicola terrestris 2
Unidentified mammal (cattle-sized) 803
Unidentified mammal (pig/sheep-sized) 757
Birds
Domestic fowl Gallus gallus 22
Goose Anser anser 3
Mallard Anas platyrhynchos 1
Rook Corvus frugilegus 1
Unidentified bird 63
Note: excludes over 2000 fragments of small mammal bone flakes
recovered through careful collection and sieving.
Table 3. Fish bones recovered from the site of Biala Gora.
Common name Latin name NISP
Pike Esox lucius 32
Cyprinids Cyprinidae 269
Roach Rutilus rutilus 10
Roach/rudd Rutilus rutiluslScardinius erythrophthalmus 6
Rudd Scardinius erythrophthalmus 3
Ide Leuciscus idus 5
Asp Aspius aspius 1
Tench Tinea tinea 22
Bream Abramis brama 51
Sichel Pelecus cultratus 1
Crucian carp Carassius carassius 4
Carp Cyprinus carpio f. domestica 1
Catfish Silurus glanis 78
Perches Percidae 18
Perch Perea fluviatilis 28
Pike-perch Sander lucioperca 21
Sturgeon Acipenser sp. 1
Eel Anguilla Anguilla 3
Cod Gadus morhua 5
Flatfishes Pleuronectidae 1
Total 560
Unidentifiable 430
Supplementary material is provided online at
http://antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/pluskowski341/
Aleksander Pluskowski (1), Zbigniew Sawicki (2), Lisa-Marie
Shillito (3), Monika Badura (4), Daniel Makowiecki (5), Mirostawa
Zabilska-Kunek (5), Krish Seetah (1,6) & Alexander Brown (1)
(1) Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, Whiteknights,
Reading RG6 6AB, UK (Email: a.g.pluskowski@reading.ac.uk; author for
correspondence)
(2) Muzeum Zamkowe w Malborku, Staroscihska 1, 82-200 Malbork,
Poland
(3) School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of
Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH8 9AG, UK
(4) Department of Plant Ecology, Laboratory ofPalaeoecology and
Archaeobotany, University of Gdansk, Wita Stwosza 59, 80-308 Gdansk,
Poland
(5) Institute of Archaeology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Szosa
Bydgoska 44/48, 87-100 Toruh, Poland
(6) Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, Main Quad,
Building 50, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94035, USA
