The heraldic mount from Ciemna Cave at Ojców : from studies in the medieval culture of chivalry

2013
journal article
article
dc.abstract.enThe focus of the article is analysis of a mount in the form of an heraldic escutcheon from the archaeological excavation of Ciemna Cave at Ojców, powiat Kraków, Poland. The shape of the mount appears to be that of a medieval European heater shield, with a maximum length of 3.9 cm and three rivets for attachment. Non-destructive metallograpy analysis established its material as copper (with traces of lead and arsenic) and the presence of a thin layer of tin on the outer face of the mount, the tin layer now largely eroded. The rivets are presumably copper too. The design, in repoussé and engraving, presumably is modelled on heraldic devices: the field halved vertically (party per pale), the dexter field with horizontal bars (barry), the sinister field with diagonal bars (bendy). The design seen on the mount could not be attributed to any concrete coat-of-arms. The mount from Ciemna Cave was found to have a series of analogies, mainly from Central and Western Europe, most notably, in a deposit from Felsőszentkirály in Hungary with fittings similar in their decoration and execution method to the find from Ciemna Cave. Drawing on insights afforded by some of its analogies the author proposes to interpret the mount from Ciemna Cave as an element from a knight’s belt. This view is supported by the discovery during the archaeological investigation of Ciemna Cave of another medieval belt fitting. The heraldic mount from Ciemna Cave may be dated, drawing on the chronology of its analogies and that of the rest of the medieval finds inventory from the cave, to the second half of the thirteenth-fourteenth century. It is not impossible that the mount from Ciemna cave (similarly as “military” artefacts recovered from the caves of Kraków–Częstochowa Upland) is a material reflection of the Legend of Ojców — an account on how Duke Władysław the Elbow-High found shelter in the caves of the region, still alive today.pl
dc.affiliationWydział Historyczny : Instytut Archeologiipl
dc.contributor.authorWojenka, Michał - 132700 pl
dc.date.accession2019-05-22pl
dc.date.accessioned2015-12-18T08:26:22Z
dc.date.available2015-12-18T08:26:22Z
dc.date.issued2013pl
dc.date.openaccess0
dc.description.accesstimepo opublikowaniu
dc.description.physical227-263pl
dc.description.publication1,5pl
dc.description.versionostateczna wersja wydawcy
dc.description.volume48pl
dc.identifier.issn0001-5229pl
dc.identifier.projectROD UJ / Ppl
dc.identifier.urihttp://ruj.uj.edu.pl/xmlui/handle/item/18499
dc.identifier.weblinkhttp://journals.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/94593/edition/81614/contentpl
dc.languageengpl
dc.language.containerengpl
dc.rightsUdzielam licencji. Uznanie autorstwa - Użycie niekomercyjne - Bez utworów zależnych 3.0*
dc.rights.licenceCC-BY-NC-ND
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/legalcode*
dc.share.typeotwarte czasopismo
dc.subject.enPolandpl
dc.subject.enHigh Middle Agespl
dc.subject.enCiemna Cavepl
dc.subject.enheraldic mountpl
dc.subject.enchivalrypl
dc.subject.enchivalric beltpl
dc.subtypeArticlepl
dc.titleThe heraldic mount from Ciemna Cave at Ojców : from studies in the medieval culture of chivalrypl
dc.title.journalActa Archaeologica Carpathicapl
dc.typeJournalArticlepl
dspace.entity.typePublication
dc.abstract.enpl
The focus of the article is analysis of a mount in the form of an heraldic escutcheon from the archaeological excavation of Ciemna Cave at Ojców, powiat Kraków, Poland. The shape of the mount appears to be that of a medieval European heater shield, with a maximum length of 3.9 cm and three rivets for attachment. Non-destructive metallograpy analysis established its material as copper (with traces of lead and arsenic) and the presence of a thin layer of tin on the outer face of the mount, the tin layer now largely eroded. The rivets are presumably copper too. The design, in repoussé and engraving, presumably is modelled on heraldic devices: the field halved vertically (party per pale), the dexter field with horizontal bars (barry), the sinister field with diagonal bars (bendy). The design seen on the mount could not be attributed to any concrete coat-of-arms. The mount from Ciemna Cave was found to have a series of analogies, mainly from Central and Western Europe, most notably, in a deposit from Felsőszentkirály in Hungary with fittings similar in their decoration and execution method to the find from Ciemna Cave. Drawing on insights afforded by some of its analogies the author proposes to interpret the mount from Ciemna Cave as an element from a knight’s belt. This view is supported by the discovery during the archaeological investigation of Ciemna Cave of another medieval belt fitting. The heraldic mount from Ciemna Cave may be dated, drawing on the chronology of its analogies and that of the rest of the medieval finds inventory from the cave, to the second half of the thirteenth-fourteenth century. It is not impossible that the mount from Ciemna cave (similarly as “military” artefacts recovered from the caves of Kraków–Częstochowa Upland) is a material reflection of the Legend of Ojców — an account on how Duke Władysław the Elbow-High found shelter in the caves of the region, still alive today.
dc.affiliationpl
Wydział Historyczny : Instytut Archeologii
dc.contributor.authorpl
Wojenka, Michał - 132700
dc.date.accessionpl
2019-05-22
dc.date.accessioned
2015-12-18T08:26:22Z
dc.date.available
2015-12-18T08:26:22Z
dc.date.issuedpl
2013
dc.date.openaccess
0
dc.description.accesstime
po opublikowaniu
dc.description.physicalpl
227-263
dc.description.publicationpl
1,5
dc.description.version
ostateczna wersja wydawcy
dc.description.volumepl
48
dc.identifier.issnpl
0001-5229
dc.identifier.projectpl
ROD UJ / P
dc.identifier.uri
http://ruj.uj.edu.pl/xmlui/handle/item/18499
dc.identifier.weblinkpl
http://journals.pan.pl/dlibra/publication/94593/edition/81614/content
dc.languagepl
eng
dc.language.containerpl
eng
dc.rights*
Udzielam licencji. Uznanie autorstwa - Użycie niekomercyjne - Bez utworów zależnych 3.0
dc.rights.licence
CC-BY-NC-ND
dc.rights.uri*
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/legalcode
dc.share.type
otwarte czasopismo
dc.subject.enpl
Poland
dc.subject.enpl
High Middle Ages
dc.subject.enpl
Ciemna Cave
dc.subject.enpl
heraldic mount
dc.subject.enpl
chivalry
dc.subject.enpl
chivalric belt
dc.subtypepl
Article
dc.titlepl
The heraldic mount from Ciemna Cave at Ojców : from studies in the medieval culture of chivalry
dc.title.journalpl
Acta Archaeologica Carpathica
dc.typepl
JournalArticle
dspace.entity.type
Publication
Affiliations

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