Archaeologists excavating in Toruń, Poland, have uncovered unique collection of fabrics and shoes from the 16th-17th century.

The discovery was made during the construction of a new film studio in Toruń, revealing well preserved shoes, silk fabrics, fragments of pleated dresses, and lacewings with floral ornaments.

According to the archaeologists, this is the largest collection of found fabrics and footwear ever discovered in Europe from the 16th to 17th century.

Previous studies have mainly found silk fabrics in church crypts and tombs, however, these have been found in small fragments and rarely survive. According to the researchers, the volume of objects found in a well-preserved state suggest that a shoemakers or tailors (or both) was in proximity to the excavation site.

Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland with its roots tracing back to the 8th century AD. For centuries the city was home to people of diverse backgrounds and religious faiths, emerging as a trading hub in the Hanseatic League.

The Hanseatic League was a commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. During its peak, the Hanseatic League dominated maritime trade in the North and Baltic Seas, with outposts in numerous towns and cities across Europe.

Archaeologist Mariusz Ciszak, said: “Toruń had extensive contacts throughout Europe. Various types of horn products, metal products, ceramics, fabrics and leather confirm the high-class production of Toruń craftsmen and extensive trade contacts. This city connected the East with the West, it was the centre of the economic and political life of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at that time”.

Ciszak emphasised that the fabrics and shoes demonstrate that Toruń was one of the most important Hanseatic cities.

Header Image Credit : Tytus Żmijewski

Sources : PAP

This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily

The Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the provinces of Caserta and Benevento have announced the discovery of a vast Iron Age necropolis in Amorosi, located in the Italian province of Benevento.

The necropolis was found in the Valle Telesina in the vicinity of the Volturno River during works for a new power plant being constructed by the Terna Group.

Excavations over an area of 13,000 square metres have identified 88 burials belonging to the “Pit Tomb Culture”, an Iron Age people that inhabited Campania before the emergence of the Italic Samnites.

The burials date from the 8th to the mid-7th century BC, and are a mix of male and female burials containing associated grave goods and funerary offerings. Ceramics of various shapes were placed as offerings at the feat of the deceased.

Image Credit : Superintendency of Archaeology

The male burials mainly contain weaponry, while the female burials have ornamental objects such as fibulae, bracelets, pendants, worked bone and amber.

According to the archaeologists, the burials are the interred remains of high status individuals, evidenced by the “objects of extraordinary prestige” that includes finely decorated bronze belts or bronze-rolled vessels.

The most significant discoveries are two monumental mound burials indicated by the presence of substantial stone circles measuring approximately 15 metres in diameter. The archaeologists theorise that the mound burials belonged to the elite members of the culture, possibly the ruling chieftain.

Samples of soil taken during the excavations were sent for an archaeobotanical analysis to provide data on the environment and flora, in addition to an anthropological analysis of the bone remains.

Header Image Credit : Superintendency of Archaeology

Sources : Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the provinces of Caserta and Benevento

This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily