The Mature Iron Age - Treasures from the Roman Empire,
the Amber Route and the Migration Period 200 BC - AD 500

       Cultural influences from the Celtic and later the Roman world filtered through to Greater Poland and much of Europe from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. Contact with the Celts and Romans led to significant cultural uniformity among the societies inhabiting these territories. Interaction with the Celts brought about major social change. Celtic societies were famed for their complex religious traditions and excellent metalworking skills and were responsible for introducing many new production techniques, some of them adopted from the Mediterranean world. By the 3rd century BC they had managed to infiltrate more than half of Europe, even reaching as far as southern Poland. At the beginning of the first millennium AD, with the frontiers of the Roman Empire clearly drawn on the Rhine and the Danube, political, military and trade contacts with the Romans became very important for the development of the Barbarian peoples living outside the Empire. Social change among Barbarian communities led to the formation of tribal aristocracies, with warriors playing an important role in society and power being inherited rather than elective as it had been previously. The Romans often made pacts with local Barbarian rulers, who, in turn, adopted certain Roman customs. This is demonstrated by the fact that costly sets of bronze and silver drinking vessels and gaming pieces appear in elite burials known as princely graves. Trade routes played an important part in disseminating Celtic and Roman culture (see map: "European trade routes in the first centuries AD") [01]. One of these vital communication tracts was the Amber Route - a term often used in general reference to all of the links between northern and southern Europe, from the Baltic coast to the Adriatic. The main route along which amber was traded ran from Aquileia, on the Adriatic coast, via first-rate Roman roads to the frontier towns and cities of the Empire, such as Carnuntum, Vindobona (modern-day Vienna) and Brigetio, passing further on through the central European territories of the Barbarian world towards the mouth of the Vistula.

       Roman written sources tell us that much of Barbarian Europe was inhabited by Germanic tribes, who steadily migrated from the north to the more appealing territories of southern and western Europe. Together with the Romans they helped bring about the downfall of the Celts, and then pressed forward, threatening the frontiers of the Roman Empire (with renewed effort after AD 375 when the Huns invaded Europe), ultimately founding their own kingdom on the ruins of the Western Empire, which finally fell in AD 476. The political unrest prompted by the Migration period also affected Poland. Various Germanic peoples, including Goths, Gepids, Vandals and Burgundii, came and went in search of new territories in which to settle. " The Migration Period from AD 375 to c. 500 " map [02] shows the impressive distances covered by these tribes. The Vandals reached as far as North Africa, where they reigned for almost a century, conducting raids on the Mediterranean Sea and sacking Rome in AD 455. Major battle sites are marked on the map (the Battle of Adrianople (Hadrianopolis), AD 378 - the Visigoths defeat the Romans; the Battle of Chalons (Catalaunian Fields), AD 451 - the Romans triumph over the Huns; the Battle on the River Nedao, AD 454 or 455 - the Huns are finally routed by the Gepids and their allies and are forced to retreat east).

       During this period, Greater Poland was an integral part of Barbarian Europe. This is demonstrated by the presence of imports which were mainly produced by Celtic and provincial Roman societies. Evidence for the existence of shared religious beliefs comes from the widespread custom of making ritual offerings (often of dogs) and raising temples with beaten clay floors, decorated with square and circle designs. Increasing social stratification is reflected in the diversity of burial assemblages and in the hoarding of valuable goods and materials. During this period southern Greater Poland was still culturally comparable to southern and central Poland, where there was a strong Celtic influence. This influence was manifest in the prevalent practice of ritually destroying weapons deposited in warriors' graves and in the rapid adoption of agricultural innovations, such as ox-drawn ploughs with an iron-sheathed blade and coulter [03], reaping hooks for cutting grass and rotary querns for milling grain. Craft and industry also flourished in this region, which is evidenced by the emergence of iron smelting and salt production sites, amber working centres and pottery workshops producing wheel-thrown ceramics. In contrast, northern Greater Poland had cultural ties with Pomerania, having been colonised for some time by Gothic tribes. Inhumation burials rather than cremations were popular among these societies. They raised burial mounds and stone circles (but avoided the deposition of weapons in graves) and became highly skilled in gold- and bronze-working. It was only after the turbulent times of the Migration period, which heralded the end of antiquity, that Greater Poland became populated by Slavic societies. This marked the dawn of a new stage in this region's history - the Middle Ages.

       1. A Roman merchant trades with a local aristocrat [05]. Metal [30], [31] and glass vessels [34], terra sigillata wares (relief-decorated pottery coated with red slip) [27], [28], [29], coins [52], [53], [54], [55], [56], [57], [58], [59], jewellery [47], [48], [49], [50], [51] and dress accessories [36], [37], [38], [39], [40], [41], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46] produced in the Roman Empire were exchanged for local products - predominantly amber and possibly slaves [05], as well as cattle and horses, providing merchants with transport and food for their long journeys.

       2. Settlement consisting of rows of enclosures [03]. Houses were built on a framework of wooden posts and their wattle walls filled with clay and whitewashed. Granaries raised on stilts were typical storage buildings of the period. Settlements often possessed their own wells. Farmers had new tools at their disposal: the farmer in this scene carries a plough with an iron-sheathed blade. Reaping hooks stand propped up against the wall of the house [04].

       3. Iron smelting was a common industry which was usually located on the outskirts of a settlement [03]. In Greater Poland iron was extracted from widely available bog iron ore, charcoal providing the fuel needed to fire the furnace. The smelting process took place in a single-use furnace producing a spongy metal. The iron recovered from the shattered furnace was reheated in a hearth, and then worked to remove any slag inclusions and render the material suitable for further processing by a smith.

       4. Reconstructed urn burial of a warrior of the end of the 3 rd century AD, discovered in Sadowie, Ostrów Wielkopolski District. The grave goods interred with him demonstrate his high social status: a ritually folded sword, a battleaxe, an arrowhead and shield fittings - boss and grip. This assemblage also comprised shears, a knife, a whetstone and three gold pendants.

       5. A battle between enemy groups in the 2nd century; the warriors' clothing, arms and armour are typical of the period. This scene illustrates the battle tactics used by Germanic tribes, relying on the joint efforts of mounted warriors and those on foot [18].

       6-8. Exchange goods

       6. Amber - this was the principal local trade commodity (on loan from Gdańsk Archaeological Museum)

       7. Celtic brooches with decorative knobs (on loan from Institute of Prehistory, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań) [37] and a belt buckle in the shape of a horse's head.

       8. Roman brooches , including some with enamel decoration [42], bronze, silver and gold (replica) coins [52], [53], [54], [55], [56], [57], [58], [59], glass bowl [34], oil lamp, phallic amulets, glass gaming pieces and beads.

       9 - 14. Clay vessels [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24], [25], [26], [27], [28], [29].

       9. Celtic wares: bronze cauldron [32] and two wheel-thrown pottery vessels, one painted and one graphite fabric.

       10. Roman wares: bronze bucket [33] and jugs [30], [31]; terra sigillata pottery [27], [28], [29].
       11. Characteristic local pottery forms, including a hedgehog vessel [25], beaker and cup with inset pieces of glass vessels [24], and a ribbed bowl modelled on glass vessels [26].

       12. Grey, wheel-turned bowls.

       13. Stave-built yew wood bucket with bronze fittings [35].

       14. Typical local handmade pottery.

       15 - 18. Jewellery, dress accessories, toiletry utensils and part of a hoard

       15. Jewellery and dress accessories made of iron, bronze, silver, gold and bone, including a belt buckle and strap end, a second buckle, pins, brooches, bracelets and a pendant.

       16. Toiletry utensils: combs, a razor and tweezers.

       17. Gaming pieces.

       18. Part of a 5th-century AD hoard from Siedlikowo, Ostrzeszów District: two gilded silver brooches, a silver buckle and ingot. This hoard also included numerous denarii and a silver lunula pendant.

       19. Tools: bottom stone of a rotary quern, sickle, quartzite nodule and bronze-coated iron firesteel for producing sparks to make fire, second firesteel, axe, hammer, file, awls with bone handles and knives [12].

       20. Arms and armour: swords [06], spearheads [07], [08], [09] and arrowheads [10], battleaxes [11] and shield fittings - boss [15], [16] and grips.

       21. Horse riding accessories: spurs [13], [14] and bridle with chain reins.

       22. A fully armed 1st-century AD warrior from southern Greater Poland [17]. He fought using a sword and two spears and protected himself with the help of a leather-covered wooden shield with metal fittings around the edges, a central boss and a grip. His sword scabbard is modelled on Roman gladius scabbards. The Barbarian warrior's clothing imitated the uniform of a Roman legionary: his cloak was held in place by a brooch pinned to his right shoulder, metal-tipped leather thongs hung from his belt almost down to his knees (weaponry and brooch based on a burial assemblage from Wymysłowo, Gostyń District; belt elements based on finds from a cemetery site in Domaradzice, Rawicz District).

       23. Reconstruction of a 1st-century AD drinking horn [35], based on fittings from an artefact of this type found in Czacz, Kościan District.

       24. A female inhabitant of northern Greater Poland - possibly a Goth - 2nd century AD [46]. Her high social status is denoted by the fine jewellery and dress accessories which she wears: two bronze fibula brooches decorated with strips of gold, a silver fibula, two pairs of silver bracelets, a necklace of glass and amber beads and a belt with bronze fittings. She keeps her personal possessions in a box hollowed out from a single piece of wood and fitted with a sliding lid and lock which is operated by a hook key (jewellery and dress accessories modelled on finds from Kowalewko, Oborniki District; wooden box based on finds from Leśno, Chojnice District).

       25. A silhouetted temple lit by the flames of a sacrificial fire can be seen in the painted background (based on sanctuary sites from Kujavia).

       26. Reconstruction of a dog burial - an animal offering from a sanctuary discovered in Inowrocław.

       27. Artefacts bearing characteristic symbols associated with the cult worship of sky and fertility deities: stone discs, projectile point and knife decorated with circles and triangles, cowrie shell amulet, double pot and stone disc depicting two figures (probably deities) with exaggeratedly large hands raised aloft [60].


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