- I. Golden Apple of Polish archaeology. Stronghold Complexes at Czermno and Gródek [Cherven Towns] – Chronology and Function in the Light of Past and Current Research (2013-2018)
- Task I.1
- Task I.2
- Task I.3
- Task I.4
- Task I.5
- Task I.6
- Task I.7
- Task I.8
- Task I.9
- II. The Sphinx of Slav Sigillography – Dorogichin seals from Czermno in their Eastern European context (2014-2018)
- III. Golden Apple of Polish archaeology. Stronghold Complexes at Czermno and Gródek [Cherven Towns], Part II. Finalisation of documentation works (2019-2021)
- Task III.1
- Task III.2
- Task III.3
I. Golden Apple of Polish archaeology. Stronghold Complexes at Czermno and Gródek [Cherven Towns] – Chronology and Function in the Light of Past and Current Research (2013-2018)
Task I.1
Preparation and publication of a bilingual (English/Polish) monograph “From the Cherven Towns to the Curzon Line. The lands on the Middle Bug during the Middle Ages and the historiographic perspective on the formation of Poland’s eastern border, 18th-21st centuries”.
Description: The volume comprises texts by medieval historians concerning the history of the lands on the Bug River in the 10th-15th centuries, as well as papers by a historian of historiography and archaeologists in which the history of research is discussed from the 18th century to the 21st. A separate study presents the history of interest in Orthodox art in Polish art history. A chapter written by ethnologists presents the results of ethnographic field research carried out by the authors (together with Polish and Ukrainian students) on both sides of the present-day border on the Bug River, meaning on both sides of what was known as the Curzon line.
Investigators: Adrian Jusupović, Andrzej Janeczek, Katarzyna Błachowska, Marcin Wołoszyn, Aleksander Musin, Mirosław P. Kruk, Roman Čmelyk, Lech Mróz
Consultants: Matthias Hardt, Christian Lübke (Leipzig, Germany)
Status: task conclude!
Task I.2
Preparation and publication of a bilingual (English/Polish) monograph “The early medieval settlement complex at Gródek upon the Bug River in the light of results from past research”.
Description: Preparation of a bilingual (English/Polish) monograph presenting the results of research carried out at Gródek in 1952-1955. The most important aspect is the publication of a vast cemetery (of nearly 500 graves), which functioned in an area within the stronghold’s ramparts. The archaeological materials and documentation from the research are kept in the Museum of Zamość, while bone remains of the deceased buried in Gródek are kept by the Chair of Anthropology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wrocław. The archaeological analysis is supplemented with comprehensive anthropological and numismatic analyses. The monograph also analyses the earliest representations of Gródek on old maps.
Investigators: Jerzy Kuśnierz, Jacek Feduszka, Andrzej Janeczek, Sławomir Kozieł with a team (Agata Cieślik, Stanisław Gronkiewicz, Krzysztof Szostek, Aleksandra Lisowska-Gaczorek)
Consultants: Vujadin Ivaniśević, Perica Špehar (Belgrade, Serbia)
Status: task concluded!
Task I.3
Preparation and publication of a bilingual (English/Polish) monograph “Gródek w świetle tzw. znalezisk luźnych w zbiorach Muzeum im. St. Staszica w Hrubieszowie. Katalog, analiza typologiczno-chronologiczna”.
Description: Finalisation of works on a bilingual (English/Polish) volume containing the catalogue and typo-chronological analysis of 550 early medieval artefacts discovered within Gródek village in 1980-2008 and passed on to the Stanisław Staszic Museum in Hrubieszów in 2008.
Investigator: Marcin Wołoszyn
Consultants: Aleksander Musin, Anna A. Peskova (St. Petersburg, Russia)
Status: task concluded!
Task I.4
Preparation and publication of a bilingual (English/Polish) monograph, originally entitled “Czermno in the light of results from past research (1940; 1952; 1976-79); except for pottery”.
Description: Within the frameworks of this task, a comprehensive (2-volume) study was created, presenting the results of research carried out in Czermno in 1952 (Marcin Wołoszyn) and 1975-79 (Marek Florek). The latter volume also encompassed the results from other, shorter research seasons (1985; 1997). The analysis of results from 1975-1979 used the original documentation, artefacts kept in the museums in Hrubieszów, Tomaszów Lubelski, and Zamość, and above all a series of master’s dissertations created in the Institute of Archaeology UMCS in the 1980s, which present the results of Jan Gurba’s research in Czermno.
The final title of the monograph is “The early medieval settlement complex at Czermno in the light of results from past research (up to 2010). Material evidence”, eds M. Florek, M. Wołoszyn, vol. I–II , Kraków-Leipzig-Rzeszów-Warszawa 2016.
Investigators: Marek Florek, Marcin Wołoszyn, Iwona Florkiewicz
Consultants: Andrzej Buko, Michał Parczewski
Status: task concluded!
Task I.5
Preparation of the monograph: “Pottery from Czermno in the light of past and recent research”.
Description: Within the frameworks of this task, a comprehensive study of pottery was created, encompassing the materials recovered during past research (1940, 1952; 1975-79; 1985; 1997), vessels discovered in 2010-2011, and during verificatory excavations in 2013-2014. The analysis used results obtained in task I.4 (Marek Florek), but its main objective was a comprehensive analysis of the collection of approx. 100.000 (!) pottery fragments originating from Jan Gurba’s excavations, kept in museums in Hrubieszów, Tomaszów Lubelski, and Zamość. The results obtained in Czermno were compared with recent analyses of pottery collections from Chełm, Stołpie, Busówno, Przemyśl, and from west Ruthenian strongholds situated within the present-day borders of Belarus and Ukraine (among them Nowogródek, Wołkowysk, Grodno, Turzysk [Turijsk], Słonim, and Włodzimierz Wołyński).
Investigator: Michał Auch
Status: task concluded!
Task I.6
Czermno and Gródek against the background of the natural environment at the confluence of the Huczwa and Bug Rivers. Geophysical and palaeographic research.
Description: Geophysical research in the immediate surroundings of the strongholds (Czermno and Gródek); palaeographic research; settlement analysis in the context of palaeographic research.
Investigators: Tomasz Herbich and a team, Radosław Dobrowolski and a team, Tomasz Dzieńkowski
Status: task concluded!
Task I.7
Czermno – chronology of the fortifications in light of verificatory archaeological research.
Description: The objective of the task was to investigate the rampart of the Czermno stronghold, and to perform a comprehensive analysis of its stratigraphy, artefacts discovered, and results of dendrochronological dating.
Investigators: Marcin Wołoszyn, Tomasz Dzieńkowski
Consultants: Zbigniew Pianowski, Jacek Poleski
Status: task concluded!
Task I.8
Creating and running a website (in Polish, Ukrainian, and English language versions) presenting content directly connected with the research in Czermno and Gródek nad Bugiem.
Description: Creating a website (in Polish, Ukrainian, and English language versions) presenting content directly connected with the research in Czermno and Gródek nad Bugiem. In addition, a profile (Grody Czerwieńskie) was created on Facebook to promote the results of the research, reporting progress in excavations and other activity related to the project.
Investigators: Iwona Florkiewicz, Jarosław Pohoralski (translation into Ukrainian language), mobileMarkup.com
Status: task concluded!
Task I.9
Organisation of an international conference.
Investigators: Marcin Wołoszyn, Iwona Florkiewicz
Status: task concluded!
II. The Sphinx of Slav Sigillography – Dorogichin seals from Czermno in their Eastern European context (2014-2018)
The aim of the project is a comprehensive, multidisciplinary analysis of the Dorogichin seals (more than 1,000 pieces) from Czermno in the broad Eastern European context.
The excavations from 2010-2011 resulted in the discovery of 404 seals in Czermno, and more than 600 were recovered from “treasure hunters”. Together, this makes the Czermno seals the largest such collection outside Dorogichin, from where nearly 12,000 seals are known.
The research team aimed at analysis and publication of the most complete collection of Dorogichin seals from Czermno possible, setting the finds against a broad, Eastern European (Ruthenian) background. The typological analyses and the catalogue have been supplemented with results of metallographic analyses of artefacts from Poland (1. Czermno, 2. Dorogichin [collections of PMA and MNK], and 3. Dąbrowa Górnicza – Łosień) and Russia, and with a catalogue of Dorogichin seals from Eastern Europe, created by a team led by the most renowned specialist in the field, P. G. Gajdukov (Moscow).
Status: project concluded!
III. Golden Apple of Polish archaeology. Stronghold Complexes at Czermno and Gródek [Cherven Towns], Part II. Finalisation of documentation works (2019-2021)
Task III.1
Preparation of the monograph “Pottery from past research in Gródek (1952-1955) against finds from Poland and Russia. Interdisciplinary study”.
Status: task concluded!