Skalin

Skalin, Gryfice district, Western Pomeranian Voivodeship (Germ. Schellin, Kreis Greifenberg), site of discovery in late 1930s in a gravel mine of two gold plaques, presumably from a hoard or a grave inventory. The two symmetrical trapeze-shaped pieces taper to an imitation socket and have an ornament of concentric rings and rows of “beading” (fig. 1.). Their lower face is plain; the dimensions are similar: L. 4.8 cm, Th. 0.3-0.4 cm. Originally they may have been elements of a necklace or a bracelet. Their form and ornamentation recall the designs known from Scandinavian metalwork, especially Sösdala style →Sösdala-Untersiebenbrunn Style, widespread in the southern Baltic zone during the 5th and early 6th century AD. Until 1945 the finds were in Pommersches Landesmuseum Stettin, subsequently, until 2009, in Kultur Historischen Museum Stralsund, and at present are in keeping of the Archaeology Division of the National Museum in Szczecin.

HM

Literature: O. Kunkel, Urgeschichte, (Mitteilungen aus dem Pommerschen Landesmuseum), Baltische Studien, N.F., vol. 42, 1940, p. 274-342; H. J. Eggers, Grabfunde der Völkerwanderungszeit aus Pommern, Baltische Studien, N. F., vol. 46, (1959), p. 13-28; K. Godłowski, Okres wędrówek ludów na Pomorzu, Pomorania Antiqua, vol. X, 1981, p. 96; H. Machajewski, Wprowadzenie do problematyki kulturowej zabytków z okresu wpływów rzymskich i wczesnej fazy okresu wędrówek ludów (I – V/VI wiek), [in:] K. Kowalski, D. Kozłowska-Skoczka (eds.), Zaginione – ocalone. Szczecińska kolekcja starożytności pomorskich, Szczecin 2012, p. 306; A. Bursche, J. Kowalski (ed.), Barbarzyńskie Tsunami - Okres Wędrówek Ludów w dorzeczu Odry i Wisły, Warszawa-Szczecin 2017.

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  Fig. 1. Skalin, Gryfice district; gold plaques from a hoard or a grave inventory (O. Kundel 1940).

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  Fig. 2. Trapezium-shaped gold plaques found at Skalin (Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship, phot. G. Solecki / A. Piętak)