2022/01/15 by Kowalczyk-Matys, Paulina
paper · doi:10.34616/ssa.2021.63.39.46
The article deals with issues related to the position of lead products in the sphere of funeral rituals of the Lusatian culture community, mainly the Upper Silesian-Lesser Poland group. Almost all the analysed artefacts can be classified as ornaments (e.g. rings, beads, pendants, buttons). More than 100 items are known, all of them originating exclusively from sepulchral sites. These are the cemeteries in Gliwice Łabędy-Przyszówka, Jankowice, Kokotów, Kwaczała, Mstów, Orzech, Piasek and Świbie. The site in Piaski, should be mentioned separately, because the cemetery was used by the Pomeranian culture community. Almost all categories of lead objects have their counterparts made of bronze or clay. Lead ornaments were found primarily in inhumation graves. Graves furnished with lead artefacts represent both the “poor” and “rich” categories. The finds from Jankowice and Piaski are exceptional, as the context indicates that the items were deposited as hoards. While discussing lead products, finds of objects made of silver are sometimes mentioned, but their connection with the metallurgy of the Lusatian culture community is mostly hypothetical. Lead objects are a peculiar phenomenon in the milieu of the Lusatian culture. The occurrence of lead ornaments has strict chronological (HaC-HaD) and territorial (Upper Silesia, western Lesser Poland) boundaries. Despite the relatively easy processing of lead and probably high availability of the raw material, ornaments made of this material did not gain popularity.