Greater Poland’s Hoards from the Beginnings of the Polish State

In the 9th–11th c., hoards consisting of silver coins and ornaments chiefly occured in the Baltic zone and they are a kind of distinguishing mark of this zone against the background of other European countries. These hoards present archaeological sources which allow for the examination of various aspects of the culture and civilisation of those days. In the territory of northern Poland, especially in Pomerania, there are known hoards which are dated to as early as the 9th c., or even the 8th/9th centuries. On the other hand, in the territory of later Greater Poland, hoards mainly appear in the first half of the 10th c. They become more widespread in the second half of the 10th and in the 11th c. These hoards can be roughly divided into so-called dirham hoards and somewhat later ones, which contain Western coins. The map of the distribution of early medieval hoards in Greater Poland shows an evident concentration of such finds in the hinterland of the most important centres of the arising state of the Piasts—in the vicinity of strongholds in Giecz, Gniezno and Poznań, as well as in the hinterland of Ostrów Lednicki and Kruszwica. There are various hypotheses in scholarly literature which attempt at explaining this phenomenon. The distribution of hoards was related to the trade routes of those days. The relation of the hoards to a defined group of contemporary society was also pointed out. At that time, a group of magnates in the entourage of the duke was in the process of formation. These magnates lived in the neighbourhood of the especially significant centres of the arising state and they were believed to actively participate in the exchange of goods, especially long-distance ones. Another issue is the reason behind the deposition of hoards in the ground. Comparative studies incline the researcher to assume that artefacts made from precious metals which were deposited in the earliest of Great Poland’s hoards may have come from ceremonial exchange, or, more precisely, from gifts granted by the ruler to his men. However, another possibility must also be taken into consideration. The person who deposited the hoard was not doing this in order to temporarily secure it and to be able to extract and use it at some later time. Rather, in contrast to this, the deposition of the hoard had a completely different meaning: a non-economic and non-prestige one. It could be assumed that the deposition of the hoard was (at least in some cases) related to magical or cult activities. Such practices have been well-known since Antiquity