By City Museum of Wrocław
Paweł Madera
History of the Discoveries and the Fate of the Artefacts
The three “princely” burials from Wrocław-Zakrzów, from the turn of the 3rd and 4th centuries, are invariably one of the greatest discoveries in the history of Silesian archaeology.
As is often the case, they were found by accident during the operation of the sandpit belonging to the “Korn und Bock” paper mill, located in the then village of Sakrau. The first of the tombs, discovered in 1886, was largely destroyed, and some of the grave goods were in private hands.
The rescue research was then entrusted to Wilhelm Grempler, one of the most outstanding Silesian pre-historians. During them, the magnificent tomb was fully explored, and the scattered artefacts were recovered. The following year, factory workers discovered two more graves within a short distance.
After the research was completed, all the monuments were placed in the Museum of Silesian Antiquities in Wrocław, where they underwent conservation and reconstruction, and copies of some of them were made. Moreover, they were scientifically compiled and published by W. Grempler.
From 1899 until the siege of the city in 1945, the monuments of Zakrzów were exhibited in the building of the Silesian Museum of Artistic Crafts and Antiquities. With the approaching front line, they were placed in special hiding places in Silesia. After the end of the war, only a small part of the collection was found.
Reconstruction of the grave from Wrocław-Zakrzów (1929) by Gerhard BeuthnerCity Museum of Wrocław
The Burials and Their Grave Goods
The tombs were in the form of large rectangular chambers with walls lined with large stones and covered with a wooden structure.
The skeletal remains, most likely of two men and a woman, were unfortunately very poorly preserved
The interiors also feature extremely rich grave goods, including a total of over 200 items made of various materials, including gold, silver, glass, and amber.
Artefacts from 3 “princely” burials (1945) by unknownCity Museum of Wrocław
These included metal and glass vessels, rarely found in “barbarian” graves ...
... valuable jewelry, or accessories made of gold and silver ...
... cutlery, toiletries ...
... fittings of wooden boxes-caskets ...
... and even tools in the form of knives and scissors.
A unique find on the scale of Poland was a bronze four-foot folding table (now in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw) ...
... and sets of game stones made of glass mass.
These items were largely imported from the Roman provinces. Probably the source of their inflow in the overwhelming number of cases was trade, and the activity of the Amber Route could have been of major importance. Products of this kind could also get to Silesia as spoils of war, wages of mercenaries in the Roman army, or as gifts offered to tribal chiefs by Roman military commanders or citizens conducting various kinds of business there.
Pendants (4th century AD) by unknownCity Museum of Wrocław
Ancient Rulers of Silesia
Due to the distinctive structure and size of the complex, as well as the rich inventory containing numerous imported artefacts, the graves from Wrocław-Zakrzów were referred to as "princely" burials.
Undoubtedly, members of the elite of the tribe or union of the Przeworsk culture tribes from Lower Silesia in the late Roman period were buried there.
Probably these people had a high social and economic position, which can be compared with the status of tribal chiefs.
Although we do not know them by name and we do not know what language they used and what area they ruled over, their love of luxury and willingness to imitate the Roman lifestyle is all too visible.
It will also be a mystery whether these items were used for their original purpose. ;-)
The fact is that the artefacts from Wrocław-Zakrzów make up one of the most valuable sets in the collection of the Museum of Archaeology in Wrocław. At the same time, they are the pride of the permanent exhibition, even though only 15% of the original items have survived from the original collection.
Paweł Madera
