Table Of ContentAli
Światowit Supplement Series P: Prehistory and Middle Ages, vol. XXIII
Światowit Supplement Series P: Prehistory and Middle Ages, vol. XXIII
Andrzej Szela
Brudnice stanowisko V. Nekropola kultury
przeworskiej ze środka pustki osadniczej
Warszawa 2021
Światowit Supplement Series P: Prehistory and Middle Ages, vol. XXIII
Andrzej Szela
Brudnice site V. A Przeworsk culture cemetery
in the heart of a settlement void
Warsaw 2021
Faculty of Archaeology University of Warsaw
Światowit Supplement Series P: Prehistory and Middle Age Volume XXIII
Editor of the Series
dr hab. Jerzy Żelazowski
Peer–reviewed by:
prof. dr hab. Andrzej Kokowski, prof. dr hab. Magdalena Mączyńska
Drawings
Bartłomiej Karch
Photographs
Andrzej Szela
Translation
Kinga Brzezińska
Layout&typesetting
Andrzej Szela
Cover design
Andrzej Szela
Cover photo
Grave 29 during exploration
and the stele from stone cluster 1
ISBN 978–83–66210–26–4
Publikację dofinansowano ze środków Ministra Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego
pochodzących z Funduszu Promocji Kultury
© authors
© Faculty of Archaeology University of Warsaw
ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28
Pl 00–927 Warsaw
Dear Readers,
As promised a few years ago on the occasion of the publication of the Kuczbork-Osada site
(2018), it gives me great pleasure to present you with another, fourth in total, book on the subject
of the Borderland and, at the same time, the second monograph in the series, this time concerning
site V at Brudnice—the site where much, not to say everything, started. “Finally,” many of you
will no doubt think. After all, individual material concerning the Brudnice cemetery has been
presented on various occasions. “Already,” I will say to that. Let us not forget that the last shovel
was driven into the ground at the site in 2019, and the last grave with Przeworsk culture contents
was only discovered in 2017. Many of you will also feel unsatisfied with the publication of only
the Przeworsk culture part of the cemetery. However, this is due to the fact that the book presents
the results of many specialist analyses, including ones which have not been previously carried
out for Przeworsk culture sites and which have significantly affected the cost of preparing the
publication. Yet, it seems that such an approach should become standard in the 21st century. As it
is, the publication boasts, among others, analyses of fatty acids and biomarkers from the vessels’
walls and analyses of strontium residues from the cremated material. Thanks to such studies,
we obtain completely new information on both the everyday life and interpersonal contacts of
the then inhabitants of northern Mazovia. Nevertheless, I also hope that we will soon be able to
see the second volume of the Brudnice monograph, presenting the next two stages of use of this
extraordinary cemetery. The first involves the Wielbark culture occupation in the late Roman
period, the second concerns the re–use of the site during the Migration period.
The dream of every researcher is to work on the results of his or her research, in the
case of Brudnice lasting for seventeen years, in comfort or at least in peace. Unfortunately, the
publication has been prepared in rather unsettling times. Although this is only one aspect, the
raging pandemic, among other things, has brought about the closure of libraries and warehouses
storing the material, rotating work in laboratories as well as closed kindergartens, schools and
remote learning. Thus, the reconstruction of the grave assemblages had to take place in the living
room, on the floor cluttered with toy blocks, and their analysis was interspersed with writing
lessons and solving first maths problems. On top of that, the typesetting of the publication was
accompanied by the ever–present virus, which also wanted to have its own, fortunately not the
last, say in its creation. However, despite so many adversities, I managed to finish the work, so
that it can be enjoyed by its recipients, above all, the one who has waited for it the most—my
daughter, Ala.
At this point, I would like to briefly thank all the people who have contributed in various
ways to the excavation work over the years. First and foremost, my sincere thanks go to Elżbieta
and Mirosław Kaniecki for their continued kind permission to dig on their land. Thanks are also
due to the representatives of the local authorities, who from the very beginning had kind–
heartedly welcomed the presence of archaeologists in the area. In particular, the late Mr Grzegorz
Wesołowski, a local government official and true history aficionado, Mr Janusz Welenc, the Head
of the Żuromin County for many years, and Mr. Zbigniew Nosek, the Mayor of Żuromin during
the early years of the excavations, without whose help the research would have been much more
difficult, deserve a mention. It is also impossible not to mention Ms Teresa Żelazna, the Head of
the Brudnice village, who took great care of us and our base, and Mr Piotr Wlizło, an amazing
Indian chief, who not only personally tried his hand at excavations but also often supported us in
times of need. We also received various support, sometimes in the simplest ways, from: Mr and
Mrs Zofia and Karol Leszczyński from Brudnice, Mr and Mrs Stolarski and Mr and Mrs Zagórski
from Będzymin, Dariusz Budka and Tadeusz Manista from Żuromin, the firemen from the Rzężawy
Volunteer Fire Department, the no longer existing MAX Parkiet company from Żuromin as well
as many, many others who cannot be listed here. I should also mention and thank the dozen or
so students who over the years had been honing their skills in the Żuromin land. Many of them
had returned to Brudnice many times, sometimes throughout all their student years and even
after the graduation.
The work at the site could not have been carried out without the financial support
received mainly from the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw, the support of
the successive Mazovian Voivodeship Monument Conservators in Warsaw, represented by Ms
Barbara Jezierska, Mr Rafał Nadolny and Mr Jakub Lewicki, as well as Mr Krzysztof Kaliściak,
Ms Wanda Gołębiewska and Mr Zbigniew Dłubakowski from the Voivodeship Office for the
Protection of Monuments in Warsaw, Ciechanów Branch, and Mr Hubert Kowalski from the
Varia Foundation for the Humanities at the University of Warsaw.
To everyone who has supported us in any way, even with just a kind word, I offer my
heartfelt thanks.
Yours faithfully, Andrzej Szela
