| Abstrakt: |
Individual fragments of riding gear and side arms were discovered in the course of archaeological works carried out in 2019 within the remains of the moat surrounding Castle Ryczów in the Kraków-Częstochowa Jura in the past. These finds are two fragments of iron spurs and the tang of a battle knife / knife-shaped dagger. These artefacts were discovered together with numerous pottery shards related to the use of this residential and defensive premise in the 14th century. Archaeological examinations carried out in 2019 within the moat which surrounded the fore-castle of Ryczów Castle (Śląskie Voivodeship, Poland) (Figs. 1-2) brought a discovery of individual elements of riding gear and side arms. As it can be speculated, the premise came into existence in the 14th century, perhaps as part of construction of a defence system in the Kraków-Częstochowa Jura, undertaken by King Kazimierz the Great (1333-1370). This issue, however, is not fully determined. The first artefact that was discovered in the course of research is a fragmentarily preserved iron spur. It was originally provided with a rowel and a link-shaped terminal (Figs. 3:1; 4:1). Stanisław Kołodziejski classified such finds as Type D in his typology of spurs with rowels from Lesser Poland. He dated this type to the period between the late 13th to the first half of the 14th centuries. Furthermore, yet another fragment of a spur was discovered during the works. It was merely a fragment of the heel band, which also ended with a link-shaped terminal (Figs. 3:2, 4:3). It is very probable that this find is a vestige of a Kołodziejski Type D spur or of a somewhat smaller variant of Type A. In the course of these examinations a fragment of the tang of a side weapon was also discovered. This was perhaps part of a battle knife / knife-shaped dagger (Figs. 3:3; 4:4). It has the shape of a bar with five punched openings. Four of these were openings for rivets which initially fastened handle scales, while the top one was perhaps used for attaching a protective side guard. The discussed artefact was discovered in bottom parts of the moat's fill together with numerous pottery artefacts which can be related to the use of the castle and the fore-castle, perhaps chiefly in the 14th century (Fig. 5). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
