BADANIA NA OSADZIE PRZYGRODOWEJ W JEZIORKU STAN. I

Abstrakt

INVESTIGATING AN EARLY IRON AGE AND EARLY MEDIEVAL ANCILLARY SETTLEMENT AT JEZIORKO SITE I (N E POLAND) SUMMARY T h e first investigation at Jeziorko site I, made by J. Antoniewicz in co-operation with J. Okulicz in 1950- 1954, focussed both on the hillfort and its associated (ancillary) settlement nearby. Studies revealed limited evidence of Neolithic occupation in the area of the settlement. Presumably, the hillfort goes back in its origins to the Early Iron Bronze age and appears to have been used as a dwelling site by the people of West Balt Barrow Culture. During a different, much better documented phase of occupation in the Early Medieval period (10th- 1s t half of the 13th c.) the site appears to have functioned as a centre of production activity. The site of the ancillary settlement at Jeziorko was revisited in 2003 to verify the results of the 1950s study which had left some trenches incompletely excavated. This time investigation covered an area of 200 m2, exposing thirty two archaeological features and at least four occupation levels. Of a rich assortment of evidence sherds were the largest group - 6.529 pieces, followed by animal bone fragments. The group of small finds (61 pieces) included metal objects: e.g. pins, knives, a hook, a perforator, a needle; bone finds: e.g. pins, handles; fired clay and pottery objects: e.g. spindlewhorls, weights, miniature vessels; stone finds: an axe, rubbers; the list is closed by a glass and an amber find. But the most spectacular find from the 2003 season is an imported bronze zoomorphic figurine, probably of Hallstatt provenance - a 2 x 4 cm representation, presumably of a horse - a pendant, as suggested by a suspension loop threaded onto a bronze ring (JAREMEK 2004). Research generally confirmed Early Iron Age chronology established for the ancillary settlement and helped to narrow down the dating of the Early Medieval material to 10th -12th c., keeping in force its earlier interpretation as a production settlement.