A rch eo lo g ia Polski Ś rodkow ow schodniej, t. III, 1998
S
t u d i aJa n Alb e r t Ba k k e r
Th e M i n i a t u r e T R B Cu p Fo u n d in a Pe a t y La y e r a t Ch o d l i k
In 1966, w hen I had the pleasure o f being a guest o f the D epartm ent o f A rchaeology at UM CS in Lublin to study the TRB culture (KPL, kultura pucharów lejkow a tych) in Poland, A. G ardaw ski, J. G urba and S. H oczyk show ed m e a m iniature tureen o f the South-East G roup o f the TRB culture (fig. 1) w hich had recently been fo und in a peaty place at C hodlik, w here the D epartm ent investigated the large early m edieval earthen ringfort. This find seem ed o f great im portance, because it repre sented the first know n bog find o f a pot o f the TRB S.E. Group.
K. Jażdżew ski (1932), C. J. B ecker (1947) and se veral others have pointed out that votive deposits o f pot tery in and along sources, w ells, ponds, lakes, peatbogs, rivers and the sea are a feature specific to the TRB cultu re (cf. M. S. M idgley 1992). T hey are w ell know n from northern Poland, w here in the area o f the Vistula (W isla) glaciation there are innum erable peatbogs, lakes and other w et places, b u t from southern Poland w here such w e tlands are scarce, only four such finds are docum ented: apart form the find from C hodlik there are the eight or ten early TRB pots found in or before 1916 at W rocław - Pracze at the bottom o f a well shaft dug into the filling o f a form er O dra course (H. Seger 1916), a B aalberge ju g and a collared flask dredged or dug up in 1940-1994 from the O dra bank and river at W roclaw -O sobow ice, and finally a 2-lugged and a 4-lugged am phora, related to B aalberge form s, dredged up together from a depth o f 3 m in a form er O dra course at Gajków, gm. Czernica,
woj. W roclaw in 1995 (W. W ojciechow ski 1966)1. This tiny collection from so large a territory illustrates a few principles:
(1) Such finds becom e know n only w here a museum or any other archaeological institution is active and has built up a netw ork o f inform ers and collectors in the co urse o f years. W here such archaeological activities and netw orks do not occur, finds like this usually remain unnoticed, even in areas that w ere densely inhabited in prehistory. A ctive local m useum s and one or two ama teur archaeologists could radically change this state of things however!
(2) O nly if such a netw ork exists, digging and dred ging for tow n expansion, construction w orks and so on in river plains as around W roclaw m ay lead to the disco very o f such finds.
(3) Finds dredged or excavated from rivers are diffi cult to interpret: flat graves on form erly dry ridges may be concerned, for instance. A lso the votive character of peatbog finds is alm ost im possible to prove in m ost ca ses w here no scientific investigation o f the findspot has been undertaken. For instance, Jażdżew ski (1932) ini tially supposed that tw o intact pots found ca. 1911 in a peatbog at Szlachcin 3, gm. Środa W ielkopolska, woj. Poznań, represented bog offerings, but the 1934-35 exca
11 am much obliged to profesor W. Wojciechowski (Wroclaw) for detailed information about these finds from Lower Silesia.
Fig. 1. The miniature cup found from Chodlik. Ryc. 1. Miniaturowe naczynie z Chodlika.
Th e M in ia t u r eTRB Cu p Fo u n dina Pe a t y La y e ra t Ch o d l i k 255
vations by Kostrzewski and him self (K. Jażdżewski 1936; W. Tetzlaff 1966) show ed that a large fishing and hun ting site was concerned instead, and that m any pots were so well preserved because they had been protected by the soft subsoil (gyttja). H e therefore changed his views diam etrically: m ost p o ttery found in bogs should derive from settlem ents in o r along lakes or bogs (K. Jażdżew ski 1936). Becker's m onograph (1947) devoted to TRB bog pottery finds in D enm ark and later finds in Poland (e.g., L. G abałów na 1964) m ade him return to his origi nal general views (K. Jażdżew ski 1984, s. 149). Later D anish research show ed th at apparent p o t offerings can also occur quite close to w etland settlem ents (E. K och
1990), so that part o f the Szlachcin pots m ight even be long to that category.
(4) A part from C hodlik, peatbog or lake TRB potte ry finds are still absent from southern Poland, no doubt due to the relative scarcity o f lakers and bogs here. A la keside offering o f a ju g on or in front o f the peaty margin o f Lake Kom ořany, at D řinov, okr. Chom utov in N W B ohem ia (E. F. N eustupný 1985, find W S I), suggests, however, that the T R B culture practiced such offerings w here ever lakes w ere available.
(5) Offerings in w ells w ill have been a norm al featu re in southern Poland, as the W roclaw-Pracze find shows. In M oravia, a ju g containing A llium found 7 m deep in w et clay at Kyjov (J. N eustupný 1952) will also respre- sent a well offering.
(6) TRB well shafts w ere usally 2-3.5 m deep and the extreme depth o f the K yjov find illustrates the fact that the TRB land surface in Central European river val leys is often buried below thick loam y deposits eroded from the interfluvial terraces due to agriculture, from the TRB period onw ards (studies by J. Kruk). This m ay also partly explain the scarcity o f wet TRB offerings in so uthern Poland.
(7) That m ost TRB excavations in southern Poland took place on the interfluvial loess terraces and hills above the river plains and perhaps never in the rare boggy pla ces may also be partly responsible for this scarcity. Sys tem atic surveys by G urba (1961) and others (A ZP) led to the discovery o f TRB occupation o f river plains and other low and sandy areas, for instace at C hodlik - but none o f these lower sites have been excavated yet (B. B ur chard et al 1991). A nd no w et TRB offering sites w ere noted during the surveys o f the low er regions.
One and h alf century after the first TRB pottery was salvaged from a bog, at K ofodsgaard on B ornholm in 1827, and fifty years after Becker's fundam ental book on peat bog offerings in D enm ark (1947), no inventory o f the finds o f this kind has appeared yet for the w hole TRB culture. The num ber o f such finds in D enm ark has risen to m ore than 310. O utside D enm ark the num bers are m uch lower, because archaeologists paid m uch less attention to peat finds w hen tu rf exploitation w as still norm al practice. A corpus o f the possible w ater offerings
o f TRB pottery in the countries around D enm ark, which I am com piling, contains som e 80 finds from the N ether lands, Germany, Poland, B ohem ia and Sw eden (inclu ding river finds).
The data concerning the Chodlik cup were once more sum m arized2 for this corpus:
Chodlik 3, gm. K arczm iska Pierw sze (form erly pow. Opole Lubelskie), woj. Lublin (S. H oczyk 1967, w ith fig.; J. A. Bakker, J. C. Vogel & T. W iślański 1969, s. 219, fig. 14).
An elegant m iniature tureen (3.5 cm high, 5 cm wide) with a handle draw n up 1 cm above its rim , in which a rudim entary ram shead is squeezed out (fig. 1), w as fo und in 1965 by a w orker J. G aza w hile digging a draina ge ditch. The alm ost undam aged m ini-vessel appeared at a depth o f 1 m in peat layer o f unknow n thickness, at som e 200 m N W from the large m edieval ring fort o f Chodlik. R egrettably the vertical section o f the findspot was not studied and the type o f peat in w hich the pot was found is unknow n. N o other artefacts, bones, w ood or charcoal w ere noticed by the finder.
The findspot lies in a w ide ill-drained valley plain o f the Chodelka river, w ith relics o f irregularly undulating channels o f a river braiding system (Prachodelka, see fig. 2). W hen these channels w ere replaced by the pre sent C hodelka is unknow n - probably long before the TRB period, early in the H olocene. In these channels and at other low places in the plain, several decim etres o f peat o f unknow n age occur (J. M iszalski 1966).
It cannot be excluded that the vessel was deposited in the open w ater o f a local pond. The pot (Lublin M u seum 340/A /M L) has a peaty patina. A sam ple o f peaty sand adhering to the pot contained too few pollen grains for a pollenspectrum (A. Voorrips, A m sterdam , perso nal com m unication 1967).
R am shead decoration o f pot handles is typical for the Southeastern TRB G roup. Sherds found in and aro und the ring fort and elsew here in the fossil river plain indicate a TRB occupation on slightly elevated sites.
From the norm ative culture concept I adhere to, the re is little doubt that the C hodlik pot actually repre sents a votive deposit and th at w ater offerings m ay th e refore be considered as an essential feature o f the TRB South-E ast G roup in P oland and the U kraine. Yet there is a snag - as alm ost alw ays w hen one begins asking questions about finds o f this category: m iniature ves sels are quite exceptional in w et TRB offerings. The only other kow n instance is a „m iniature serv ice” o f five 4-9 cm high TR B p o ts from Ś w iętosław near W ło cław ek (L. G abałów na 1964). T hey w ere dredged up w hen a pond w as cleaned, years b efore 1938, together w ith a ceram ic spindle w horl, fragm ents o f other
nor-2 Dr S. Hoczyk-Siwkowa kindly (Lublin) provided me with the necessary additional information
256 Ja n Al b e r t Ba r k e r
ridges krawędzie
erosional fractures and valleys rozcięcia erozyjne
ridges of an accumulative terrace krawędzie terasy akumulacyjnej a hypothetical ridge of an upper accumulative terrace
hipotetyczna krawędź wyższej terasy akumulacyjnej
dunes wydmy
bottomsof river valley (flood terraces) dna dolin rzecznych
peaty plains
ostańce gliny zwałowej peaty plains
równiny torfowe
monadnocks of a water-glacial accumulation cover
ostańce pokrywy akumulacji wodno lodowcowej water
wody grodzisko stronghold
przybliżona lokalizacja znaleziska the most probable location of the find
Fig. 2. Geomorphological sketch of a fragment of the Chodelka Basin (after J. Miszalski 1966). Ryc. 2. Szkic geomorfologiczny fragmentu Kotliny Chodelskiej (wg J. Miszalskiego 1966).
Th e Mi n ia t u r e T R B Cu p Fo u n dina Pe a t y La y e ra t Ch o d l ik 257
m al sized TRB pots, and anim al bones. G abałów na co nvincingly argued th at (the m iniature pottery at least) represented a ritual d ep o sit, and w hen W iślański ( 1967, s. 104) surveyed the differen t categories o f peat and w a ter finds, he agreed w ith h er interpretation.
T hat the tw o published draw ings o f the cup from C hodlik are slightly different is a m inor problem , but, on reconsideration, it is quite regrettable that J. G aza's find spot w as not studied in detail in 1965-66 and that no pollen diagram was m ade o f the peaty layers in w hich it w as found. Scandinavian research has show n that m ost o f the peatbog finds have in fact been deposited in or on the edge o f open w ater; the archaeologist's „peat” often turns out to be the p alynologist's „gyttja” (w hich w as form ed at the bottom o f open w ater). In view o f its extre m e importance it w ould have been instructive to know n the original situation a t the C hodlik site better and to see i f no other objects o ccurred there. Could the exact find sp o t perhaps still be located to study its stratigraphy and im m ediate surroundings, and w ould the peat not be too desiccated now to allo w a new palvnological or m acro- scopical investigation to identify its character?
The main reason to w rite this article was to point out the importance o f the system atic observation o f digging or dredging operations in w et places in S.E. Poland by laym en, amateurs a n d professionals. I m entioned alre ady that m ost TRB re se arch has taken place here on the loess uplands w hich w ere densely populated. B ut the sparse occupation o f the Prachodelka plain at Chodlik, the fact that rivers an d stream s traverse the uplands, and the fact that drinking w ater had to be procured from na tural waters or dug w ells, argue that w et pottery offe rings are actually to b e expected in this region, as a regu lar feature. M oreover there are m any sm all lakes in Vol- hynia and Podlesia ab o u t the archaeology o f w hich little is known.
A fter tu rf digging stopped about 1965 alm ost every w here in northern E urope because fossil fuel becam e m ore easily available, and legal environm ental protec tion prevents now m uch further archaeological research o f sw am ps, „new ” p eat bog finds begin to appear at ca refully planned archaeological rescue excavations in the zones o f future ro ad or railw ay tracts and tow n building plants. Two „offering sw am ps” w ere system atically in vestigated in this w ay in Sw eden, at H indby at a tow n expansion site at the perim eter o f M alm ö (P. K arsten 1994) and at Skogsm ossen n ear Örebro in M iddle Sw e den (F. H allgren et al. 1997; F. H allgren & O. Possnert
1997). A t the latter place a few house sites and activity areas o f the TRB culture w ere excavated in a forest to be traversed by a railw ay line. A sm all fen next to the h o uses was com pletely excavated according to plan. A t once several observations toilsum ely m ade at form er peat cut tings for fuel w ere confirm ed and expanded here: the postholes o f a stage leading to the m iddle o f the fen were discovered and they w ere surrounded by the rem ains o f num erous axes, querns, and TRB pots (in w hich grain seems to have been offered to the G ods o f fertility). Would this once also happen in S.E. Poland?
TRB life w as perm eated w ith ritual and religion. Offering in w et places o f pots w ith food (but also o f axes, and som etim es including hum an sacrifices) is a som e w hat better know n ritual besides TRB rituals on dry land, not only near to grave m onum ents, but also near to o r in settlem ents. The variety o f the latter is so bafflingly lar ge that it still opposes classification. E xam ples from the South-East G roup are: silo used to safeguard the sow ing- seed in particularly nice, decorated pottery at Ćmielów, woj. Tarnobrzeg (Z. Podkow ińska 1961), com plicated ritual pits at Jakubow ice M urow ane at Lublin (B. Bar- gieł & J. K ącki 1988) and pit 1/93 in the cem etery o f K arm anow ice, woj. Lublin (J. N ogaj-C hachaj 1994).
Re f e r e n c e s
B a k k e r J. A., J. C. V o g e 1, T. W i ś 1 a ή s k і
1969 TRB and other С 14 dates from Poland (c. 43 50- 1350 BC and 800-900 AD, Helinium 9, 3-27, 209-238.
B a r g i e l В., K ą c k i J.
1988 Skarb naczyń glinianych z Jakubowic Murowa
nych, woj. Lublin, na tle innych znalezisk gro madnych, Spr. Arch., t. 40, s. 57-62.
B e c k e r C. J.
1947 Mosefunde Lerkar fra Yngre Stenalder, Studier
overTragtbaegerkulturen i Danmark, Copenha gen (=Aarb0ger for Nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie).
B u r c h a r d В., J a s t r z ę b s k i S., K r u k J.
1991 Some questions at Funnel Beaker Culture So- uth-Eastem Group - an outline, [in:] Jankow ska ed., s. 95-101.
G a b a ł ó w n a L.
1964 Uwagi o kulturze pucharów lejkowatych w fa
zie wióreckiej na Kujawach (Remarques sur la civilisation des coupes en entonnoir de la pha se de Wiórek en Cuyavje), PMMAE, t. 11, s. 29-43.
G u r b a J.
1961 Neolithic Settlements on the Lublin Loess Upland, Ann. UMCS, sec. B, vol. 15, 1960, s. 211-233.
H a l l g r e n F., D j e r w U. N. a f G e i j e r s t a n , S t e i n e k e N.
1997 Skogsmossen, an Early Neolithic settlement site and sacrificial fen, in the northern borderland o f the Funnel-beaker Culture, „Tor”, t. 29, s. 49-111.
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H a l l g r e n F., P o s s n e r t О.
1997 Pottery design and time. The pottery from the TRB site Skogsmossen, in view of ANS-datings of organic remains on potsherds, „Tor”, t. 29, s. 113-136.
H o c z у к S.
1967 Chodlik, pow. Opole Lubelskie, ZOW, R. 23, s. 124.
J a n k o w s k a D. [ed.]
1990-1991 Die trichterbecherkultur. Neue Forschungen und Hypothesen. Material des Internacionalen Symposiums, Dymaczewo 20-24 September 1988, vol. 1 1990, vol. 2 1991, Poznań. J a ż d ż e w s k i K.
1932 Zusammenfassender überblick über die Trich
terbecherkultur, „Praehistorische Zeitschrift”, 23, s. 77-110.
1936 Kultura pucharów lejkowatych w P o l s Za
chodniej i środkowej (Die Trichterbet in West- und Mittelpolen), Poznań.
1984 Urgeschichte Mitteleuropas, Wrocław-War
szawa. K a l i n o w s k a K.
1961 Zanik jezior polodowcowych w Polsce, „Prze
gląd Geograficzny”, t. 33, s. 511-518. K a r s t e n P.
1994 Alt kasta ухап і sjön. En studie over rituel tra dition och förändring utifran skanska neoliti- ska offerfynd (I throw the axe in the lake. A stu dy o f ritual tradition and change from Scanian neolithic votive offerings), Stockholm. K o c h E.
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Trichterbecherkultur aus Seeland [in:] Jankow ska ed., s. 40-53.
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1966 Środowisko geograficzne grodu wczesnośre
dniowiecznego w Chodliku w świetle interpre
tacji zdjęć lotniczych, [w:] Fotointerpretacja w geografii, t. 3, s. 5-19, Warszawa.
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1985 К holocenu Komořanskégo Jezera (On the
Ho-locene Period o f the Komořany Lake area), „Pamatký Archeologické”, t. 76, s. 9-70. N e u s t u p n ý J.
1952 Allicious plants in prehistory and history, Ar chiv Orientálni, 20, 356-358, espec. 359-363, pl. 27:1-3.
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manowicach stan. 35, gm. Wąwolnica, woj. lu belskie, Spraw. UMCS, 1993, s. 19-27. P o d k o w i ń s k a Z.
1961 Spichrze ziemne w osadzie kultury pucharów lejkowatych na Gawrońcu-Pałydze w Ćmielo wie, pow. Opatów, APol., t. 6, s. 21-63. S e g e r H.
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1960 Stanowisko bagienne kultury pucharów lejko watych w Szlachcinie w pow. sieradzkim, PArch., t. 17, s. 59-80.
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w Polsce północno-zachodniej (The economic basis o f Neolithic tribes in north-western Po land), Wrocław-Warszawa.
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Ja n Al b e r t Ba r k e r
Mi n ia t u r o w y k u b e c z e k k u l t u r y p u c h a r ó w l e j k o w a t y c h z n a l e z io n yww a r s t w ie t o r f u w Ch o d l ik u
Miniaturowy kubeczek z Chodlika 3, gmina Karczmiska, woj. lubelskie (S. Hoczyk 1967; J. A. Bakker, J. C. Vogel, T. Wi- ślański 1969, s. 219, ryc. 14) jest jedynym tego rodzaju znale ziskiem torfowo-bagiennym z terenu południowo-wschodniej grupy kultury pucharów lejkowatych. Ucho naczynia jest pry mitywnie ukształtowane w formie uproszczonej głowy barana (ryc. 1). To naczynie (Muzeum Lubelskie 340/A/ML) zostało znalezione w 1965 r. na głębokości 1 m w warstwie torfu o nie znanej miąższości podczas kopania rowu, około 200 m na pół- nocny-zachód od wczesnośredniowiecznego grodziska w Cho dliku. Niestety nie przebadano profilu wykopu i typ torfu, w którym znaleziono naczynie pozostaje nieznany. Nie zareje strowano również innych zabytków, węgla drzewnego lub in nych pozostałości. Znalezisko może pochodzić z wypełniska
torfowego jednego ze starożytnych koryt meandrującej plej- stoceńskiej rzeki Prachodelki na równinie Chodlika (por. J. Mi- szalski 1965), ale niezbędne jest badanie stratygraficzne i pa- leobotaniczne miejsca znaleziska (ryc. 2).
Nie ma wątpliwości, że naczynko stanowiło depozyt wo tywny i że ofiary składane w wodzie powinny również być uważane za istotną cechę południowo-wschodniej grupy kul tury pucharów lejkowatych w Polsce i na Ukrainie. W tej kul turze miniaturowe naczynka rzadko występują jako dary skła dane w wodzie, jednakże odnotowuje się takie przypadki (np. L. Gabałówna 1964).
Wodne depozyty ceramiki są znane z obszarów prawie wszystkich grup kultury pucharów lejkowatych: Czech, Mo raw, okolic Wrocławia, północnej Polski, północno-wschod
Th e Mi n ia t u r e T R B Cu p Fo u n dina Pe a t y La y e ra t Ch o d l ik 259
nich i północnych Niemiec, Holandii, Szwecji oraz przede wszystkim Danii. Występują one wewnątrz i w pobliżu stud ni, źródeł, rzek, jezior i Bałtyku. Szereg takich miejsc jest obecnie wypełnionych gytią i torfem. Znaleziska torfowo- bagienne ograniczają się do terenu młodej moreny zlodo wacenia Wisły z jej licznymi depresjami i jeziorami, lecz również występują gdzie indziej, na przykład nad Jeziorem Kom orzańskim w północno-zachodnich Czechach oraz wzdłuż strumieni na bagnach Bourtanger Moor w Holandii. Tam gdzie znaleziska na bagnach są rzadkie dominują te występujące w rzekach i studniach, tak jak w Czechach i oko licach Wrocławia.
Wodna i bagienna ofiara w postaci naczyń z jedzeniem (często także siekier, kości i ludzkich ofiar) jest przykładem zadziwiających rytuałów kultury pucharów lejkowatych na terenach mokrych i suchych.
Liczebność znalezisk depozytów bagiennych zależy głównie od obserwacji archeologów a także ludzi nie zwią zanych z tą dziedziną. Bez wątpienia przyszłe znaleziska po twierdzą ten ogólny wzór także dla południowo-wschodniej grupy kultury pucharów lejkowatych, o ile więcej uwagi po święci się tam badaniom jezior i dolin rzecznych gdzie tego rodzaju znaleziska mogą znajdować się pod grubymi pokła dami późniejszych nawarstwień.
IPP, Amsterdam University, Nieuwe Prisnengracht 130, 1018 VZ Amsterdam, Holland,
