The NorTherN ParT of The SaNdomierz BaSiN in the early roman Period 1 Settlements – Cemeteries – elites

The Early Roman artefacts found in the interfluve of the rivers Vistula and San indicate that the travel and transport routes that run through the area in question led not only to the development of local settlement but also to the formation of a hierarchical local society. This is indicated by the presence of richly furnished burials, with grave goods including imported metal vessels. In the Younger and Late Roman Period, the region underwent changes caused by the growth of settlement and its move to the south.

35 cm, and the rim diameter was 20 cm. The artefact might have been lost alongside other works of art probably during the Second World War. However, a later photograph showing a stamnos, taken by the archaeologist W. Demetrykiewicz, has been preserved in the Archives of the Archaeological Museum in Kraków ( Fig. 2: 1b; Woźny 2018, fig. 2). The vessel, classified as type E 17, was previously dated to the Late Pre-Roman Period, around 90 -60 BCE. It was believed that it had come from Hellenistic workshops and reached central Europe in the 1 st c. BCE through the Celtic environment (Dąbrowska 1988, 189;Eggers 1951Eggers , 156, cat. no. 2195Wielowiejski 1985, 175).
Stamnoi, typical vessels of Hellenistic wine serving set, are found outside the Etruscan world, primarily in the burials of early Celtic elites along the Moselle and in the Middle Rhine basin dated to the 5 th c. BCE (Guggisberg 2017, 99 -103, fig. 6). Taking into account the analysis conducted, Z. Woźniak considered the vessel from Tarnobrzeg to be an Etruscan product from the first half of the 4 th c. BCE, which had arrived in the environment of the Pomeranian culture in connection with ethnic movements in the first half of the 4 th c., triggered by the expansion of the Celts towards the east (Woźniak 1993, 373 -376, fig. 3;4;1994, 131, 132). However, it cannot be ruled out that the stamnos was brought back by J. F. Tarnowski and his wife from their 10-month trip around Italy in 1803 -1804, during which they also showed interest in Etruscan artefacts (Grottowa 1957, 90). Fig. 2. Bronze vessels from the area near Tarnobrzeg. 1 -stamnos (1a acc. to Woźniak 1993, 1b acc. to Antoniewicz 1928; 2 -jug of type E 122 (after Antoniewicz 1953).
The next vessels from the Roman state were discovered among the materials of the Przeworsk Culture. In Polish archaeology, the scarce pre-Roman Przeworsk Culture materials found in the northern part of the Sandomierz Basin are associated with the development of settlement on the left bank of the Vistula, in the Sandomierz Upland. They are supposed to be traces of penetration and extensive economic use of the adjacent area, i.e. the Sandomierz Basin, by the people inhabiting the left bank of the Vistula (Woźniak 1994, 127, 128). Said settlement intensifies from stage B1 of the Early Roman Period.
A distinct expansion of settlement within an evolving socio-economic system in the area in question takes place during stage B2 of the Early Roman Period. Przeworsk Culture settlements, verified in the course of excavations, developed until the beginning of the Younger Roman period, up to stage C1. on the other hand, no cemeteries have been found to date on the right bank of the Vistula River; only isolated burials, usually discovered by chance, are known from this area. This scarcity results from the state of research, as cemeteries have been recorded further south, by the San River, and even in the Beskid zone (Tokarczyk 2018, 253, 254).
In the area in question, settlements are located mainly on the so-called Garb Tarnobrzeski, which is a sand-and-loam hill (182 m above sea level) with rendzinas in its immediate vicinity, where settlement points identified in the course of surface surveys are concentrated (Fig. 1). of note are the excavated settlements at Tarnobrzeg-Zakrzów (Lasota 2005a, fig. 1;Podgórska-Czopek 1991, 71 -114); Baranów Sandomierski, Tarnobrzeg Dist., site 1 (Lasota 2005a, fig. 1;2005b, fig. 1;2005c, 263 -304); as well as at Machów, sites 3 and 10 (presently Tarnobrzeg-Machów;Krauss 1963, 351;Lasota 2005b, fig. 1), andat Skopanie, Tarnobrzeg Dist. (Krauss 1963, 351;Lasota 2005b, fig. 1). The last three have only briefly been mentioned in the literature. At Tarnobrzeg-Zakrzów and Baranów Sandomierski, several features were identified as half-dugouts of residential character. Moreover, hearths were discovered there, and the settlement at Skopanie yielded three wells with wooden shafts. The presence of bloomeries was confirmed at site 3 at Machów. Furthermore, at site 10 in the same locality, attention has been drawn to the presence of a recessed dugout of post and beam construction. At the Tarnobrzeg-Zakrzów settlement, there was a dog's head deposited in a half-dugout (feature 2), which should probably be interpreted as a sacrifice buried under the house threshold. Such behaviour is attested in the Early Roman Period in the areas of the Przeworsk Culture as well as other cultures of Central European Barbaricum (Beneš/Nývltová Fišáková 2009;Gralak 2012, 115, 116;Polit 2019;Sielicka 2015, 156, 157).
The chronological position of the settlements mentioned above is narrowed down by isolated metal artefacts. In the case of the Tarnobrzeg-Zakrzów site, it is a brooch of Almgren group IV, probably representing the Brzeźce type, which should be regarded as indicative of a developed stage of stage B2 (Kokowski 1991, 109, 110), whereas two iron buckles of groups C 13 and G 1 after R. Madyda-Legutko (1989) indicate that the settlement functioned both in the Early Roman Period as well as at the beginning of the Younger Roman Period. A brooch of Almgren group VI was recovered from site 3 at Machów, which makes it possible to place the chronology of the settlement generally in the Younger Roman Period.
The above-mentioned chronology of the settlements located on Garb Tarnobrzeski is confirmed by the ceramic material, as mostly fragments of hand-made vessels were discovered there. Kitchenware consisted mainly of pots with S-shaped profiles and coarse surfaces (Fig. 3: 2,4,6), while the so-called tableware included strongly profiled vases and bowls with smooth, blackened surfaces ( Fig. 3: 1, 3, 7 -11). Wheel-made vessels with smooth grey surfaces made up only a small percentage share. A somewhat different trend has been observed at the excavated settlement at Machów site 10, where pottery made using a potter's wheel was dominant (Krauss 1963, 351).
As mentioned above, no cemeteries and only few burials are known from the areas on the right bank of the Vistula (  27). 3 Noteworthy among them is a single cremation grave of a Przeworsk Culture warrior, discovered in 2008 during renovation works under the eastern part of the main body of the palace in Tarnobrzeg-Dzików. objects of Roman provenience were found among the grave goods (Handerek 2008). An analysis of the elements of its furnishings indicates that the grave should be dated to phases B1b -B2a. The cinerary urn was a classic vessel of the Przeworsk Culture, vase of type II/3 as distinguished ( Fig. 4: 1; rim diameter Fig. 4. Tarnobrzeg Dzików, grave discovered in 2008. 1 -clay cinerary urn; 2 -iron spearhead; 3 -iron sword; 4 -iron axe; 5 -iron rivet; 6 -iron knife; 7 -corroded iron object and bronze strap-end; 8 -bimetallic chair-shaped spur (photo U. Socha). Scale: a -1 -3, 6; b -4, 5, 7; c -8. approx. 32 cm, height 24 cm, base diameter 14 cm) by T. Liana (1970). The preserved metal grave goods are heavily damaged, burnt on a funeral pyre and ritually bent. They include an iron double-edged sword with a lenticular cross-section of the blade, preserved in fragments, with a reconstructed blade length of approx. 60 cm and tang length of 8 cm ( Fig. 4: 3); a very badly damaged shield boss, including a rivet with a high head (Fig. 4: 5); 2 iron spear heads -one with a broad blade, reconstructed total length of approx. 22 cm, the other much narrower, with a total length of 18 cm. Particularly noteworthy is a pair of chair-shaped spurs with bronze bases with decorative rivets and iron goads with engraved parallel lines intended for applying inlay (Fig. 4: 8). Chair-shaped spurs are not common equipment of Przeworsk Culture horsemen, bimetallic specimens even less so, thus they should be considered unique. To date, they are known from the cemeteries at Kryspinów, Kraków Dist. (grave 23), dated to phase B1b (Godłowski 1970, 34, fig. 3: f, g); from Szarbia, Proszowice Dist. (feature 144), also from phase B1b (Naglik 2019, 211, 212, fig. 15: 6a -c;tab. 58: 15); as well as from Sandomierz-Krakówka (princely grave) from phase B2a (cf. below) and from the Early Roman cemetery at Michałowice, Kazimierza Dist., site 1, as a stray find (Zagórska-Telega et al. 2012, fig. 9: 10). The spurs have iron pricks decorated with silver inlay; their copper-alloy bases were fixed with four rivets, as indicated by the well-preserved examples from Szarbia and Kryspinów. In general, in the light of the latest research chair-shaped spurs of different variants are found in the Przeworsk Culture, as well as in the area of the entire Barbaricum, mainly in phases B2, (Smółka-Antkowiak 2016, 27). Chair-shaped spurs, often decorated with silver inlay, are characteristic mainly of the Elbe circle and Scandinavia; however, they are also attested in the Middle Danube region, especially in southern Moravia and Lower Austria (Tejral 2002, 141 -159).
Another unique element of the grave goods from the Tarnobrzeg-Dzików grave under discussion is a massive iron socketed axe (length approx. 10 cm, width 7 cm; Fig A special feature of the grave in question are the remains of a metal vessel formed by forging ( Fig.  5: 1). It was made of thin sheet bronze, about 1 mm thick on the body and about 2 mm thick near the rim of the vessel. The rim is strongly everted, the body is bulbous, the base is flat and measures 13 -14 cm in diameter. The weight of all preserved fragments is 360 g. Moreover, a fragment of an iron handle-mount (Fig. 5: 1b) and an iron rod ( Fig. 5: 1c), which was part of the handle, also come from the vessel in question, which should be classified as an Östland-type bucket.
Another piece of equipment unique in the environment of the Przeworsk Culture is a massive, short, bronze bell with an iron clapper, with a total weight of 37 grams ( Fig. 5: 2). As the dome was intentionally crushed, its shape cannot be reconstructed with certainty. In all probability, it was pyramidal, 30 mm high, with a hexagonal suspension loop of 18 mm in height. At the lower edge of the dome, there are 4 knobs, spaced equally around the perimeter. Bells of different variants are found in the area of Central European Barbaricum (Nowakowski 1988). The bell from Tarnobrzeg-Dzików can be classified as type I, variant D, as distinguished by B. M. Pomberger (2018). In the Roman world, bells had a variety of uses (cf. Garbsch 2003;Parker 2018;Pomberger 2018, 1), which cannot be clearly defined as regards the barbarian environment. Since the bell was found in a horseman's grave, it can be suggested that it was hung by the horse harness.
In the context of the discussed grave from Tarnobrzeg-Dzików, we should recall here information about the richly furnished burial with bronze vessels, "various wire and silver ornaments" and "copper statues" that was supposedly discovered in Wielowieś, located near Tarnobrzeg-Dzików and part of the estate of the Tarnowski family in the 19 th c. This information can be found in two works published in the mid-19 th c. by F. M. Sobieszczański (1847, 15;1852, 42). A complete analysis of the data presented in those publications was carried out by J. Kolendo (1980), who concluded that the grave discovered in Wielowieś was of princely character. Unfortunately, there is no data concerning the circumstances of its discovery or its closer location. The artefacts have not been registered in any museum collections.
The presented picture of settlement on the right bank of the Vistula is complemented by the finds of Roman coins. We have information about hoards consisting of several hundred Roman denarii from the 1 st and 2 nd c., which, unfortunately, have not been preserved in their entirety. Worth mentioning is the hoard found in 1850 in Chmielów, Tarnobrzeg Dist., which was supposed to contain several hundred Roman coins, 21 of which, ranging from the issues of Nero to those of Marcus Aurelius, are detectable (Kunisz 1985, cat. no. 26). A hoard of about 1,000 coins is said to have been discovered before 1889 in Dzików (now Tarnobrzeg-Dzików); it supposedly consisted mainly of coins of Vespasian (Kunisz 1985, cat. no. 53). However, doubts exist that the information about the Dzików and Chmielów hoards may refer to the same deposit. Moreover, in 1885, in Wojków, Mielec Dist., on the right bank of the Wisłoka River, at its confluence with the Vistula, a hoard of several hundred denarii from the 1st and 2 nd c. was found in an earthen vessel (Kunisz 1985, cat. no. 309). Furthermore, in 1939-1944 Dist., playing village children found a hoard of Roman denarii in a vessel. Its size has not been determined; however, two coins are identifiable, including one of Hadrian (Kunisz 1985, cat. no. 283). These hoards, albeit not preserved in their entirety, are part of a significant influx of 2 nd c. denarii observed in the area of Central European Barbaricum. Extremely large coin hoards, containing issues from the times of Nero to the late Antonine era or the beginning of the reign of Septimius Severus, have been found. They testify not only to a considerable volume of exchange but also to an increase in hoarding at the end of the 2 nd and the beginning of the 3 rd c. (cf. Bursche 2008, 53, 54).
In the Early Roman Period, intense settlement developed not only in the northern part of the Sandomierz Basin but also on the other side of the Vistula River, on its left bank, i.e. in the southern part of the Sandomierz Upland (Orzechowski 2007, 66 -68). The archaeological material excavated in this area is essentially sepulchral in nature, whereas settlement sites are known mainly from surface surveys. only the settlement at site 1 at Świniary Stare, Sandomierz Dist., was excavated to a greater extent, but the material recovered is yet to be studied (Krauss 1963, 351, 352;Orzechowski 2007, 275). The presence of a Roman Period settlement was also confirmed during rescue excavations at site 22 at Koprzywnica, Sandomierz Dist. In addition to numerous vessel fragments, the site yielded fragments of a glass goblet, fragments of three fibulae and an iron buckle (Orzechowski 2007, 245). As was the case with the previous site, the artefacts discovered there have not been subjected to a scientific analysis.
on the other hand, as already mentioned, the area contains small cemeteries and isolated burials, including those with above average grave goods, which indicate the high status of the deceased. Two Przeworsk Culture cemeteries (sites 1 and 3) were discovered at Piaseczno, Sandomierz Dist. (Krauss 1964). A cremation grave (14/1958) was found by chance at site 1; it contained a cinerary urn in the form of a massive bronze cauldron with an iron rim, type E 8 ( Fig. 6: 1), measuring 50 cm in rim diameter and 35 cm in height, with a circular iron handle-mount with an internal diameter of 9 cm. It was made of riveted bronze bands. The funerary gifts that had originally been stored in the vessel have been lost. The burial is dated within stage A3 of the Late Pre-Roman Period and stage B1 of the Early Roman Period (Wielowiejski 1985, 66, cat. no. 80).
The custom of placing cremated remains in metal vessels, including cauldrons, first appears in the Barbaricum area in the Late La Tène Period in the Elbe River region and continues throughout the entire Early Roman Period (Bochnak 2011, 62, 63;Capelle 1971, 109, 146, 147;Jílek 2012, 20, 23 -26;Peschel 1995, 69 -94;Wegewitz 1986, 115, 132). Burials in cauldrons are known not only from the cemeteries in the Lower and Middle Elbe area but also those in Czechia (Droberjar 1999, 130, 131;Karasová 1998, 9) and the Middle Danube region (Kolník 1980, 109, 110), including the Danubian part of Lower Austria (Lauermann 1995, 130, fig. 2: 1). Cinerary urns in the form of cauldrons are found in richly furnished warrior graves, dating mainly to phases B1a and B1b of the Early Roman Period. In the Przeworsk Culture area, a cauldron of type E7, which served the aforementioned function, is known from a richly furnished grave of a warrior from phase B1a at the cemetery at Domaradzice (grave 1), Rawicz Dist., Greater Poland (Kostrzewski 1954, 155, fig. 2; 3: 15). 4 At the abovementioned cemetery at Piaseczno, site 1, there was also a burial with grave goods typical of female graves, dated with a brooch of type A 68 to stage B1b ( Fig. 6: 2), which contained fragments of a bronze vessel with an upright rim under which there were engraved lines -probably remains of a bowl ( Fig. 6: 3).
Particularly noteworthy is an Early Roman burial of a representative of the local military elite from Sandomierz-Krakówka, located on the left bank of the Vistula. It has already drawn the attention of researchers many times before (Kokowski 2004, 294, fig. 10.12;10.14;10.23;10.26;10.28;2005b, 109 -114;Kowalczyk-Mizerakowska 2018, 157 -171;2019, 121, 122, pl. 18;Wielowiejski 1985, cat. no. 34, 46, 75, 326;Wilkoński 1938, 106 -125). It is a cremation burial of a man who died at the age of 50, dated to phase B2a of the Early Roman Period, very richly furnished, which can be classified as a princely burial of the Hagenow type (Schuster 2010, 295). The cinerary urn was in the form of a bronze Östland bucket of type E 40 ( Fig. 7: 1). In addition, several other bronze vessels were reconstructed, including a situla of type E 18 -23? with an ornamented rim, a bowl of type E 93 (or plate of type E 115) and a small Fig. 6. Piaseczno, site 1, grave 14/1958. 1a -bronze cauldron; 1b -iron handle-mount, grave 17/1958; 2 -bronze brooch of type A 67; 3 -burnt bronze vessel (photo A. Lasota-Kuś). Scale: a -1; b -2, 3. bowl ( Fig. 7: 2 -4). 5 Moreover, the burial contained about 4 kg of bronze alloy from a few more vessels and an iron bail of another bucket. Furthermore, several dozen fragments of melted green glass from a number of vessels, weighing 1.22 kg in total, were identified in the inventory of the grave. The elements of weaponry, above all a Roman sword of the Newstead-Zawada type, variant 1 (Fig. 8: 7), as distinguished by M. Biborski (Biborski/Ilkjaer 2006), are also noteworthy. The sword finds close analogies among weapons found in south-eastern Gaul and used by auxiliary troops to fight against armoured opponents (Biborski/Biborski/Stępiński 2019, 280, 281). Swords of this type are dated to phases A3 -B1, mainly to phase B1 of the Early Roman Period. This suggests that the sword from Sandomierz-Krakówka is older than the chronological position of the grave, which was dated, as previously mentioned, to phase B2a. It should be assumed that the sword was in the possession of its owner for a period of about 30 years. The grave also contained a shield boss with a sharp spike of Jahn type 7b, a pair of iron spearheads (Kaczanowski type I/3 and variant A/2) forming a set characteristic of the Przeworsk Culture ( Fig. 8: 2, 3). In addition, a pair of bronzed iron spurs with silver-plated goads and terminals of type C1b as distinguished by J. Ginalski (1991) is worth noting (Fig. 8: 4, 5). The use of non-ferrous metals in the process of making spurs in order to obtain a specific colour effect was rare in the Przeworsk Culture. What is also exceptional is the presence of seven iron goads of chair-shaped spurs, covered with engraved lines for applying inlay 5 According to , the bowl is made of white metal and gilded; according to I. Kowalczyk-Mizerakowska (2018, 161) on the other hand, the bronze alloy contains a small share of silver and gold.  ( Fig. 8: 6). 6 It can be assumed that they belonged to spurs analogous to those discovered at Tarnobrzeg-Dzików (grave from 2008). The elements of the Sandomierz-Krakówka burial inventory in the form of bronze vessels, armaments and spurs clearly indicate its elite character. The status of the deceased was undoubtedly emphasised by placing his remains in an imported vessel, an Östland-type bucket. A vessel of this type was also found among the contents of the grave at Tarnobrzeg-Dzików (grave from 2008).
In the Przeworsk Culture area, Östland-type buckets of varying proportions and varying degrees of preservation are relatively commonly found in cremation graves. Confirmed among them are buckets of type E 40 or ones classified generally as type E 38 -40, i.e. the Juellinge variant (cf. List 1; Fig. 9). Such buckets are also found in princely inhumation graves (e.g. at Łęg Piekarski, graves I/1933, II/1936, III/1947. In the Przeworsk Culture area, buckets of the Östland type first appear in phase B1b (Strobin,6 In the literature, there are isolated opinions that these are Sarmatian arrowheads (Dobrzańska 1999, 81). site 4, grave 10) and become characteristic of stage B2, phase B2b of the Early Roman Period in particular. They are also present in assemblages dating to phase C1a (Grudynia Mała, grave 2/1879). of note is the presence of Östland-type buckets in richly furnished cremation burials of warriors. The warriors' social position is emphasised not only by the above-mentioned buckets and other vessels imported from the Roman state (bowls of type E 70, E 99 -100, platters of type E 154 -155, ladles with strainers of type E 159 -162) but also by the presence in some graves of numerous elements of weaponry, including swords (cf. List 1). In addition to Tarnobrzeg-Dzików and Sandomierz-Krakówka, the graves from Michałowice, Grudynia Mała and the grave discovered in 1959 at Grodzisk Mazowiecki (containing also a chair-shaped spur) should also be mentioned here. Grave 22 from Witaszewice, which has the character of an elite burial, is supposed to have originally contained a sword, as indicated by a preserved sword bead. Sets of dress elements typical of warriors, such as two belts with fire striking tools hung on them (Zapowiednia, grave 2) or a wide, so-called military belt with decorative fittings (Witaszewice,grave 22), can also be found among the grave goods. The only exception among the graves with Östland-type buckets is grave 1512 from Kietrz, whose contents are characteristic of female burials. According to an anthropological analysis, the grave belonged to a woman who died at the age of adultus and was buried alongside a child at the age of infans I (Gedl 1988, 151).
To date, the burial from Sandomierz-Krakówka is the only Przeworsk Culture grave in which an Östland-type bucket served as a cinerary urn. In this, it resembles the sepulchral customs prevailing in the Early Roman Period in the Elbe and Danube regions, where metal vessels were used as urns. At Marcomanni cemeteries, urns in the form of buckets of type E 38 first appear as early as stage B1a (Droberjar 1999, 132). From stage B2 to stage C1a, as was the case in the older periods, Roman vessels were used as urns for the elite (Voss 2006, 35, 36). Such custom emphasises the status of the deceased and points to the contacts with the Roman world and other cultural areas. In relation to tis, we should mention the burial of an East Bohemian warrior from the village of Nepolisy, dist. Hradec Králové, deposited in an E 41 type bucket and exhibiting features of the Przeworsk Culture grave inventory (Jílek 2009, 257, fig. 7).
The Early Roman material from the Vistula-San basin presented here shows that the travel and transport routes that run through the area contributed not only to the development of settlement but also to the formation of a hierarchical local community. During the Younger and Late Roman Period, the region in question underwent changes, caused by the growth of settlement and its move to the south. Several settlements have been discovered along the San River Valley (Lasota 2005b). The changes in the funerary rite occurring at that time make it difficult to register cemeteries, and thus to identify elite burials. An analogous situation has been observed on the left bank of the Vistula, in the immediate vicinity of its valley. There have been no Late Roman cemeteries recorded there; only settlements are known from the chronological period in question (Orzechowski 2007, 70, 71, 263, 264, 284, 286). Traces of a Late Roman settlement have been discovered at Sandomierz-Krakówka (Wielowiejski 1967, 42, 43). The presented settlement situation in the northern part of the Sandomierz Basin is not an isolated enclave but is part of the intensively developing settlement on both sides of the Vistula, from the Kraków area to Sandomierz and Tarnobrzeg.