Wczesnośredniowieczna osada przygrodowa w Podebłociu (stanowisko 3) na tle zespołu osadniczego

Abstrakt

Podebłocie is situated on the right bank of the Vistula river, about 100 km to the south of Warsaw. In this small village there is a settlement complex from the Early Middle Ages. The complex consists of a hillfort in the central part, three open settlements and a cemetery with cremation burials (barrows on the natural dunes), contemporary with the settlement sites. At Podebłocie the construction of the fortifications of the hillfort, a number of sunkenfloored huts of two types have been discovered during excavations of Warsaw University (1981-1996). The excavations produced a large number of various finds: several hundred small finds (a lot of tools and weapons) and a large quantity of pottery and animal bones. Three fragments of fired clay, usually called “the Podebłocie tablets” are the most important finds from Podebłocie. On their surface they have signs of writing. These inscriptions have been read as Greek writing or Turkish runes. In the first case the inscription would read “Jesus Christ conquer” or as has been recently suggested it is rather an abbreviated form of the Nomina Christi. If these hypotheses are correct, we would have not only specimens of early writing on Polish territory, but also the oldest traces of the presence of Christianity in Poland. The main subject of this dissertation is the presentation of the results of the excavating of the settlement. The author attempts to explain the culture context of the Podebłocie tablets. The dissertation provides a synthesis of the long time research carried out at Podebłocie and opens a new stage of discussion.