Archaeologists hail 'Warmian Pompeii'
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
13.08.2014 11:06
A Polish-German team of archaeologists working in the Warmian-Masurian region of northern Poland is excavating the remains of Alt Wartenburg, a Prussian town torched in 1354.
Archaeologists at work at the site near Barczewko, northern Poland. Photo: PAP/Tomasz Waszczuk
Archaeologists are already referring to the site, which lies near the town of Barczewko, as the 'Warmian Pompeii' in an allusion to the fabled Ancient Roman settlement.
“This is a dream place for archaeologists, as you can observe in a nutshell how time stopped,” said Dr Arkadiusz Koperkiewicz of the University of Gdańsk, in an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Thus far, the team has excavated the remains of two buildings, and members have unearthed a number of items including bronze ornaments, belt buckles, spurs, coins and crossbow bolts.
Dr Arkadiusz Koperkiewicz with the remains of a key and lock at the site near Barczewko, northern Poland. Photo: PAP/Tomasz Wasczuk
The town had been built by settlers from Silesia, with the rise of the State of the Teutonic Order, but it was torched by forces led by Duke Kestutis of Lithuania in 1354.
Archaeologists took aerial photographs and carried out geophysical surveys of the site prior to launching the dig.
The project is being led by Dr Arkadiusz Koperkiewicz and Dr Felix Biermann from the University of Göttingen.
No remains of people have been found as of yet, but Koperkiewicz believes that survivors of the 1354 raid built a cemetery elsewhere after a new settlement was established in the area. (nh)