Archaeological exhibitions at the Museum in Grudziądz

We are in the historic Granary No. 11, built at the turn of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. On the first floor of the granary there are archaeological exhibitions, while on the fourth, counting from the street level down – the temporary exhibition room. In a moment we will set off into the farthest history of the Chełmno Land, illustrated with four archaeological exhibitions, where we have collected unique artifacts. In the first part of the room, to the partition, you can see the exhibition "The northern part of the Chełmno land in prehistory and the Middle Ages" and "Grudziądz in the period of Roman influence", and behind the partition a unique exhibition "Medieval knight's stronghold in the Tribes". On the mezzanine, in turn, we present medieval jewelry from Gruczno.
Enter the exhibition room.
The exhibition "The northern part of the Chełmno land in prehistory and the Middle Ages" presents the material, spiritual and social culture of the population living in our lands from the eleventh thousand BC to the times of the first settlements: defensive castles, i.e. to the X / XI century and their disappearance in the fifteenth century.
Head to the right and look at the monumental board.
The introduction to the exhibition is a map – the state of archaeological recognition in the northern part of the Chełmno Land, i.e. the so-called Archaeological Photo of Polish. The map presents over 4500 sites recognized by archaeologists from the Grudziądz Museum in the 70s and 80s of the twentieth century. Archaeologists have carried out systematic excavations on many of them, and the discovered artefacts can be seen at our exhibitions. Now go to the display cases located on the left side of the entrance.
In the older Stone Age, along with the glacier retreating from Scandinavia, the climate changed, and with the current of the river, from the south, behind the receding heaps of ice, herds of animals came – mainly reindeer, and with them came the first people. They established short-term camps, and based their existence mainly on hunting and gathering. Groups of several people, perhaps families, formed small camps. The products of this population, which are usually various types of flint objects and hoes and harpoons from reindeer antlers, as well as their contemporary copies can be seen in the first display case on the left.
The warming of the climate that took place in the Mesolithic caused a change in flora and fauna, resulting in, m.in migration of reindeer to the northeast. Its place was taken by other animals: deer, bison, wild boar or roe deer. The milder climate created opportunities for people to stay year-round in the same areas. One of the most interesting monuments that we can combine with Mesolithic cultures is a magical staff found in the village of Gołębiewo. DNA tests showed that it was made from reindeer antlers. During the period from which the chick originated, these animals were found only in northern Scandinavia and northwestern Russia. The cane is therefore the youngest identified reindeer bone remains in the European Lowlands and in south-western Scandinavia. It is also evidence of the flow of goods between hunter-gatherer groups over such long distances.
The second half of the fifth millennium BC is the beginning of the youngest Stone Age – the Neolithic. The place of the previous hunter-gatherer economy was taken by the manufacturing economy with plant cultivation and animal husbandry. The determinant of the new era was constant construction and new techniques of stone tool making. Over several thousand years, groups referred to as Danube cultures passed through the Chełmno land, successively: the culture of engraved ribbon ceramics, the culture of funnelbeaker, spherical amphorae, cord cultures. Each of these cultures left behind a number of typical stone tools: axes and axes, clay vessels, flint tools, but also unique monuments. Particularly noteworthy is the bowl from Ryńsk. Its corners are pierced, thanks to which it could be suspended on a string, or stand steadily on the surface, supported on four feet. The bowl was not made on site and is chemically different from local pottery. Due to the unique nature of this vessel, it is believed that it was used for special purposes.
In the next display case, it is worth paying attention to another product of the first farmers: two axes from the Tribes. These precisely polished axe blades probably did not perform the usual utilitarian function and were most likely hidden in the ground by the then owner as a form of so-called "deposit".
The population of Neolithic cultures used stone, flint, as well as antlers and animal bones to make tools. Popular in earlier cultures, flint becomes particularly useful for the production of arrowheads, hence the conclusion that these peoples fought for their security and new territories. At the turn of the third and second thousand BC, new cultural phenomena spread over large areas of Europe through the population of the culture of corded ceramics, in which a new model of economy prevailed, associated with nomadic pastoralism – as evidenced by the lack of settlements, a large number of short-term camps, numerous finds of stone weapons and a special cult of the horse. The characteristic features of this culture include the occurrence on ceramic vessels of an ornament created by impressing a twisted string. This pattern is particularly visible on the tiny figurine from Łasin, the so-called "woman from Łasin".
The figurine was made of clay with the addition of finely crushed white stones and sand. After modeling the character, its creator imprinted on its surface schematic eyes and hair falling on the shoulders and details of clothing. He used a twisted string of vegetable or animal fibers. Some archaeologists believe that the figurine depicts the figure of a woman, although this is not unambiguous. It is also not known for what purposes it was molded. Its discovery on the island of Lake Łasińskie and the rendering of the features of clothing may indicate that it could have been used in ceremonies unknown today. However, it cannot be ruled out that it could also have been a toy that was made more than 4,000 years ago. Go to the middle of the room. Moving on, pay attention to the display case "Blacksmith's Grave". We will tell you about it a little later.
At the turn of the third and second thousand BC there are significant cultural transformations. Throughout Europe, the custom of burning and a new raw material appeared: bronze. New peoples entered the arena of history – the Lusatian culture appears, recognizable in archaeological material for almost 1000 years in the Chełmno Land. In the vicinity of the city, numerous individual grottoes, axes were found, and in the Grudziądz-Owczarki housing estate the remains of a cemetery from around 1300 BC with skeletal and cremation graves.
In the display case we can see ornaments from the beginnings of this culture and its disappearance. It is worth paying attention to ornaments: mainly bracelets, pins and pendants. Around the fifth century BC, after the unexpected collapse of the Lusatian culture, its place was taken by a new formation – the Pomeranian culture. This culture is distinguished by the custom of placing the burnt dead into beautifully worked clay vessels, often with the image of the face of the deceased person, referred to as facial ashtrays. Most of the remains of deceased people were put into ordinary clay vessels, and these were put into stone tombs constructed of stone slabs. In the central part of the room we can see the reconstruction of a stone grave with original slabs from the pre-war research of the Museum.
Go back to the entrance to the exhibition and look at the display case placed straight ahead.
The period between the second century BC and the first century AD are the times when the Polish lands, including the Chełmno land, came under the influence of the Celts and then the Romans. The settlement network in the Grudziądz region, the routes of inflow of luxury items is presented on a map in a display case in front of the entrance to the exhibition. Of particular note are the brown dishes: a bowl and a bucket. These products were found in the cemetery of the Oksywa culture Grudziądz-Rządz. These items were probably a gift of Roman merchants to the local elite. They were used sporadically, and after the death of the owner they served as urns in which the burned remains of the deceased were placed.
In everyday objects, ornaments, as well as weapons, iron occupies a special place among the population of the Oksywa culture. The Celts turned blacksmithing and metallurgy into a specialized craft. They developed the extraction of ores and then their smelting, they also popularized many technical innovations in Europe at that time, m.in. potter's wheel, rotary querns, wooden ploughs with iron blades, as well as coin and glass production. Particularly noteworthy are the graves of warriors equipped with weapons, which consisted of metal elements of the shield, swords, as well as spearheads or javelins and everyday objects: knives, razors, tweezers and clasps fastening robes. In the government cemetery, a blacksmith's grave was also discovered, in which there was a set of tools for his work. You've passed it before.
At the beginning of our era, in the times of Roman influence, the Oksywa culture disappears on the lower Vistula, and its place is taken by the Wielbark culture. Its name comes from the cemetery in Wielbark near Malbork. The creators of this culture are identified with the Scandinavian people of the Goths. The features of the funeral rite is the successive elimination of iron weapons and tools, in the graves appeared a completely different assortment - tools and ornaments made of bronze and more luxurious - made of silver or gold.
In the second half of the fifth century AD we observe the disappearance of settlements in the region of Grudziądz, it is a phenomenon that is recorded throughout the Polish. This was determined by many factors: m.in the fall of the Roman Empire, the disappearance of the amber route, climate changes, the movement of population groups during the Migrations of Peoples. In the seventh and eighth centuries there is a certain revival of settlement, and this is under the influence of a new population – the Slavs, who came to our lands from the eastern areas. The first settlements appear, as well as defensive settlements – the so-called castles. The period between the seventh and mid-thirteenth centuries is called the early medieval period.
Starting from the partition in subsequent showcases, we can get acquainted with the most important defensive settlements located on the border of Chełmno and Pomezana lands – the seats of pagan Prussians. Early medieval settlements are usually visible in the field as earth embankments of various forms. The strongholds were usually located in inaccessible areas, in the bends of rivers, on elevations, which were additionally strengthened by pouring earth embankments. The ramparts were crowned with wooden palisades. Inside there was a basin interior – the so-called Maidan – an empty square. Around the ramparts from the inside there were residential buildings. These castles were primarily the seats of representatives of the local territorial community. A drawbridge led to the stronghold surrounded by a moat. Some of the strongholds had a second part – a borough in which economic and craft buildings were located. We can get acquainted with the reconstruction of such a hillfort just before the partition. In the X-XI centuries, the territory of the Chełmno Land became part of the emerging state of Polans. In its northern part, the following settlements were created at that time: Szembruk, Jaguszewice, Mełno, Słupski Młyn, Wydrzno, Świecie n. Osą, Mędrzyce, Gawłowice.
The display cases present contour plans of hillforts showing their shapes and heights as well as artifacts – most often clay vessels, spindles, metal products – knives, buckles.
The mid-thirteenth century was considered to be the cut-off date between the early and late Middle Ages. The Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared on the Chełmno land – commonly known as the Teutonic Knights, followed by new settlers who founded towns and villages – in place of large multi-part settlements, small hillforts are created – the so-called conical hillforts. While earlier castles belonged to a separate representative of tribal family communities, late medieval castles were family seats, knights, vogts, bishops. According to historical sources, the stronghold in Gruta was the seat of the village head, and the stronghold in Ryńsk was one of the richest castles of knights in the Chełmno land. He can be associated with one of the leading figures among the Chełmno knights of the Grunwald era, with Nicholas of Ryńsk. In 1397. Mikołaj and his brother Hanus, together with two other knights of the Chełmno land, founded a knightly brotherhood opposing the Order, known as the Lizard Society. Unfortunately, Nicholas ran afoul of his activities to the Teutonic Knights, he was captured and beheaded in 1411 on the market square in Grudziądz.
Now go through the partition. Pay attention to the wooden rad hanging on the structure of beams. It was found in the village of Wiewiórki. It is not known exactly from what period it comes. By some researchers it is dated to the Neolithic, and by others to the early medieval period.
Among the late-medieval stronghold centers studied by the Grudziądz Museum, the unique one is the knight's stronghold in Plemięty, studied in the years 1974-1977 by Ryszard Boguwolski. These discoveries electrified the archaeological world, occupying a prominent place in the history of research on the culture of the Polish Middle Ages. They enriched the knowledge about the characteristic variety of fortifications occurring in the late Middle Ages, i.e. the stronghold on the cone. The tower building in Plemięty was erected on a small hill, elevated over 6 m above the mirror of a nearby pond. In the horizontal projection it had the form of a rectangle with a corridor entrance in the northern wall of the lowest floor of the tower. In this entrance there were wooden stairs with 18 steps. The tower was a multi-storey architectural complex of a defensive and residential character, erected in a mullion-skeleton structure, with a palisade technique of building external walls. A total of 24 columns were used in the supporting structure of the building, arranged along the long axis of the house in four rows, 6 in each of them. The roof of the tower was probably covered with shingles (wooden planks – slats). This is evidenced by the lack of ceramic tiles in the rubble of the tower, while the discovery of tools for the production of shingles (metal nutownik). Inside the tower, over 1800 metal and ceramic items were found, constituting the tower's equipment, mostly household appliances and locksmith items, carpentry and military (defensive and offensive armament). On the basis of the equipment, it was considered that the tower functioned in the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, belonged to a Chełmno knight sympathizing with the Teutonic Knights. The stronghold in Plemięty was probably destroyed by the Tatar-Lithuanian chasing on the Chełmno land, in the service of king Władysław Jagiełło. The watercolour depicting the reconstructed tower is located on the supporting pillar of the hall at the reconstructed part of its ground floor.
It is worth stopping at the display case on the left side of the room, where a unique nut maker for kneading wooden slats and a scale for weighing ores are presented. In the showcases located in front of the fragment of the reconstructed tower, we see the tower's equipment, i.e. keys, locks, bolts, bolts. On the right side of the Hall there are presented protective and offensive armament, row elements and equestrian equipment, pay attention to capals – unique helmets and fragments of chain mail and cuirass folgowy.
Head towards the exit. Behind the map Archaeological Photo Poland there are stairs. Go up it and move to the mezzanine.
The place, called St. John's Mountain, was occupied by the Slavs already in the VII-VIII centuries. The first traces of their stay were registered in the southern part of the hill, where a small settlement was founded, then a stronghold was erected, burned and rebuilt in the 2nd half of the X-X/XI centuries. At the turn of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, a cemetery was established in the place of the settlement (site 1). At the beginning of the thirteenth century, the stronghold lost its importance and deserted, and in its place another cemetery was established, used until the end of the fourteenth century, which was associated with the first local parish in Gruczno. Research was conducted here in the years 1896 – 1897 by members of the Society of Antiquities in Grudziądz: Siegfried Anger, president and two German officers: captain - August Schmidt and captain Max Mathes. During the first research, about 190 equipped graves were discovered. The artefacts acquired at that time were lost during World War II. Further research was undertaken on the initiative of the Museum in Grudziądz and two researchers: Marian Tuszyński and Ryszard Boguwolski. Many years of research led to the discovery of 460 burials in the first cemetery and 1500 burials in the second cemetery. Several thousand monuments were registered in both necropolises, mainly ornaments, objects of worship and everyday use, as well as coins and elements of equestrian equipment.
The graves were located in rows, close to each other at a distance of about 1 m on the east-west axis, with heads arranged to the west. The dead wrapped in shrouds were placed directly into pits dug in the ground, only in 9 graves traces of coffins were found, the presence of which is evidenced by the nails found. The bodies of women with rich equipment were placed in the coffins.
Adults of both sexes and children were buried in the cemeteries. The first one identified 475 people, including 175 burials of men, 223 women and 77 children. The average age of the buried people was only 27 years, which is characteristic of early medieval populations, and resulted mainly from the high mortality rate of children and women in the peripuerperal period. The population of Gruczna was tall by the standards of the time – the average height of men was about 167 cm, and women about 156 cm.
In the Middle Ages, temporal cords were a common feminine decoration, in Gruczno, next to beads and rings – the most numerous. These were metal ornaments attached to the so-called foreheads, with which women wrapped their hair. They were made primarily of brown wire, some were silver-plated or made of pure silver. The deceased received an average of 1 or 2 cabkos for the "post-mortem journey", but in a few cases their number reached as high as 13.
The most popular decoration of the inhabitants of Gruczno were glass beads – almost 4500 of them were found. They had a variety of shapes and colors, which were combined into necklaces or sewn on clothing. Rich necklaces were enriched with metal beads, openwork, decorated with filigree and granulation. Unique is the necklace composed of 22 amber beads. The necklaces were equipped with graves of women and children, individual beads were put into the graves of men. Glass beads were produced in glass workshops in Kruszwica or Kołobrzeg.
Metal jewellery is represented in numerous rings made of bronze or glass. Most often they occurred individually, but in some graves there were sometimes 2, 3 or even 4 copies. They were found mainly in women's graves, only in a few cases in men's graves. Rings are characterized by a large variety of shapes, from the simplest made of one piece of wire rolled into a spiral to rings with a shield or a basket and a glass eyelet imitating expensive stones.
In several dozen graves in Gruczno there were bronze pendants in the shape of a small bell with a heart made of tin or silver. They were probably ornaments and amulets protecting against "evil spirits". The strong pagan faith of the inhabitants of the castle in Gruczno is evidenced by pendants – amulets from animal teeth and cauri shells. Whereas the sign of the new religion – Christianity are crosses and medallions: silver, bronze or tin. It is worth emphasizing, however, that most of them are isosceles crosses, which may signal the strong influence of the Eastern Church on the Christianization of this area and the arrival of one or more families who are followers of the new religion to Gruczno from the east. Evidence of strong ties with Kievan Rus is a unique glass pendant in the form of an isosceles star with protrusions, on which a trident is depicted – the emblem of the Rurikovich dynasty.
The inhabitants of Gruchno, depending on the circumstances and wealth, dressed in "coarse canvases", and those more affluent in costumes woven from wool. Dresses, shirts, aprons were decorated with embroidery. Regardless of the material used, everyone was happy to embellish their clothes with sewn buttons or other ornaments. They had an aesthetic meaning, but also a magical one.
The most common way of decorating women was tying the head with bands, otherwise known as foreheads, on which at both temples hung knobs. The armbands were made of linen, but in Gruczno silk ribbons with a golden wrapper were found in two women's graves. On one of them, in the central part, a geometric pattern of an animal was placed – probably a griffin, and on the other in the central part a heart was placed. In these graves were buried people of exceptional social status. Silk in this period was one of the most luxurious goods imported from Byzantium. Women wore long dresses, over which they put aprons and scarves. The sleeves were decorated with embroidery. At the waist, women carried those items that were necessary for their daily activities and toilet, i.e. a knife, comb, needle, spindles. They wore necklaces of beads around their necks. The richest had several hundred pieces. They put rings on the fingers of both hands.
The graves of men were generally modestly equipped. Men wore shirts and trousers, and in colder periods animal skin bedspreads. Shirts were tied with a fabric or leather belt, which were fastened with metal buckles. A tinder, a knife in metal sheaths, a comb were tied to the belts. In some graves, rings or rings on the fingers and beads on the neck were recorded. In two men's graves, spurs and a bit were found, which may suggest that they were warriors during their lifetime. The children's graves were among the richest. In the grave of the child, probably a girl aged 7-8, two bracelets were found, one glass and the other lead. A metal necklace and a necklace consisting of 139 glass beads were placed around the neck. In addition, in the grave there was a ring, a knife in a metal sheath and fragments of two bracteates.