Studia Lednickie, tom XXII (2023)

The following article is devoted to vexillological research and conservation aspects of the 20th-century veterans’ banner of the Insurgents and Warriors Society (TPiW) from Zdziechowa against the background of the regional tradition of the Wielkopolska Uprising. The work has three objectives. The first is the verification of archival materials, placed in the historical context of the battle of Zdziechowa and the development of the Insurgents and Warriors Society (the history of its establishment, the assumptions adopted and the figures of veterans). The second – identification of the kind and type of banner, its construction, and the technique and technology of its manufacture, together with the determination of the state of its preservation and the indication of the causes of the damage it has received. In addition, an attempt was made to determine the provenance of the banner, its dating, and to identify the manufacturing plant (workshop) in which it was made. The conducted study involved scientific consultation, research of source materials, as well as comparative analysis of analogously dated objects. The obtained results of the formal and content analysis and their interpretation constitute the content of this article.

In the course of prospections of the shores of Lednica Lake with metal detectors carried out in cooperation with WGEH (Wielkopolska Exploratory – Historical Group) – “GNIAZDO”, the Museum of First Piasts has acquired hundreds of metal relics of various chronologies. Among them are also dozens of artefacts dating back to the period of Roman infl uence. One of them is the eponymous pelta-shaped fitting, which came from a horse harness or belt used by a Roman soldier. The form of the appliqué indicates a connection with Celtic aesthetics which infl uenced the look of the imperial army’s armament in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries AD. The articleis an attempt to understand the symbolism and function of this particular ornament based on the numerous analogies collected, and presents possible scenarios for the influx of this type of object into Barbaricum.

In the course of research conducted at early medieval sites, the so-called lead discs with holes were discovered. Determining the function of these objects poses many difficulties. Some recognize them as scales weights, others as weights. The microscopictraseological analyses of 20 lead discs and 2 clay spinners from the collection of the Museum of the First Piasts at Lednica, presented in this article, allowed us to identify a number of traces created during their use. Juxtaposing this information with other metric features in the analysed collection of discs, four functional categories were separated: spinners, weights, beads and holders.

The osteological material obtained during the renovation and restoration works carried out in 2016 in the crypt of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Franciscan Fathers in Gniezno was subjected to anthropological studies. Numerous human remains located loosely in the crypt were examined and put in order. In the course of the analysis, it was determined that they came from no less than 41 individuals, who died at various ages and who were of different sexes. The ossuary was also examined, where the deposited human remains belonged to no less than 111 individuals.