Everything about Wielbark Culture totally explained
Wielbark culture also known as
Willenberg culture ( ) was a pre-literate culture that archaeologists have identified with the
Goths; it appeared during the first half of the
1st century AD. It replaced the
Oksywie culture, in the area of modern-day Eastern Pomerania around the lower
Vistula river, which was related to the
Przeworsk culture.
Discovery
A cemetery of over 3000 tombs was discovered in 1873 and documented in the 1874
Correspondenz-Blatt der deutschen Gesellschaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte as "Gotisch-Gepidisches Gräberfeld Braunswalde-Willenberg bei Marienburg". It was named after two villages in the
Province of Prussia about 4 km south of
Malbork (Marienburg) on the road towards
Sztum (Stuhm), and attributed to the
Goths and
Gepids.
The report of the original excavation in
Imperial Germany, which was believed to have been lost, was rediscovered in 2004 and is about to be analysed in an international cooperation.
Distribution
The (Malbork)-Wielbark culture started out covering the same area as the
Oksywie culture, around the present day towns of
Gdańsk and
Chełmno. Later it reached into the lakelands (
Kashubian and Krajenskian lakes) and stretched southwards, into the region around
Poznań.
In the first half of the
3rd century AD, the Wielbark culture left settlements by the
Baltic Sea, at that time called
Mare Suevicum or
Mare Germanicum, except for the areas adjacent to the
Vistula, and expanded into the area which later (by 1000 AD) became
Masovia and
Lesser Poland on the eastern side of the Vistula reaching into
Ukraine, where they formed the
Chernyakhov culture.
In 2000, in near
Lębork, Pomerania, a cemetery of Oksywie and Wielbark cultures was found. These reached their height before the emigration of the population to the south west began. A bronze kettle depicts males wearing the
Suebian knot hairstyle.
Characteristics
Between the Przeworsk culture and the Wielbark culture there was a clear separation and there appears to have been no detectable contacts.
The people of the Wielbark culture used both
inhumation and
cremation techniques for burying their dead. Whether they used one or the other varied from site to site and it's believed to have depended on family traditions.
A characteristic of this culture, which it had in common with southern Scandinavia, was the raising of stone covered mounds,
stone circles, solitary
stelae and variations of cobble cladding.
There were no weapons nor tools in the Wielbark culture graves, unlike the Przeworsk culture for which it was typical to give the dead such gifts. Instead, the gifts were mostly ornaments and costumes. A few graves have shown
spurs, and this would be the only warrior attribute found.
Another feature of the Wielbark culture was the use of bronze to make ornaments and accessories. Silver was used seldom and gold rarely. Iron appears to have been used extremely rarely.
The Goths
The Wielbark culture is associated with
Jordanes' account of the
Goths leaving
Scandza (
Scandinavia) and their settlement in
Gothiscandza. According to Jordanes they pushed away the
Vandals when settling in the area.
Gothiscandza was located at the mouth of the
Vistula, and this area was given as the land of the
Gutones (
Pliny the Elder) or
Gothones (
Tacitus):
» Beyond the Lygians dwell the Gothones, under the rule of a king; and thence held in subjection somewhat stricter than the other German nations, yet not so strict as to extinguish all their liberty. Immediately adjoining are the Rugians and Lemovians upon the coast of the ocean, and of these several nations the characteristics are a round shield, a short sword and kingly government.
The names given by Pliny and Tacitus appear to be identical to *
Gutaniz, the reconstructed
Proto-Germanic form of
Gutans (and
Gutar), the Goths' (and the Gotlanders´) name for themselves.
Some have suggested that the three ships of Goths arriving at the Vistula is merely symbolic whereas others have ascribed the ships to the
Gepids, the
Ostrogoths and the
Visigoths. A third interpretation is that the ships only contained the North Germanic clan of
Amal's royal family.
However, archaeologists are wary of ascribing ethnicities to archaeological cultures, and it's considered to be an extremely difficult matter (for example
Kennewick Man). This is reflected by the names used for the cultures, usually baptised after the towns where remains are found. The latest tendency is to doubt the equation between the Wielbark Culture and the Goths, and it has been established that the Wielbark culture didn't appear solely through immigration from Scandinavia. Instead it appears to have evolved from the Oksywie culture and possibly through Scandinavian influence. This theory is based on the fact that the Wielbark culture shared the same geographical extent as the Oksywie culture and even continued to use many of the Oksywie cemeteries. The settlements consisted both of the original inhabitants and of groups of Scandinavians. It is likely that the Goths were the ruling tribe in the area as
Jordanes noted that the Goths subjected local inhabitants to their authority:
Soon they moved from here to the abodes of the Ulmerugi, who then dwelt on the shores of Ocean, where they pitched camp, joined battle with them and drove them from their homes. Then they subdued their neighbors, the Vandals, and thus added to their victories. But when the number of the people increased greatly and Filimer, son of Gadaric, reigned as king--about the fifth since Berig--he decided that the army of the Goths with their families should move from that region.
The present view is that the direct settlements of Goths (recorded by
Jordanes as well as H. Schedel, see link) at the Mare Germanicum, today Poland, are those characterised by
barrow cemeteries by which there are raised
stone circles and solitary
stelae (Scandinavian burial customs with a concentration in
Gotland and
Götaland). This type is found between the Vistula and the
Kashubian and Krajenskian lakelands reaching into the Koszalin region. These burial grounds appeared in the second half of the
1st century.
The Wielbark culture seems to have been a mixed society composed of both Goths and Gepids from Scandinavia as well as the previous inhabitants (mainly
Vandals,
Venedi and
Rugians, the
Ulmerugi of Jordanes). In the
3rd century, the Wielbark community left their settlements and reached their new homeland,
Oium, in
Ukraine, where they'd found a new empire.
Footnotes
Sources
Further Information
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