Wczesnośredniowiecznego cmentarzyska w Lubieniu na tle obrzędowości pogrzebowej Centralnej Polski – specyfika i znaczenie

Abstract

The early medieval cemetery in Lubień reveals its specificity in many respects, especially when compared to other early medieval cemeteries from central Poland. This article discusses several aspects of the scale of the burial site and selected elements of the grave goods. In terms of the number of discovered graves and their content, the cemetery in Lubień is the largest, the richest and at the same time the oldest – next to Lutomiersk – archaeologically recognised cemetery of the early Piast period in the discussed area. Some of the items belonging to the grave furnishings are finds of exceptional importance, not only on a regional scale but also for the entire Polish lands in the early Middle Ages. They reveal interregional connections of the local community (probably representatives of the elite), sometimes of a long range, and indicate the ability to adapt ideas and values coming from the outside, not only in the material but also in the spiritual sphere. Some of them can be considered as markers of the status of the buried people, an expression of prevailing tastes, as well as a material trace of beliefs related to the burial of the dead at the time when the old pagan rituals merged with the ritual requirements of the Christian faith.