Migration Period
between Odra and Vistula

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Suchań

Suchań, Stargard district, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, three gold objects of Scandinavian provenance discovered here in 2006 by Bogdan Kreczko on the upper terrace of the ice-marginal valley of the Reczyca attributed to a unique →Migration Period  deposit: a Scandinavian bracteat type C (IK 619,1) →Scandinavian Bracteat with a runic inscription, an openwork ring pendant of Scandinavian type and a solid ring (fig. 1). They were submitted to the Monuments Protection Office in Szczecin, their finder received the highest reward provided for under the Polish law. Rescue and regular excavations, made in 2007 and 2013 respectively, led to the identification of a multi-cultural settlement from the Early Iron Age (as documented by several bronze situla fragments), Late Pre-Roman Period (a winged pin attributable to Jastorf Culture), Roman Period (brooches, tweezers, Roman denarii, etc.) and Migration Period, such as evidence of occupation by a Dębczyno Group community. Three more gold objects surfaced and were linked to the scattered deposit: a bracteat type C (IK 153,2) with a runic inscription and two openwork ring pendants, one of them with a cross-like design at centre (figs. 2 and 3). The dating of the hoard is early AD 6th c. Both bracteats and the three ring pendants have their closest analogies in finds from Bornholm, Zealand and SE Sweden, and attest the presence in West Pomerania of arrivals from Scandinavia. Other Migration Period finds from S. include a cruciform  brooch (Kreuzförmigefibel) type Jutland (fig. 4) and a Langobard brooch in Animal Style (fig. 5) →Langobards, the only of its kind discovered east of the Odra River. All these objects are now in keeping of the National Museum in Szczecin (NMS). The site and the gold deposit from the →Migration Period  have been published only on the MPOV web page.

Analogies: →Karlino , →Wapno , →Zagorzyn , →Sorte Muld II  (Bornholm) and →Uppåkra (in Scania).

AB

Literature: A. Bursche, J. Kowalski (ed.), Barbarzyńskie Tsunami - Okres Wędrówek Ludów w dorzeczu Odry i Wisły, Warszawa-Szczecin 2017.

  • Fig. 1. Suchań, three stray finds from the scattered Migration Period deposit: Scandinavian bracteat, ring pendant and ring, photo. M. Bogacki (in NMS). full resolution

    Fig. 1. Suchań, three stray finds from the scattered Migration Period deposit: Scandinavian bracteat, ring pendant and ring, photo. M. Bogacki (in NMS).

  • Fig. 2. Suchań, openwork ring pendant from the deposit, photo. M. Bogacki (in NMS). full resolution

    Fig. 2. Suchań, openwork ring pendant from the deposit, photo. M. Bogacki (in NMS).

  • Fig. 3. Suchań, finds from the deposit, photo. K. Kowalski (in NMS). full resolution

    Fig. 3. Suchań, finds from the deposit, photo. K. Kowalski (in NMS).

  • Fig. 4. Suchań, cruciform brooch, photo. M. Bogacki (in NMS). full resolution

    Fig. 4. Suchań, cruciform brooch, photo. M. Bogacki (in NMS).

  • Fig. 5. Suchań, Thuringian brooch, photo. B. Kreczko (in NMS). full resolution

    Fig. 5. Suchań, Thuringian brooch, photo. B. Kreczko (in NMS).