Available via license: CC BY-NC 4.0
Content may be subject to copyright.
© 2018 Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. All rights reserved. © 2018 Sciendo (De Gruyter Company) (on-line).
ISSN 2080-7686
Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series 2018. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-
-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction
in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series, No. 15 (2018): 15-26
http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2018-0012
Paweł Molewski* a, Bogusz Wasik b, Marcin Wiewióra c
Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland
* Correspondence: Faculty of Earth Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland. E-mail: molewski@umk.pl
a https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7375-815X, b https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2968-3015, c https://orcid.org/0000-0003-
4079-686X
Abstract. The article presents an attempt to reconstruct the original site topographies of 13th-cen-
tury Teutonic castles at Unisław and Starogród, which have not been preserved in the surface ter-
rain. The archaeological remains of both castles are located in the west of Chełmno Land, on the
edge of a moraine plateau 30 to 50 metres above the oor of the Vistula valley. The reconstruction
used a research approach known as Historical GIS (HGIS), which, besides archaeological data, em-
ploys digitised historical cartographic sources. The research showed that changes in the original site
topography are associated with anthropogenic transformations in the plateau surface, mainly due to
agricultural use, and with retreat of the plateau edge resulting from natural and man-made landslide
processes. The authors believe that the reconstruction of the castles’ original site topographies could
be used to verify detailed hypotheses related to the conditions of their construction and operation.
An attempt to reconstruct selected elements of the
original site topography of the Teutonic castles at
Unisław and Starogród (Chełmno Land, Northern
Poland) based on archaeological and cartographic
data
Key words:
topographic reconstruction,
Teutonic castles,
Chełmno Land,
Historical GIS
Introduction
One characteristic feature of Chełmno Land’s land-
scape is its Teutonic castles, built between the mid-
13th and latter 14th centuries. ey were erected in
places of strategic signicance to the State of the
Teutonic Order. e rst of this kind of mason-
ry-wall buildings were typically irregular and mul-
ti-sided (such as the castle at Starogród). In the last
quarter of the 13th century, alongside the irregular
castles, rectangular strongholds and small fortied
houses (such as the castle at Unisław) began to be
built.
e state of preservation of the Teutonic castles
is very varied. Some are easily observable on the
ground. e layout not only of the high castles, but
also of the baileys, is discernible. However, most of
them have been partially or completely destroyed.
e research presented is part of a broader re-
search project, entitled “Castra Terrae Culmensis
– na rubieży chrześcijańskiego świata” (“Castra Ter-
rae Culmensis, at the edges of the Christian world”)
and being undertaken in the period 2016–2019. e
interdisciplinary studies relate to ve Teutonic cas-
tles, namely those at Bierzgłowo, Papowo Bisku-
pie and Lipienek, in addition to the ones at Unisław
and Starogród. eir objective is to provide a com-
prehensive treatment of issues related to their con-
struction, topography, layout and operation.
Among the aforementioned buildings, the cas-
tles at Unisław and Starogród are distinguished by
their particular siting, which in Polish castelology is
termed “wyżynno-cyplowe” (Guerquin 1984, p. 16–
22) (transl. upland headland: this term is not used
here because the Unisław and Starogród sites, al-
though overlooking lower terrain, do not meet the
criteria for denition as uplands, being markedly
P. Molewski et al.An attempt to reconstruct selected elements of the original site topography of the Teutonic castles...
Citation: Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series 2018, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2018-0012
16
lower than the Polish limit of 200 m above sea lev-
el, and are technically lowlands). ey are also dis-
tinguished by their not having been preserved in
the terrain surface, and their shape and layout have
never previously been identied.
e objective of the present study is to attempt
to reconstruct the original site topography of the
castles at Unisław and Starogród. e research was
undertaken as a direct result of archaeological work
undertaken at their sites. ese revealed, among
others, that the preserved remains of the high cas-
tles, in the form of foundation walls or trenches,
were damaged by landslide processes of natural and
man-made origin and that their surroundings had
undergone signicant changes.
e research work employed the research ap-
proach known as Historical GIS (HGIS) (Rumsey
and Williams 2002), which, in addition to direct ar-
chaeological data from excavations, uses digitised
historical cartographic sources.
Study area
e archaeological remains of the Teutonic castles at
Unisław and Starogród are located in the west of the
historical Chełmno Land (Fig. 1), which is bounded
to the west by the Vistula river (Biskup 1961). Ac-
cording to the classication of physico-geographical
regions (Kondracki 1998) this lies in the Chełmno
Lake District, on the border with the Lower Vistu-
la Valley (Fig. 1A). In geomorphological terms (Fig.
1B) it is on the edge of the Chełmno Plateau (Niewia-
rowski 1959; Molewski and Weckwerth 2017). e
moraine plateau is separated from the erosional-
ly-widened Vistula valley oor (known as the Uni-
sław basin) by steep slopes of between 30 and 50
metres in height. e basin oor mainly compris-
es biogenic plains. One characteristic feature of the
valley slopes is that they are cut into by numerous
small denudational-erosional valleys, which vary in
length from several hundred metres to several kilo-
metres.
Typologically, in terms of original topography
and local morphography (Molewski 1994) the sites
of both castles are quasi-peninsular plateau-edge
sites of outstanding defensive value (Fig. 2). e
quasi-peninsular sites of both castles are the result
Fig. 1. Castle sites at Unisław and Starogród: A – general geograph-
ic map: B – geomorphological map (aer Molewski et al.
2015)
P. Molewski et al. An attempt to reconstruct selected elements of the original site topography of the Teutonic castles...
Citation: Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series 2018, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2018-0012 17
to 70° towards the very top. e uppermost parts
of the slope form an almost vertical wall in plac-
es, revealing the plateau’s geological structure. e
north-western slope of the quasi-peninsula has
stepped terraces. To the east of the high castle and
within the quasi-peninsula there were two baileys.
To its northeast, at the base of another plateau qua-
si-peninsula, there are the remains of a fortied set-
tlement dating to the 10th or 11th century. Today,
the southern and western slopes of the quasi-pen-
of the slopes of the Vistula valley being cut into by
denudational-erosional valleys around the sites.
e high castle at Unisław (or, to be precise, the
place where the stronghold previously stood) is lo-
cated on the very western part of a WNW–ESE-ly-
ing quasi-peninsula in a denudationally-lowered,
at moraine plateau (Fig. 2A). e plateau qua-
si-peninsula stands 71–77 m a.s.l., i.e. around 30–
35 m above the Vistula valley oor. Its slope angle
is predominantly between 30° and 45°, reaching up
Fig. 2. Landform and slopes at the castle sites: A – Unisław: 1 – castle; 2, 3 – baileys; 4 – 10th/11th-century fortied settlement; B – Star-
ogród: 1 – castle; 2, 3 – baileys
P. Molewski et al.An attempt to reconstruct selected elements of the original site topography of the Teutonic castles...
Citation: Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series 2018, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2018-0012
18
insula are overgrown with grasses and occasional
clumps of trees or shrubs, while the northern slope
is wooded.
e remains of the high castle at Starogród are
located in the south-western part of a moraine pla-
teau quasi-peninsula which stands 75–80 m a.s.l.,
i.e. 40 to 50 m above the Vistula valley oor (Fig.
2B). Its slopes, as at Unisław, are predominantly be-
tween 30° and 45°, reaching up to 70° in places. To
the northeast of the high castle there were two bai-
leys. Today, the northern and western slopes of the
quasi-peninsula are overgrown by woods, and the
south slopes by grasses and shrubs.
Materials and research methods
Digital and analogue data were obtained for the re-
search. e digital data were: the Topographic Ob-
jects Database (BDOT – nominal scale 1:10,000), a
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) from an Airborne La-
ser Scanning (ALS) of resolution 1×1 m (CODGiK),
and geological borehole proles from the Central
Bank of Hydrogeological Data (Bank HYDRO).
In order to determine the geological structure of
the vicinities of the castles the Unisław sheet (281)
of the 1:50,000 Detailed geological map of Poland
was used (Kozłowska and Kozłowski 1988, 1990).
e basic sources of data on topographic chang-
es for the castle sites at Unisław and Starogród were
the latest archaeological studies, including the re-
sults of geodesic measurements. e topographical
changes identied in the archaeological studies were
cross-referenced against the oldest historical maps.
A query was conducted which showed that only the
1:25,000 German topographic sheet map known as
the “Messtischblät” was of (limited) usefulness. is
is due to its relatively large scale (which displays ter-
rain features of ve metres in length or width), and
to its presentation of relief using contour lines, its
clear legibility and its accuracy (Jankowski 1961).
Two Messtischblät sheets issued in 1906 were used
– those for Chełmno (Culm 2676) and Unisław
(Unislaw 2776).
e rectication of analogue maps and the in-
tegration of all geospatial data were performed on
the GIS (Geographic Information System) platform
soware and using Poland’s national geodetic coor-
dinate system CS92 (EPSG 2180).
e original site topography of the castles was
reconstructed by modifying the digital elevation
model of the analysed area using the collected data
(Fig. 3). e procedure comprised several stages:
- generating a raster digital elevation model of
the analysed area from airborne laser scanning data,
- superimposing on the elevation model a top-
ographical data layer derived from cartographic
materials including historical maps, archaeological
studies, eld observations and interviews and ex-
pert historical knowledge of the topography of the
Teutonic castles,
- deleting the contemporary elevation data from
those parts of the raster digital elevation model
where there were changes in relief of relevance to
the study,
- in parts of the elevation model where contem-
porary elevation data had been deleted, inputting
elevation points taken from geodetic measurements
gathered from: archaeological studies; selected re-
lief features from historical maps; and hypothetical
Fig. 3. Method used for modication of the digital elevation
model (DEM)
P. Molewski et al. An attempt to reconstruct selected elements of the original site topography of the Teutonic castles...
Citation: Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series 2018, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2018-0012 19
elevation points assumed for general topographical
changes in the research area,
- interpolating all elevation points and creating
a modied raster digital elevation model for the re-
lief of the castle sites.
Results
The castle at Unisław
e castle complex at Unisław comprised three
parts; namely, the high castle and two baileys (Fig.
4A). Bailey 1 (the inner bailey), of about 0.7 ha,
is approximately trapezoid and aligned NW to SE,
with approximate dimensions of 120×90×50 m.
About 4 m below the north-eastern and north-west-
ern edge of the area of the bailey there is a terrace
of approximately 5 to 13 m in width. e terracing
is most probably associated with the bailey and part
of a double line of defence which was created on the
side facing the abandoned 10th/11th-century fortied
settlement and elsewhere. Interviews with local in-
habitants indicate that in the early 20th century the
bailey was still separated from the east by a pre-
served earth embankment with a moat on both its
internal and external sides (Fig. 4B). To the south
the embankment turned westwards and ran paral-
lel to the escarpment. Bailey 1 was eectively pro-
tected from the east (the most easily accessible side,
where the entrance probably was) by a moat, a large
earth embankment, a second moat, and probably a
second, smaller embankment around the bailey. A
small rise at the south-east edge of the bailey may
be the remains of this embankment.
Bailey 2 is to the east of bailey 1. It covers about
0.8 ha and is roughly oval, with its longest axis run-
ning NW–SE. It is about 120 m in length, and 80
m at its widest. To the east and northeast it is sur-
rounded by a single moat of approximately 30 in
width, which is now only poorly discernible in the
relief.
e nal and main part of the castle complex is
the high castle, which is built to a rectangular plan
with its entrance from the southeast. To the east it is
protected by the 30-m-wide moat. Its bed was orig-
inally about 1.6 m lower than today, i.e., about 6.4
m below the level of the castle entrance (Fig. 4B).
e reconstructed line of the high castle walls
proves that its 26-m-long north-western wing and
part of the south-western wing extended 16 m be-
yond the present-day edge of the plateau quasi-pen-
insula slope (Fig. 4A). Changes in the location of
this edge in the vicinity are documented by the
1906 German topographic map (Fig. 5A). At the
site of the castle, the western edge of the plateau
quasi-peninsula has retreated about 25 m since the
beginning of the last century, and by 15 m with-
in the denudational-erosional valley which cuts into
the plateau quasi-peninsula to the south (Fig. 5B).
Nearby, the preserved location of the north-eastern
edge of the plateau quasi-peninsula suggests that the
rate of degradation has been moderate there. How-
ever, the lack of older detailed relief maps means
that the exact position of these edges during the
construction and operation of the castle in the Mid-
dle Ages remains hypothetical.
e extent of the retreat of the slopes of the pla-
teau quasi-peninsula show that it was undoubted-
ly the result of landslide processes sensu lato, and
shearing slides in particular (Kleczkowski 1955;
Kowalski 1988). e tall, steep slopes of the Vistu-
la valley are, aer all, predisposed to the occurrence
of such processes (Ilcewicz-Stefaniuk and Stefa-
niuk 2007).
Towards the end of the Pleistocene these pro-
cesses were primarily associated with uvial ero-
sion and undercutting of the valley slopes by the
waters of the Vistula. e river’s lateral erosion wid-
ened the Vistula valley at that time to create the
Unisław Basin. Today also, the most substantial
landslides occur where the Vistula channel runs
directly along the foot of the valley slope, includ-
ing around Grudziądz and Świecie (Banach 1998;
Tyszkowski 2014). However, in most of the small-
er landslides, groundwater outows in the slopes
and precipitation and meltwater are the predomi-
nant factor. Underground waters change the struc-
ture and weight of the ground, while precipitation
and meltwaters reduce cohesion (in the case of co-
hesive rocks) and increase the weight of sediments
(Kleczkowski 1955).
e geological structure of the slope at the cas-
tle site can be observed directly only in its upper-
most parts where there is exposed till, which is light
P. Molewski et al.An attempt to reconstruct selected elements of the original site topography of the Teutonic castles...
Citation: Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series 2018, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2018-0012
20
brown and weathered towards the top, and sandy
in places. It forms a near-vertical wall of between
2 and 6 m high. e remainder of the slope has a
one- to several-metre-thick cover of denudational
deposits (predominantly colluvium). e structure
of the lower slope can be deduced from geological
maps (Kozłowska and Kozłowski 1988) and archi-
val borehole proles from the higher non-denuded
moraine plateau, the lower part of which forms the
plateau quasi-peninsula on which the castle is locat-
ed. is plateau is at an elevation of 92 m a.s.l., i.e.,
15 metres higher. At the surface it is made of Pleis-
tocene formations, i.e. two layers of tills of a com-
bined thickness of 25 to 36 metres, under which
there are sands, and sands with gravels, of a thick-
ness of 20 to 30 m, occasionally interlayered with
clays. e roof of the sand–gravel deposits lies at
between approximately 50 and 60 m a.s.l. Below
Fig. 4. Attempted reconstruction of the topography of the castle
at Unisław: A – digital elevation model of the present-day
surface; B – digital elevation model of the reconstructed
surface
Fig. 5. Change in the reach of the morainic plateau’s slope edge at
the site of the castle at Unisław: A – 1906 German topo-
graphic map (known as the “Messtischblät”, at original scale
1:25,000); B – contemporary topographic map
P. Molewski et al. An attempt to reconstruct selected elements of the original site topography of the Teutonic castles...
Citation: Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series 2018, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2018-0012 21
these deposits there is a further layer of tills of sev-
eral to about ten metres thick.
Other than the aforementioned natural morpho-
genetic processes, anthropopressure (also referred
to as indirect anthropogenic eects, Galon 1979)
was also responsible for an increase in landslides in
the lower Vistula valley in the present case. Field
observations and interviews with local inhabitants
revealed that the retreat of the slope on the west
of the plateau quasi-peninsula was caused by the
extraction of the sand–gravel deposits underlying
the till (Fig. 6). As has been established, this extrac-
tion began in the early 20th century, and the aggre-
gate obtained was used to dry out local oodlands
and for construction. As a result of the undercut-
ting of the lower slope and undermining of its sta-
bility, successive landslides occurred until extraction
was discontinued in the mid-20th century. Alongside
the progressive extraction of aggregate, another fun-
damental cause of the landslides was also the origi-
nal burden on the slope of the high castle’s remains.
Landslides on the valley slope in question are
still occurring, although their dynamics are limit-
ed. Comparison of contemporary cartographic ma-
terial against a 1:10,000 topographic map from the
1970s shows signicant changes in the location of
the slope edge. However, the activity of landslide
processes at the castle site is indicated by the at-
times vertical walls of the upper slope and small
slumps and landslide circuses in the slopes (Figs 7A
and B). Landslide processes are slowed to a small
extent by vegetation cover. e relative stability of
the north-western slope of the quasi-peninsula is
probably due to its having been terraced, which
eased the load of the upper part by removing over-
lying deposits.
The castle at Starogród
e castle complex at Starogród, similarly to that
in Unisław, comprised three parts; namely, the high
castle and two baileys (Fig. 8A). Bailey 2 (the out-
er bailey) was separated from the plateau by a dry
moat of about 35 m wide which took advantage of
natural depressions in the form of small denuda-
tional-erosional valleys. ese were shielded by an
earth embankment which is preserved as a slight
rise in the ground along the eastern edge of the
bailey. e bailey, which is partially oval, lies on a
NW–SE axis. It is about 225 m long and 140 m at
its widest point and covers an area of around 2.3 ha.
Bailey 1 (the inner bailey) was signicantly
smaller (about 0.3 ha) and was polygonal, running
along a NW–SE axis. It was about 90 m long and
about 35 m wide. It was separated from bailey 2 by
an approximately 25-m-wide dry moat which is still
visible in the terrain. To the south, the moat con-
nects to a terrace of maximum width around 25 m
lying 5 m below the ground level of the bailey (Fig.
8A). Historical sources (Inwentarz dóbr biskupst-
wa... 1927) show that at the end of the 17th cen-
tury a garden was established in the moat between
the baileys and on the southern slope. It was an Ital-
Fig. 6. Model of geological structure and main transformations of the quasi-peninsular plateau site of the castle at Unisław
P. Molewski et al.An attempt to reconstruct selected elements of the original site topography of the Teutonic castles...
Citation: Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series 2018, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2018-0012
22
Fig. 7. Plateau quasi-peninsula in Unisław: A – castle site with denuded south-western slope; B – natural uncovering of tills and small
slumps in the slope
ian-style garden, and so created on level ground. It
is probable that the creation of the garden was the
impetus for building the terrace, which was further
extended as a result of the later agricultural use of
the land. And so the terrace did not exist in the
original topography of the castle, and the edge of
the quasi-peninsula’s slope approximately coincid-
ed with the southern edge of the baileys (Fig. 8B).
e nal part of the castle complex was the high
castle. It was separated from bailey 1 by a dry moat
of about 15–20 m wide which is still discernible in
the ground relief. e original stronghold was built
to a pentagonal plan, with an entrance leading from
the northeast.
e reconstructed line of the high castle walls
in Starogród indicates, that its south wing and part
of the south-east wing, of a combined length of 60
Fig. 8. Attempted reconstruction of the topography of the castle at Starogród: A – digital elevation model of the present-day surface;
B – digital elevation model of the reconstructed surface
P. Molewski et al. An attempt to reconstruct selected elements of the original site topography of the Teutonic castles...
Citation: Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series 2018, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2018-0012 23
m, extended beyond the present-day edge of the
plateau quasi-peninsula slope. Analyses of the ear-
ly-20th-century German maps show that since then
most of the changes which have occurred in the
reach of the quasi-peninsula’s edge have been in
its southern part (Fig. 9). However, these changes
create signicant problems of interpretation. At the
castle site, the edge on the 1906 map is 10 m from
its current location and cuts across the documented
reconstructed line of the castle (Fig. 9A). e slope
below this edge is labelled on the map as a “long
slope”, and so of a shallower and probably variable
angle. At the same time, the contemporary ground
surface where the castle was sited has been heavi-
ly re-shaped by earlier archaeological works from
1963–1964. Traces of them can be seen in trench-
es and embankments which signicantly change the
topography from what it was at the beginning of
last century (Fig. 8A). As already stated, the latest
archaeological studies show unambiguously that the
original edge of the quasi-peninsula must have been
to the south of the southern wing of the castle. Nev-
ertheless, the lack of data makes it impossible to de-
termine what its exact location was in the period of
the castle’s operation. e inconsistency which has
been identied in the location of the edge is proba-
bly due to the upper edge of the slope having been
marked subjectively and to the accuracy of the his-
torical map, as well as to anthropogenic transforma-
tions in the contemporary ground surface.
A probable retreat of the quasi-peninsula’s edge
is also visible to the east of the castle’s location (Fig.
9B). e slope edge on the historical map is, con-
trary to what natural denudational processes would
suggest, up to about 30 m back from its current
location. e cited historical sources and eld ob-
servations conrm that the original slope was ter-
raced in this location in order to make arable land
area. As part of creating the garden the original ter-
race was created by manually transferring material
from further up the slope to an adjacent lower part
(Fig. 10) (Frederick and Krahtopoulou 2000), and
it was later expanded as a result of ploughing (lyn-
chet-row, Spencer and Hale 1961).
In the rest of the plateau quasi-peninsula, chang-
es in the location of the slope edge were mainly
caused by natural processes. Since the beginning of
last century, the quasi-peninsula’s western slope has
probably retreated by a maximum of about 10 m.
Fig. 9. Changes in the reach of the morainic plateau slope edge at
the site of the castle at Starogród: A – 1906 German topo-
graphic map (known as the “Messtischblät”, at original scale
1:25,000); B – contemporary topographic map
P. Molewski et al.An attempt to reconstruct selected elements of the original site topography of the Teutonic castles...
Citation: Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series 2018, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2018-0012
24
Similarly to Unisław, the still-active landslide
processes are conditioned by the height and steep-
ness of the slopes, and by their geological struc-
ture (Fig. 10 and Fig. 11A). e moraine plateau
around Starogród is made of two surface till layers
overlying sandy deposits (Kozłowska and Kozłowski
1990). e combined thickness of the tills is near-
ly 40 m, and of the sandy deposits is 20–30 m. e
top of the sands is at 55 m a.s.l. Below these there
is another layer of till of about 10 m thick.
e sediments under the till are uncovered in
several places in the lower slopes of the plateau qua-
si-peninsula (Fig. 11B) as ne sands, strongly ce-
mented with calcium carbonate (calcium carbonate
Fig. 10. Model of geological structure and the occurrence of terracing on the south slope of the quasi-peninsular plateau site of the cas-
tle at Starogród
Fig. 11. Plateau quasi-peninsula in Starogród: A – castle site with landslide slumps on the south slope; B – uncovering of Pleistocene
sandstones at the foot of the south slope
P. Molewski et al. An attempt to reconstruct selected elements of the original site topography of the Teutonic castles...
Citation: Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series 2018, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2018-0012 25
contents reach 50%). ese are Pleistocene sand-
stones, which are known in the lower Vistula valley
(Drozdowski and Krażewski 1978) but also in other
places in the Polish Lowlands (Urban 2000) and so,
in this case, they are uvioglacial deposits cement-
ed with calcite. erefore, in the case of Starogród,
the undermining of the slope’s stability and the oc-
currence of landslides may be the result of chemical
suosion (Kowalski 1988) by the calcareous binding
being washed from the Pleistocene sandstones. Ad-
ditionally, the natural retreat of the slope edge, com-
bined with landslide processes to the south of the
southern wing of the high castle, may have been a
catalyst to the remains of the castle walls burden-
ing the slope.
Conclusion
e contemporary cultural landscapes of the cas-
tle sites at Unisław and Starogród lack their earli-
er basic features, i.e., the castle complex buildings,
including the high castles. However, traces of an-
thropogenic transformations related to their con-
struction and operation have been, to a greater or
lesser degree, visibly preserved in the surface relief.
e topographical reconstructions presented here
are approximate in nature – especially the topog-
raphies of the parts of the castle sites which have
disappeared from their original landscape due to
natural and anthropogenic morphogenetic process-
es. e procedure employed, despite its many lim-
itations, represents a rst attempt at quantitative
reconstruction and is the foundation for the 3D
digital visualisation of the castle sites’ topography
(Fig. 12).
For researchers of architecture and archaeology,
observation of the layout of wall remains and their
accompanying sedimentary layers alone provides
enough information from which to reconstruct to-
pography. Detailed geographic and geomorpho-
logical analysis veries the trustworthiness of such
observations and provides signicantly greater op-
portunities to reconstruct the castles and to verify
hypotheses regarding the conditions of their con-
struction and any later transformations. In the case
of the castle at Unisław, where about one quarter of
the terrain has been destroyed, the presented recon-
struction shows that the topography on which the
Fig. 12. 3D models of site topography of the castles (black line – course of high castle walls)
P. Molewski et al.An attempt to reconstruct selected elements of the original site topography of the Teutonic castles...
Citation: Bulletin of Geography. Physical Geography Series 2018, 15, http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/bgeo-2018-0012
26
Teutonic built their fortress was signicantly dif-
ferent from that of today. In Starogród, too, where
the destruction was lesser, specialist analyses indi-
cate anthropogenic transformations associated with,
among others, the castle owners’ modern-day ac-
tivities. For both the castles, the knowledge of the
ongoing destructive geological processes will con-
tribute to a better understanding of the threats to
both archaeological sites, and may be a foundation
for interventions by heritage protection agencies.
Acknowledgements
e studies were conducted as part of the research
grant 2bH 15 0078 83 from the National Programme
for the Development of Humanities, entitled: “Cas-
tra Terrae Culmensis – na rubieży chrześcijańskiego
świata” (“Castra Terrae Culmensis, at the edges of the
Christian world”).
References
BANACH M., , Dynamika brzegów dolnej Wisły.
Dokumentacja Geograczna, .
BISKUP M., (ed.), , Ziemia chełmińska w przeszłości.
Wybór tekstów źródłowych. Towarzystwo Naukowe w
Toruniu, Prace Popularnonaukowe, , Toruń.
DROZDOWSKI E., KRAŻEWSKI S., , Piaskowce i
zlepieńce plejstoceńskie w dolinie dolnej Wisły. Prze-
gląd Geologiczny, : –.
FREDERICK C.D., KRAHTOPOULOU N., , De-
constructing Agricultural Terraces: Examining the
Inuence of Construction Method on Stratigraphy,
Dating and Archaeological Visibility. [in:] Halstead P.,
Frederick C. (eds), Landscape and Land Use in Post-
glacial Greece. Sheeld Studies in Aegean Archaeol-
ogy, : –.
GALON R., , Formy powierzchni Ziemi. Wy-
dawnictwo Szkolne i Pedagogiczne, Warszawa.
GUERQUIN B., , Zamki w Polsce. Wydawnictwo
Arkady, Warszawa.
Inwentarz dóbr biskupstwa chełmińskiego z r. z
uwzględnieniem późniejszych do roku . Wy-
dawnictwo A. Mańkowski, Toruń .
ILCEWICZ-STEFANIUK D., STEFANIUK M., ,
Procesy osuwiskowe w dolinie Wisły. Geologos, :
–.
JANKOWSKI W., , Niemiecka mapa w skali :
na terenach polskich na wschód od Odry i Nysy.
Przegląd Geologiczny, , : –, : –.
KLECZKOWSKI A., , Osuwiska i zjawiska pokrewne.
Wydawnictwa Geologiczne, Warszawa.
KONDRACKI J., , Geograa regionalna Polski. Wy-
dawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa.
KOWALSKI W.C., , Geologia inżynierska. Wy-
dawnictwa Geologiczne, Warszawa.
KOZŁOWSKA M., KOZŁOWSKI I., , Szczegółowa
mapa geologiczna Polski, arkusz Unisław (). Wy-
dawnictwa Geologiczne, Warszawa.
KOZŁOWSKA M., KOZŁOWSKI I., , Objaśnienia
do Szczegółowej mapy geologicznej Polski : ,
arkusz Unisław ().Wydawnictwa Geologiczne,
Warszawa.
MOLEWSKI P., , Środowisko zycznogeograczne
grodzisk. [in:] Chudziakowa J. (ed.), Wczesnośred-
niowieczne grodziska ziemi chełmińskiej, Uniwer-
sytet Mikołaja Kopernika, Toruń.
MOLEWSKI P., WECKWERTH P., , Ukształtowanie
powierzchni terenu i geneza rzeźby. [in:] Radzimiński
A. (ed.), Dzieje regionu kujawsko-pomorskiego, To-
ruń: –.
MOLEWSKI P., WECKWERTH P., JUŚKIEWICZ W.,
, Mapa geomorfologiczna. [in:] Kozieł Z. (ed.),
Atlas województwa kujawsko-pomorskiego, Wy-
dawnictwo UMK, Toruń.
NIEWIAROWSKI W., , Formy polodowcowe i typy
deglacjacji na Wysoczyźnie Chełmińskiej. Studia So-
cietatis Scientiarum Torunensis, Toruń, sec. C, .
RUMSEY D., WILLIAMS M., , Historical maps in
GIS. [in:] Knowles A.K. (ed.), Past Time, Past Place:
GIS for History, ESRI Press: –.
SPENCER J.E., HALE S.A., , e origin, nature and
distribution of agricultural terracing. Pacic View-
point, : –.
TYSZKOWSKI S., , Rozmieszczenie i geneza współ-
czesnych osuwisk nizinnych w stree bezpośrednie-
go oddziaływania rzeki na przykładzie zbocza Doliny
Dolnej Wisły między Morskiem a Wiągiem. Land-
form Analysis, : –.
URBAN J., , Skałki i jaskinie piaskowcowe na Niżu
Polskim. Przegląd Geologiczny, : –.
Received 12 December 2017
Accepted 10 February 2018
