24. Early medieval strongholds in the Middle East Europe as an instruments of power over people and territory
The Polish word "gród" (often translated into English as "stronghold", but literally should be translated as "enclosure") means by definition an enclosed area. This term sounds similar in all Slavic languages, while the differences concern its interpretation. Human made fortifications are easy to observe, even without archaeological research, and many, especially older interpretations, point mainly to an external threat as the reason for their construction. However, this was probably not the main reason, as the threads had always been there, and fortified settlements were built mainly in two periods of (pra)history on the territory of Poland - at the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age by people of the Lusatian culture, and then only 1000 years later by the Slavs. So, was the military function the most important, or were there other factors at play? What or who forced people to make an effort to build them? This is what we want to look at in this section, with a little more emphasis on the question of fortified settlements as elements of power in the settlement landscape.
Between the 8th and 12th century, the Polabian Slavs built numerous strongholds in what is now north-eastern Germany (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, eastern Holstein). These characteristic fortifications, with ramparts in a wood-earth construction and defensive ditches, occupied favourable positions for defence and always showed signs of settlement use. Over time, they changed their appearance and had various military and political, and sometimes economic and religious, functions. Archaeological excavations and written sources provide information about this. Reliable dating, based in particular on dendrochronology, allows a substantial interpretation of the development of Slavic strongholds and the purpose of fortifications against the background of social and military development. The lecture provides an overview of the Polabian strongholds and summarises the current state of research.
Archaeological excavations on the Castle Hill in Pułtusk lasted ten years, without winter breaks. They covered a significant part of the castle courtyard, which generally corresponded to the area of the center of the older stronghold. The historical phases were formed by layers of wooden structures with a unique state of preservation, as were the accompanying layers, filled with a wealth of organic remains and a variety of artefacts. The bishop's stronghold was built on the ruins of an older defensive structure in the first half of the 13th century. An important feature of the later stratification process was the dynamic growth of layers and accompanying structures. The discovered wooden constructions formed a network of streets, filled with dense development of several settlement phases. The research was interrupted by the political and economic events of the mid-1980s. The secured entire material found its place in the exhibition halls and warehouses of the local museum.
Strongholds, or delimited settlements. Their form, distinct from typical settlements and surrounded by some kind of rampart or other obstacle, imposes their interpretation as defensive sites. However, many of these ramparts were not of a size that could significantly ensure security. This was especially true in the oldest settlements of this type. Only over time did the enlargement and complication of "fortifications" provide real protection against threats. The construction of strongholds therefore seems to be an action dictated by more complex, often elusive today, factors. The presentation will analyze the development, transformations, and significance of strongholds in the settlement structures of the Rega River basin, starting from the oldest known objects of this type from the turn of antiquity and the early Middle Ages, through the tribal period, the beginnings of the Pomeranian state, up to the 12th century, when they lose their importance and cease to be used.
The participation of the Slavs and Scandinavians in the formation of the early medieval economy of Central and Northern Europe, as well as the trade routes connecting Europe with the Middle East, has already been discussed many times. Western Balts also had their share in this system, they fortified the trade routes with a network of strongholds that served not so much a military function as an economic one. As with Slavic sites, the function of at least some of the Prussian strongholds may need to be reviewed. Archaeological evidence, as well as the specifics of these sites, may suggest that these places served two purposes: taxation and trade.
In Autumn 2023, wide-area rescue excavation studies were commenced at 18 Sukiennicza St. in Gdańsk in the location of an early medieval hillfort and a burial site, and a Teutonic Knights castle from a later date. In the course of the excavations, wooden structures of the hillfort have been unearthed, comprising dwelling buildings, utility structures, and a network of streets. A particularly notable structure is a large, durable wooden building in Greek-cross plan discovered on the premises of a skeleton burial site. According to initial suspicions, it is a hillfort church known from written sources. The preserved distinction between the area of the daily life in the hillfort – the sphere of the profane – and the sphere of the sacred suggests that the building fulfilled religious functions. The presence of the church on the hillfort premises is the sole identifiable symbol of the Piast rule over the residents and the area in the 12th-century Gdańsk that has been discovered so far.
Eastern Pomerania in the early Middle Ages was a region with a complex and dynamically evolving political, settlement-territorial, and social structure. The strongholds that emerged there served various functions, ranging from tribal centres to local ducal power hubs, which, like the rest of Pomerania, periodically came under the control of the early Piast state. This paper will address topics such as the origins of strongholds, their structure and functions during the tribal period, changes in the settlement-territorial framework, and the role of strongholds during periods of political transformation. The analysis of their functions will go beyond traditional defensive and military interpretations, also considering economic, administrative, and communication aspects. Special emphasis will be placed on reconstructing the organizational structure of strongholds, their place within the system of power, and the role they played in shaping the settlement network of the region.
In the second half of the 8th c., a new type of settlement appeared in the Central Oder region – strongholds. The first ones surrounded by ramparts occupied a small area. The fortifications themselves were also not very impressive. Based on current research, it can be assumed that these oldest centers were established in places of particular significance for local communities. The factor that could have determined the enclosure of a certain area with a rampart could have been the role of a given place sanctioned by sacred tradition. Fortified settlements were also established as trade and economic centers, and they also served military functions. Especially the 10th c., was a period of particularly intensive development of the settlement network in this area. Fortified settlements served as central places for small communities. At the end of the 10th century, as a result of the expansion of the Piast state, many fortified settlements, along with their settlements, declined.
The Wierzyca River is one of the left tributaries of the lower Vistula, originating in the Kashubian Lake District. Its basin covers an area of 1,603 km². The study of stronghold settlements in this region is an intriguing, yet underexplored research topic. So far, 30 strongholds have been identified (8th–13th c.).
The aim of this paper is to present the results of the spatial, topographical, and functional analyses of the strongholds in the Wierzyca River basin. The research aims to determine the defensive and administrative roles of individual strongholds, as well as to examine their economic and communication networks. The study is based on GIS analyses (Viewshed, Least Cost Path, Site Catchment), spatial modelling, and the examination of natural terrain barriers such as elevations and rivers. This approach allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing the location, their spatial significance, and the reconstruction of the of the landscape.
Strongholds are one of the most characteristic features of the landscape. They are attributed with a unique position in the order of settlement structures and special social significance. Built by local communities, they were an expression of their identity and identification with agreed cultural patterns, but also shaped social relations, strengthening group affiliation. Despite the interregional similarity of forms and structures, the context in which they were created was diverse, and their function was subject to change. Some of these centres were endowed with such clear symbolic connotations that for several hundred years they served as a central point, a kind of genius loci, uniting the communities inhabiting a given area. Other strongholds existed for such a short time that the tradition of the place did not have time to become entrenched in the community's memory. The mentioned phenomena can be illustrated by the strongholds built in the territory on the lower Warta and Noteć Rivers, which were built in the early Middle Ages.
One of the peculiarities of the Eastern Baltic region during prehistory is the large number of hillforts. Although their usage dates from around 1200 BC to about 1350 AD, there are several points during this period when notable changes in the functions and fortification types occur. One such point is the 11th century AD. The overall tendency is that in the mid-11th century the overall number of hillforts decreases, but those that remain are built larger and stronger. This paper will present the authors work in creating a detailed and reliable database of hillforts in Latvia, thus enabling analyses of hillfort dynamics in Eastern Latvia (the historical regions of Vidzeme and Latgale) during the 11th century. By analysing the changes, they will be compared with the processes observed in neighbouring regions and the possible reasons for these changes will be sought.
A short stretch of the pre-valley between the Vistula and lower Noteć constituted a natural border between Kuyavia and Eastern Pomerania in the Middle Ages. For several centuries this border was a zone of contact between culturally and politically distinct areas. Its importance was underscored by the fortified settlements erected along this line, which guarded its stability and played a key role during periods of Polish-Pomeranian fighting. Some of them (sites in Bydgoszcz or nearby Pawlówek) should be attributed to the initiative of the Piasts. Others - such as Wyszogród, located at the mouth of the Brda River to the Vistula, can be attributed to the Pomeranian side.
The aim of the research undertaken is to present the genesis of the strongholds located between the Vistula and Noteć rivers and the role they played in the formation of political, economic and cultural relations in the Pomeranian-Kujawy border zone in the younger phases of the early Middle Ages. The discussion will use
Leibniz-Zentrum für Archäologie Zentrum für Baltische und Skandinavische Archäologie
Fortified settlements are often monuments of long existence. Being built originally by one group
with a specific purpose, they might change in appearance, function or cultural affiliation
over time.
The lecture emphasises the necessity of proving contemporaneity for the interpretation of
systems of fortifications, by showing case studies from the Russian
Kaliningrad district. Here, large numbers of so far mostly unstudied hillforts are
concentrated within a limited, but rich in archaeological sites landscape, showing
settlement traces from Bronze Age until Medieval times. By applying the method of
‘speed-dating’, a combination of drilling and C14 dating conducted at the embankments,
several hillforts in those agglomerations were recently dated by the author. The resulting ‘heartbeat of hillforts’ made it possible to identify contemporary hillforts and allow for a detailed interpretation of the relation between the strongholds, sometimes also hinting at their probable function.
The paper will be focused on the strongholds in Bohemia of the 11th-13th centuries as centres of government - as described in written sources, both chronicles (especially Kosmas') and documents - or as seats of castellans and military garrisons, places of markets and administration of justice, focal points of Christianization of the country, but also as locations where the first noble residences - courts - are documented.
Bearing in mind the discussion of Karol Modzelewski and Buczek on centres of service organisation, the paper will touch upon the position of early medieval castles in the economy of the whole country - or also the issue of the so-called service organisation.
Research on the remains of early medieval fortresses in central Poland, which has been going on for almost a century, has recently been intensified after years of stagnation at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. It has provided a wealth of new data on the dynamics of the emergence, development, transformation and decline of fortresses in the area between the Warta, Bzura and Pilica rivers. The paper will focus on the attempt to answer the question to what extent the archaeological research of the central Polish strongholds, despite all the gaps and imperfections, constitutes useful material for the reconstruction of the system of territorial governance of the Piast monarchy. Can archaeology, and if so to what extent, provide data that would allow for the verification or supplementation of the theses developed by historians dealing with this issue?
Located in a marshy area at the confluence of the Sieniocha with the Huczwa (tributary of the Western Bug), the early medieval settlement complex in Czermno included a stronghold and several settlements and cemeteries in its catchment, connected by a network of timber trackways.
A major new development in the study of Czermno following many seasons of excavation (1940, 1952, 1974-1976, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1997) was brought by an international project implemented in 2011/2013 joined by several institutions enabled by government funding (Poland - NPRH, NCN, MKiDN; Germany - GWZO, Lepizig). The last decade has seen a comprehensive publication of findings from all past fieldwork in Czermno, and new excavation of some of the ramparts and suburb settlements.
Given its likely identification with the stronghold of Cherven’ and its situation amidst marshy meadows (a setting highly promising for a range environmental), Czermno ought to become the key early medieval site in eastern Poland.
The aim of this paper is to present the cultural phenomenon of the form of specific stronghold complexes located on lake islands in the South Baltic Lakeland. Their functional interpretation, based on both written and archaeological sources, allows us to consider them as places where elite armed men, noblemen, and in some of them also members of dukes families resided. Some of these sites fully meet the criteria of a complex central place, as set out by Eike Gringmuth-Dallmer, adapting Walter Christaller's central place theory for the needs of archaeology. The most outstanding example of such a site is Ostrów Lednicki; apart from it, however, one can indicate quite a large group of analogous sites on both sides of the Oder. The peak periods of construction and use of such sites coincided exactly with the formation of early states in the area of North-Western Slavdom, which seems to be no coincidence.
Central Pomerania is one of the areas with the most significant number of early medieval strongholds preserved today. This is probably why the area became the focus of an extraordinary research project carried out half a century ago by a team led by Jerzy Olczak and Kazimierz Siuchniński. New surveys of heavily forested areas, using LiDAR data, made it possible to significantly expand the list of sites and verify and clarify some objects' chronology. The paper will present the results of the excavations in the context of the distinctiveness of this part of Pomerania with the leading role of the Słupia River and the Słupsk and Udorpie (Bytów) strongholds located at its edge.
