Hoards of Early Medieval Silesia in the Context of Finds from Greater Poland

At least 110 sites with finds of early medieval coins have been recorded so far in Silesia. These include 62 hoards, 29 graves, 22 settlements and 14 stray and undefined. Finds from Greater Poland were much more numerous, as in 2010 their number amounted to as many as 237, including about 160 hoards. The earliest Silesian finds of early medieval coins are dated to the first half of the 10thc. At the settlement in Wszemirów, 3 fragments of dirhams minted after 914 were found. The earliest find, coming from an unknown locality (Śląsk XIII), contained (apart from illegible fragments of dirhams) a small part of an English coin of Athelstan (924–939). Other deposits, containing exclusively Oriental coins are dated to after 942/3 (Śląsk XIV) and after 954 (Sośnica). West European coins are primarily German denars from the Bavarian- Swabian circle, and they appeared in assemblages dated to the 970s (Obiszów, Niemcza). Silesian hoards from the 10th c. also contained considerable numbers of Bohemian coins, cross denars, various German coins, a somewhat lower number of Danish half-bracteates, single English, Italian and French specimens, as well as Ancient Roman denars. Apart from coins, there were also ornaments and silver raw materials, sometimes blanks (usually strongly fragmented). The weight of these assemblages oscillates between c. 7 g to 1.140 g, while the average weight is c. 100–600 g. 10th c. hoards from Greater Poland represent at least 42 finds. The earliest ones appear as early as the second quarter of this century (e.g. Piwonice, Ochle, Gościejewice). Other ones are dated to the 950s and 960s. the earliest assemblages contain exclusively Oriental coins and jewellery. Earlier on in Silesia, that is, in the 950s, the first West European denars occur in deposits, apart from dirhams. Such denars come from Cologne and Bavaria (Kuźnica Czarnkowska, Grzybowo, Gwiazdowo). In somewhat later assemblages there are also Bohemian, English, Danish and Italian cross denars, Byzantine milliarenses, single Ancient Roman denars or French coins. However, the ratio of dirhams is still somewhat higher than in Silesia. Apart from coins, jewellery and silver raw materials occur, and they are less fragmented than in Silesia. The weight of Greater Poland’s deposits from this period is from c. 7 g to 15 kg of silver (Dzierżnica II), c. 200–600 g being the average range of weight