D. Rozmus, Early Medieval “Lead” Weights from Młoszowa (Near Trzebinia) Notae Numismaticae/ Zapiski Numizmatyczne Tom XIV/2020. s. 261 - 264

Abstract

Early medieval lead weights from Młoszowa (near Trzebinia),
Lesser Poland Voivodeship, are further examples of finds of artefacts of this
type from the lands of Poland, Bohemia, Slovakia, and Moravia. They appear in
various archaeological contexts, and the function they served has been interpreted
in many different ways. So far, however, they have not been adequately described
or catalogued. From melted lead, a great deal of weights in various shapes were
produced. Most of these have holes, which may have been used to group the weights
into bunches. We know of ring-shaped weights, conical weights, and barrel-shaped
weights. Artifacts in the shape of billets have been counted among them, as have
very thin round plates with a hole in the center. The discussion as to the function
of these artefacts is ongoing.
KEY WORDS: Młoszowa (near Trzebinia), lead “weights”, early medieval
archaeological sites in the district of silver and lead metallurgy, the borderland
between Silesia and Lesser Poland

Full text

Tom XIV
MUZEUM NARODOWE W KRAKOWIE
SEKCJA NUMIZMATYCZNA
KOMISJI ARCHEOLOGICZNEJ PAN
ODDZIAŁ W KRAKOWIE
Kraków 2019

Tłumaczenie tekstów oraz korekta językowa native speakera tekstów
artykułów naukowych oraz recenzji naukowych w tomach XIII (2018) i XIV (2019)
nansowane w ramach umowy 790/P-DUN/2018 ze środków
Ministra Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego
przeznaczonych na działalność upowszechniającą naukę.
The translation and the proofreading by a native speaker of the texts
of academic articles and reviews in the volumes XIII (2018) and XIV (2019)
nanced as part of the Agreement 790/P-DUN/2018 from the funds
of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education allocated for the purpose
of promoting and propagating science.

MUZEUM NARODOWE W KRAKOWIE
SEKCJA NUMIZMATYCZNA
KOMISJI ARCHEOLOGICZNEJ PAN
ODDZIAŁ W KRAKOWIE
Kraków 2019
Tom XIV

Komitet naukowy / Scientic Committee:
Prof. Peter van Alfen, Prof. Michael Alram, Prof. Aleksander Bursche, Prof. Franҫois de Callataÿ,
Dr Karsten Dahmen, Prof. Georges Depeyrot, Dr Haim Gitler, Zoa Gołubiew, Prof. Wiesław Kaczanowicz,
Elżbieta Korczyńska, Prof. Katerini Liampi, Prof. Adam Małkiewicz, Prof. Andrew Meadows,
Prof. Mariusz Mielczarek, Dr Jiří Militký, Prof. Janusz A. Ostrowski, Prof. Maciej Salamon,
Prof. Bernhard Weisser
Redakcja / Editorial Board:
Redaktor / Editor in Chief – Jarosław Bodzek
Zastępca redaktora / Associate Editor – Mateusz Woźniak
Sekretarze / Secretaries – Dorota Malarczyk, Anna Bochnak, Barbara Zając
Redaktor tematyczny / Theme Editor:
Peter van Alfen
Redaktor językowy / Linguistic Editor:
Peter van Alfen
Recenzenci / Reviewers:
Prof. Bartosz Awianowicz, Prof. Katarzyna Balbuza, Dr Barbara Butent-Stefaniak, Dr Witold Garbaczewski,
Dr Adam Kędzierski, Dr Hab. Agata Kluczek, Dr Koray Konuk, Dr Piotr N. Kotowicz, Dr Kyrylo Myzgin,
Dr Dariusz Niemiec, Prof. Marek Olbrycht, Prof. Zenon Piech, Dr Hab. Vladimir F. Stolba, Dr Klaus Vondrovec,
Dr Eliza Walczak, Dr Tomasz Więcek, Dr David Wigg-Wolf, Dr Hab. Marcin Wołoszyn
Redaktorzy prowadzący / Commissioning Editors:
Dorota Malarczyk, Anna Kowalczyk
Tłumaczenia / Translations:
David Daniel, Grzegorz Haczewski
Korekta / Proofreading:
Aedaan Shaw
Projekt graczny i typograa / Graphic Design and Desktop Publishing:
Luiza Berdak
Skład i łamanie | Typesetting and Page Layout:
Katarzyna Poznańska
Adres redakcji / Address of the Editorial Oce:
Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie
ul. Józefa Piłsudskiego 12, 31-109 Kraków
tel. (+48) 12 433 58 50
e-mail: notae@mnk.pl
http://mnk.pl/notae-numismaticae-zapiski-numizmatyczne-1
Wyłączną odpowiedzialność za przestrzeganie praw autorskich dotyczących materiału ilustracyjnego ponoszą autorzy tekstów.
Authors of the texts bear the sole responsibility for observing the copyright illustrations.
Wersją pierwotną pisma Notae Numismaticae – Zapiski Numizmatyczne jest wersja elektroniczna.
The electronic edition of the Notae Numismaticae – Zapiski Numizmatyczne is treated as its original version.
© Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie i Autorzy, 2019
ISSN 1426-5435

SPIS TREŚCI / CONTENTS
11 Od redakcji
12 From the Editors
ARTYKUŁY / ARTICLES
JAROSŁAW BODZEK
15 The Satraps of Caria and the Lycians in the Achaemenid Period: Where is
the Numismatic Evidence?
Satrapowie Karii i Licyjczycy w okresie Achemenidów: czy istnieją świadectwa
numizmatyczne?
EMANUEL PETAC, AUREL VÎLCU
43 About the Diobols Hoard of Apollonia Pontica and Mesembria Discovered
in 1911 in Constanţa (Ancient Tomis)
O skarbie dioboli Apollonii Pontyjskiej i Mesembrii odkrytym w 1911 r.
w Konstancy (starożytnej Tomi)
YANNIS STOYAS
59 Wheat-Ears and Owls. Remarks on Thessalian Coins with Countermarks
Kłosy i sowy. Uwagi na temat kontramarkowanych monet tesalskich
MATEUSZ OKOŃSKI
93 Images of Central European externae gentes in Trajan’s Monetary Iconography
and Their Role in the Propaganda of the Imperial Era
Wizerunki środkowoeuropejskich externae gentes w ikonograi monetarnej
Trajana i ich pozycja w propagandzie imperialnej epoki
BARBARA ZAJĄC
123 The Roman Imperial Coinage Model for Some Provincial Coins of Bithynia
and Pontus Struck During the Reign of Trajan (98–117)
Rzymskie mennictwo imperialne jako wzór dla niektórych monet Bitynii i Pontu
bitych w okresie rządów Trajana (98–117)
ARKADIUSZ DYMOWSKI
149 The Problem of the Presence of Barbarian Imitations of Roman Imperial Denarii
in the Lands of Present-Day Poland. An Attempt at a Balance
Problem występowania barbarzyńskich naśladownictw denarów rzymskich
na terenie obecnej Polski. Próba bilansu
VITAL’ SIDAROVICH
183 New Find of Gold Roman Coin-Pendants in the South-West of Belarus
Nowe znalezisko złotych rzymskich monet-zawieszek z południowo-zachodniej
Białorusi

KYRYLO MYZGIN, STEPAN STEPANENKO, YURI SYTYI
197 Discovery of a Panticapaeum Coin at the Shestovytsya Early Medieval
Settlement
Znalezisko monety pantikapejskiej z wczesnośredniowiecznej osady Szestowica
KRZYSZTOF TUNIA, MATEUSZ WOŹNIAK
221 Coins from an Early-Medieval Burial Ground in Stręgoborzyce, Krakow District
Monety z cmentarzyska wczesnośredniowiecznego w Stręgoborzycach,
pow. Kraków
DARIUSZ ROZMUS
249 Early Medieval Lead “Weights” from Młoszowa (near Trzebinia)
Wczesnośredniowieczne „ciężarki” ołowiane z Młoszowej k. Trzebini
MICHAŁ ZAWADZKI
263 Remarks on Changes in the Iconography of Jagiellonian Crown Coins
Uwagi o zmianach w ikonograi koronnych monet jagiellońskich
ANNA BOCHNAK, IWONA MŁODKOWSKA-PRZEPIÓROWSKA
281 A Seventeenth-Century Hoard of Coins Found at the Cemetery near the Church
Dedicated to St. Barbara in the Old Town of Częstochowa
Siedemnastowieczny skarb monet znaleziony na cmentarzu przy kościele
pw. św. Barbary na Starym Mieście w Częstochowie
RECENZJE / REVIEWS
JAROSŁAW BODZEK
327 WILHELM MÜSELER
Lykische Münzen in europäischen Privatsammlungen, (Gephyra Monographien 4),
Istanbul 2016, 207 pages, 29 plates; ISBN 978-605-396-421-6
JAROSŁAW BODZEK
335 MARIUSZ MIELCZAREK
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Poland. Vol. I: The Archaeological
and Ethnographical Museum in Łódź. Part 3: Bosporus-Cilicia, The Polish
Academy of Arts and Sciences, The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology
of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków–Warszawa 2016, 122 pages,
42 plates, indices; ISBN 978-83-7676-258-6
JAROSŁAW BODZEK
338 ELIZA WALCZAK, ALEKSANDRA KRZYŻANOWSKA
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Poland. Vol. II: The National Museum in Warsaw.
Part 1: The Northern Black Sea Coast: Chersonesus-Bosporus, The Polish Academy
of Arts and Sciences, Kraków–Warszawa 2016, 130 pages, 53 plates, indices;
ISBN 978-83-7676-200-5

ELIZA WALCZAK
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Poland. Vol. II: The National Museum in Warsaw.
Part 2: The Northern Black Sea Coast: Bosporan Rulers, The Polish Academy
of Arts and Sciences, The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish
Academy of Sciences, The National Museum in Warsaw, Kraków–Warszawa 2017,
174 pages, 71 plates, indices; ISBN 978-83-7676-280-7
ELIZA WALCZAK
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Poland. Vol. II: The National Museum
in Warsaw. Part 3: The Northern Black Sea Coast: Bosporan Rulers – Sarmatia,
The Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences, The Institute of Archaeology
and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, The National Museum
in Warsaw, Kraków–Warszawa 2018, 168 pages, 66 plates, indices;
ISBN 978-83-7676-304-0
EVGENI I. PAUNOV
342 JAROSŁAW BODZEK
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Poland. Vol. III: The National Museum
in Cracow. Part 3: Thrace and Pontus, The Polish Academy of Arts and
Sciences, The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy
of Sciences, The National Museum in Krakow, Krakόw–Warszawa 2018,
148 pages, 58 plates, indices; ISBN 978-83-7676-305-7
SZYMON JELLONEK
343 MAREK BUDAJ, JÁN HUNKA
Nálezy Mincí na Slovensku / Coin Finds in Slovakia. V/1. Archeologický Ústav
Sav Historické Múzeum SNM, Bratislava–Nitra 2018, 260 pages;
ISBN 978-80-8196-026-0
KRONIKA / CHRONICLE
MATEUSZ WOŹNIAK
347 Kronika Gabinetu Numizmatycznego Muzeum Narodowego w Krakowie (2018)
354 The Chronicle of the Numismatic Cabinet of the National Museum in Krakow
(2018)
JAROSŁAW BODZEK
363 Kronika Sekcji Numizmatycznej Komisji Archeologicznej Polskiej Akademii
Nauk Oddział w Krakowie (2018)
365 The Chronicle of the Numismatic Section of the Commission on Archaeology
of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Krakow Branch of the Polish Academy of
Sciences) (2018)
BARBARA ZAJĄC, SZYMON JELLONEK, PAULINA KOCZWARA
367 Pecunia Omnes Vincit. International Numismatic and Economic Conferences
(2013–2018)

NEKROLOG / OBITUARY
JAROSŁAW BODZEK
373 Stefan Skowronek (16 stycznia 1928 – 11 czerwca 2019)
379 Stefan Skowronek (January 16, 1928 – June 11, 2019)
386 Bibliograa wybranych prac numizmatycznych prof. Stefana Skowronka
Selected Bibliography of Prof. Stefan Skowronek’s Numismatic Works

Stefan Skowronek (1928–2019) podczas wykopalisk archeologicznych w Egipcie (1960/1961)
Ze zbiorów Ośrodka Dokumentacji Filmowej Nauki Polskiej Uniwersytetu Pedagogicznego w Krakowie
Stefan Skowronek (1928–2019) during archaeological excavation in Egypt (1960/1961)
From the Center of Visual Documentation of Polish Science (Pedagogical University of Cracow)

11
Szanowni Państwo,
oddajemy w Państwa ręce tom XIV Notae Numismaticae – Zapisków Numizma-
tycznych. Zgodnie z przyjętymi przez nas zasadami wszystkie teksty publikujemy
w językach kongresowych, z angielskimi i polskimi abstraktami. Polskojęzyczne
wersje tekstów odnoszących się w większym stopniu do zainteresowań czytelnika
polskiego są zamieszczone w formie plików PDF na stronie internetowej Muzeum
Narodowego w Krakowie (https://mnk.pl/notae-numismaticae-zapiski-numizma-
tyczne-1). W podobny sposób udostępniamy cały obecny tom oraz tomy archiwalne.
Na stronie internetowej dostępne są ponadto wszelkie informacje ogólne o czaso-
piśmie oraz instrukcje dla autorów i recenzentów.
11 czerwca 2019 r. w wieku 91 lat odszedł prof. dr hab. Stefan Skowronek
(1928–2019), nestor polskiej numizmatyki, wieloletni pracownik i kierownik Ga-
binetu Numizmatycznego Muzeum Narodowego w Krakowie, wybitny znawca
numizmatyki antycznej, wykładowca i pracownik Uniwersytetu Pedagogicznego
w Krakowie, wykładowca Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, członek wielu towarzystw
i organizacji naukowych, w tym członek honorowy Sekcji Numizmatycznej Komi-
sji Archeologicznej Polskiej Akademii Nauk Oddział w Krakowie.
Jego pamięci poświęcamy XIV tom Notae Numismaticae – Zapisków Numi-
zmatycznych, czasopisma, które mocno wspierał jako autor i członek Komitetu
Naukowego.
Redakcja

12
Dear Readers,
It is with great pleasure that we present volume XIV of Notae Numismaticae –
Zapiski Numizmatyczne to you. In accordance with the principles that we have
adopted, our texts are published in the conference languages with English and
Polish abstracts. The Polish-language versions of the texts that are more relevant to
the interests of the Polish reader can be found as PDFs on the website of the National
Museum in Krakow (https://mnk.pl/notae-numismaticae-zapiski-numizmatyczne-1).
Similarly, the whole of the present volume is available online, as are previously
published volumes of the journal. The website also contains general information
about the journal as well as information for prospective authors and reviewers.
Prof. Dr. Hab. Stefan Skowronek (1928–2019), the doyen of Polish
numismatics, died on June 11, 2019, at the age of 91. For many years, he worked
as an employee – and then as head – of the Numismatic Cabinet at the National
Museum of Krakow. He was also a lecturer and employee of the Pedagogical
University of Krakow, a lecturer at the Jagiellonian University, and a member
of numerous scientic societies and organizations, having honorary membership
status at the Krakow branch of the Numismatic Section of the Polish Academy
of Sciences’ Commission on Archaeology.
It is to his enduring memory that we dedicate volume XIV of Notae
Numismaticae – Zapiski Numizmatyczne, a journal that he helped to support as
both an author and as a member of the Scientic Committee.
The Editors

249
Tom XIV
Kraków 2019
DARIUSZ ROZMUS
Humanitas University in Sosnowiec
Sztygarka Municipal Museum, Dąbrowa Górnicza
Early Medieval Lead “Weights” from Młoszowa
(near Trzebinia)
ABSTRACT: Early medieval lead weights from Młoszowa (near Trzebinia),
Lesser Poland Voivodeship, are further examples of finds of artefacts of this
type from the lands of Poland, Bohemia, Slovakia, and Moravia. They appear in
various archaeological contexts, and the function they served has been interpreted
in many dierent ways. So far, however, they have not been adequately described
or catalogued. From melted lead, a great deal of weights in various shapes were
produced. Most of these have holes, which may have been used to group the weights
into bunches. We know of ring-shaped weights, conical weights, and barrel-shaped
weights. Artifacts in the shape of billets have been counted among them, as have
very thin round plates with a hole in the center. The discussion as to the function
of these artefacts is ongoing.
KEY WORDS: Młoszowa (near Trzebinia), lead “weights”, early medieval
archaeological sites in the district of silver and lead metallurgy, the borderland
between Silesia and Lesser Poland
ABSTRAKT: Wczesnośredniowieczne „ciężarki” ołowiane z Młoszowej
k. Trzebini
Wczesnośredniowieczne ciężarki ołowiane z Młoszowej k. Trzebini (woj. ma-
łopolskie) to kolejne znaleziska tego typu zabytków odkrytych na terenach Polski,
Czech, Słowacji i Moraw. Pojawiają się one w różnym kontekście archeologicz-
nym, a interpretacja ich funkcji jest bardzo zróżnicowana. Nie zostały jednak do-
tychczas w dostateczny sposób opisane i skatalogowane. Z wytopionego ołowiu
produkowano bardzo liczne i różne w swoich kształtach ciężarki, z których więk-
szość ma otworki umożliwiające łączenie ich w pęki. Znane są formy pierścieniowa-
te, stożkowate, beczułkowate. Zaliczono do nich także zabytki w kształcie sztabek

250
DARIUSZ ROZMUS
oraz cieniutkich okrągłych blaszek z otworem w środku. Wciąż trwa dyskusja do-
tycząca ich funkcji.
SŁOWA KLUCZOWE: Młoszowa k. Trzebini, ołowiane „ciężarki”, wczesno-
średniowieczne stanowiska archeologiczne na obszarze zagłębia hutnictwa srebra
i ołowiu, pogranicze śląsko-małopolskie
Early medieval lead weights make up a category of artefacts that have been
found in Central Europe and Scandinavia.1 They appear in various archaeological
contexts, and the function they served has been interpreted in many dierent ways.
To date, however, they have not been adequately described or catalogued. From
melted lead, a great deal of weights in various shapes were produced. Most of these
have holes, which may have been used to group the weights into bunches. We know
of ring-shaped weights, conical weights, and barrel-shaped (cylindrical) weights.
They have also taken the form of billets or even very thin round plates with a hole
in the center, ones with a weight of 1.9 g.2 It needs to be emphasized that in rare
circumstances artifacts in this category may be mistaken for lead shots.
Kazimierz Wachowski has rightly observed that there is no denition of the concept
of a “weight” in the archaeological literature, nor, in keeping with this, do we have
a list of characteristics that would allow us to dierentiate weights from the entire
group of similar objects.3 It is the opinion of the author of the present article that this
term should be understood such that a “true” weight is used mostly (with an emphasis
on mostly) as a weight. To take an example, weights that have neither a hole nor
a handle (for example, iron weights encased in bronze) cannot be used as sinkers.
The kind of weight that we are concerned with in this article, that is, an artifact with
holes or handles, can be a sinker, but – if its weight is correlated with the units of
weight in use at a given moment in history – it can also be used as a commercial weight.
The weights in this article (Tables 1 and 2) come from the village of Młoszowa,
which is near Trzebinia (Plate 3) in Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Młoszowa is located
near an area that has been recognized over the last twenty years as an early medieval
(early Polish) district of silver and lead metallurgy. It was located in the borderland
of present-day Lesser Poland and Upper Silesia.4 These weights are further examples
of the artefacts of this type that have been announced and published within the last
ten years. This group includes both stray nds (Malinowice, Psara District;5 Kuźnica
1 JANKUHN 1943: 189, 192; SZAFRAŃSKI 1948: 93.
2 ROZMUS 2014: 216, ill. 208.
3 WACHOWSKI 1974: 173.
4 ROZMUS 2004: 301–315; IDEM 2014; IDEM 2016b; GARBACZ–KLEMPKA and ROZMUS 2015:
17–20.
5
Polish Archaeological Record, Working area 95, site 49. ROZMUS 2016a: 263–274.

251
EARLY MEDIEVAL LEAD “WEIGHTS” FROM MŁOSZOWA...
Błędowska, Dąbrowa Górnicza;6 Jaworzno7) as well as ones from archaeological
research sites in the following places: Łosień, Dąbrowa Górnicza;8 Strzemieszyce
Wielkie, Dąbrowa Górnicza;9 Zagórze, Sosnowiec;10 and Stare Bukowno.11
Archaeological sites located in the above-mentioned metallurgical district
indicate that local ores were smelted, mainly galena (PbS) and lead, and that lead
monoxide (litarge, Pb0)12 and silver were produced. Litarge was used in the glazing
process of ceramics.13 In 2006 at the production settlement in Łosień, Dąbrowa
Górnicza, discovery was made of a so-called “foundry hoard”, that is, a deposit of
more than a thousand silver coins and about 2 kg of silver in clumps. The hoard
was studied and a monograph was published14 as were works discussing artistic
phenomena related to the monetary iconography.15
It is unclear how the weights were found. According to word of mouth, they
were taken from an arable eld – from plot number 1059/71 (Plate 3). Here, early
medieval ceramics were found during a survey of the land conducted by Marek
Szymaszkiewicz, M.A., from the Department of Archaeology at the Irena and
Mieczysław Mazaraki Museum; Piotr Kolasa, M.A.; and Dr. hab. Dariusz Rozmus
from the Department of Archaeology at the Sztygarka Municipal Museum in
Dąbrowa Górnicza. In addition to the weights under discussion in this article,
numerous lead castings were found in this area. These artefacts are now located
in the Sztygarka Municipal Museum in Dąbrowa Górnicza. The site was reported
to the Provincial Monument Preservation Oce in Krakow. At the present moment,
there is no evidence that would suggest that the collection of weights was discovered
by a detectorist. No one has admitted to having searched for these objects, which
were discovered years ago; however, it is probable that this was the case.
6
Ibidem: 263–274.
7
ROZMUS and SZMONIEWSKI 2013: 15–25.
8
ROZMUS and BODNAR 2004: 61–68; RYBAK, ROZMUS and BODNAR 2005: 34–38, ill. 41–56;
ROZMUS 2014: 215–223.
9 ROGACZEWSKA 2002: 224, ill. 3:a.
10 ROZMUS 2012: 42–49.
11 IDEM 2016a: 263–274.
12 During excavations at the Małgorzatka hillfort in Bytom, dated to the period between the 10th and 12th
centuries, heavy lumps of litarge (PbO) were found. W. PASTUSZKA, W Bytomiu odkryto pozostałości grodu,
in http://archeowiesci.pl/2014/10/20/w-bytomiu-odkryli-pozostalosci-grodu/, accessed on October 20, 2014.
The University of Silesia has even made a lm about it – available online. cf. Dr. inż. Renata Baranowska (Medical
University of Silesia), Dr. hab. Piotr Boroń (University of Silesia), Dr. Grzegorz Dziubanek (Medical University of
Silesia), Marcin Paternoga, M.A. (Armaja), Ocena zanieczyszczenia metalami ciężkimi nawarstwień kulturowych
wczesnośredniowiecznego grodziska na Wzgórzu Małgorzaty w Bytomiu. Presentation given on September 21,
2017 at an Upper Silesian archaeology conference on the 20th Anniversary of the Death of Prof. Jerzy Szydłowski.
13 BODNAR et AL 2006; AUCH 2016; ROZMUS and GARBACZ-KLEMPKA 2017: 261–285.
14 ROZMUS, SUCHODOLSKI and TOKAJ 2014.
15 ROZMUS and TOKAJ 2010; ROZMUS 2012; ROZMUS and TOKAJ 2017: 38–50.

252
DARIUSZ ROZMUS
The illegal search for artefacts is a very dicult problem to solve. It is commonly
believed that it is admissible to search for treasures (hoards) and the discovery of
something valuable is a natural bonus resulting from such activities.16 Because
the use of metal detectors to search for artefacts is now a common occurrence in
Europe, dierent countries (and, with regard to Germany, even dierent states)
have developed dierent legal strategies to deal with this phenomenon. The things
that treasure hunts do can be advantageous, or they can result in huge losses for
archaeology. Not only does it depend on the legal regulations, but it also depends on
the work done by conservation oces and the level of consciousness of the people
who take part in these searches. It is a complicated matter and it has been discussed
from numerous points of view.17
At present it is unclear what role the artefacts under discussion in this text
played.18 They have often been interpreted as sinker stones, that is, hook or line
sinkers.19 However, there are many arguments against their having played a role
in shery. Examples in the form of very thin lead plates with a weight of barely
1–2 g are known from both the lands of Poland and Bohemia.20 For similar reasons,
it does not seem right to treat these artefacts as loom weights. Heavy “weights”
would have ripped through the thread, and what could ones weighing hardly two
grams have been used for? Likewise, it is unlikely that these artefacts were used as
plummets.21 Some of the “weights” do not even have a hole for fastening (Table 2,
nos. 9, 11, 12, 13, 14); thus, how can they be made into sinker stones or plummets?
In addition, some of them have markings, e.g. in the shape of an X (Table 2, no. 14).
The use of a plummet in settlements in which wooden (and earthen) dwellings were
dominant would seem to be pointless. A strongly attened oval plate made of lead
with a drilled-in hole from an early medieval cemetery in Strzemieszyce Wielkie has
been interpreted as possibly being a decoration because this artefact was discovered
near the neck together with glass beads. It has thus been regarded as pendant.22
This is the only instance in which such an artefact has been interpreted in this way.
One of the hypotheses that we can examine concerning the role played by
artefacts of this type is that they were used as a form of nonmonetary money, that
is, as commodity money. This hypothesis is inspired by a fragment of a report made
16 ROZMUS 2017: 11–19.
17 SCHUSTER 2017: 19–31; TRZCIŃSKI 2017: 33–45; CARNAP-BORNHEIM, ICKERODT and
SIEGLOFF 2017: 13–18.
18 ROZMUS 2014: 215–223, ills. 208, 210, 211, and 212.
19 HENSEL 1987: 157, ill. 74, nos. 8 and 9; KOSTRZEWSKI 1939: 64; IDEM 1967: 457.
20 ROZMUS 2014: ill. 208; BLÁHA, HEJHAL and SKALA 2013: 300, ill. 6.
21 FOGEL 1991: 112.
22 MARCINIAK 1960: 171. After seeing the monument, you can agree with the opinion of Marciniak.
The monument is in the Collection of the Museum in Bytom.

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EARLY MEDIEVAL LEAD “WEIGHTS” FROM MŁOSZOWA...
by Ibrahim ibn Yaqub on Mieszko’s state: “The taxes [or fees] collected by him
[Mieszko] [consist in] commercial weights…”23 The perspective presented here,
which the author of this article and others (Szmoniewski, Zaborski, Bodnar, Firlet,
and others) have already advanced for a few years now, is that these lead weights
served many functions. We also hold that they may have been used as substitute
money.24 Some of these weights are discs with a hole in the center; this would
have made it possible to tie the weights into bunches in much the same way as this
was done, for example, with Chinese coins. This would have greatly facilitated
their transport and storage. The problem is that while this relation comes from
the 10th century, the weights were found in cultural layers dating, among others, to
the 11th century (e.g. the cemetery in Strzemieszyce Wielkie, Dąbrowa Górnicza)
or to the 12th century (Łosień, Dąbrowa Górnicza). Thus, it is worth inquiring what,
in essence, these small lead objects were.
1) Do they form a category of artefacts that, while having the same function,
diers with regard to the shape and weight of the individual artefacts?
2) Do they have something in common with a system of payments?
Above all, the objects described here as lead “weights” come from early
medieval cultural layers. They were found in the main centers of early medieval
Poland, some of which belonged to the so-called Civitates Principales.25 They have
been discovered in a number of cities, including the following: Gniezno; Poznań;
Ostrów Lednicki; Płock; Bytom; Zawodzie, Kalisz; Łęczyca; Wrocław; Bytom
Odrzański; Kraków; Cieszyn; Biskupin; Kałdus. A review of the archaeological
literature referring to the sites at which the lead weights were found is presented in
a monograph devoted to this category of artefacts.26
Lead “weights” are most often found at sites connected to the early medieval
production of silver and lead, that is, within the region, mentioned above, of the early
Polish district of silver and lead metallurgy. This is not surprising because it is in
these places that these “weights” were produced. In addition, these artefacts are found
on archaeological sites that are connected to places of a commercial character.27
These weights are also found in archaeological cultural layers together with coins.
However, what is meant here are both true weights (barrel-shaped weights, cubo-
octahedral weights, certain bronze-plated iron weights) and the lead “weights”
23 KOWALSKI 1946: 50.
24 ROZMUS and BODNAR 2006: 154, footnote 6; FIRLET 2006: 424; BODNAR, ROZMUS and
SZMONIEWSKI 2007.
25 JANIAK and STRYNIAK 1998: 22, 42, 65, and 99.
26 BODNAR, ROZMUS and SZMONIEWSKI 2007.
27 Numerous weights were also attained during archaeological investigations in Opole (in Ostrówek), where,
according to the archaeologist Hołubowicz (1953: 47), “they could have been lost by itinerant traders”.

254
DARIUSZ ROZMUS
under discussion in this text. Many researchers have expressed the opinion that
there is a direct tie between these artefacts and early medieval trade.28 “Weights”
are also known from burial gifts.29 Burials with weights are interpreted as the graves
of people who were involved in trade.30 One can also assume that their nds are
grouped around trade routes.31
Recently, a large number of artefacts of this type were uncovered in the south of
Moravia and in Bohemia.32 Most of the weights have a form that is not only similar
but downright identical to the shapes of the “weights” known from the lands of
Poland, including, of course, those from Dąbrowa Górnicza and Sosnowiec. Czech
researchers theorize that the lead “weights” could have come from within Poland.33
That this thesis is true is supported by research on the isotopes of the lead; according
to this research, these lead artefacts from nds in early medieval Prague were made
out of lead which originated from the smelting of lead ores from deposits from ore-
bearing dolomite outcrops from Silesia and Lesser Poland.34
At the current state of research, it is dicult to unambiguously and denitively
state whether “weights” in the form of lead discs and cones played the role of
nonmonetary money – mercantile miskals.35 However, there is no lack of opinions
that this was indeed the case. According to the Orientalist A. Zaborski, lead weights
could have played the role of so-called exagia (from the Latin word Exagium:
weighing, test of weight), that is, metal weights used to weigh coins that could have
been and “even must have played the role of substitute money”.36
It will not be possible to determine the function served by these metal objects
described as “weights” unambiguously until further discoveries are made; we also
need to make a thorough analysis of the artefacts that have been found in the lands
of Poland, taking into account all the metric data. The “weights” described in this
28 WACHOWSKI 1974: 191–193; MOŹDZIOCH 2002: 156 and others.
29 ABRAMOWICZ et AL 2003: 42, 49, 65–66; MARCINIAK 1960: 171.
30 KAŹMIERCZYK 1969: 145, 159–160.
31 Such is the conclusion that a Czech researcher comes to based on his observations. I obtained this
information from a conference lecture. Cf. Jan Mařík’s presentation, which is titled Non-ferrous metals and their
processing on the Early Medieval stronghold of Libice, from the International Conference Silver in Early Medieval
Central Europe PAN Warsaw, November 30, 2017 to December 1, 2017.
32 BIERMANN and MACHÁČEK 2012: 183; MACHÁČEK and MECHURA 2013: 275–288.
33 Cf. Jiří Macháček’s presentation “Raně středověká tržní osada v Kosticích (jižní Morava)– stříbro,
olovo”, and R. Bláha, P. Hejhal, and J. Skala’s presentation “Nálezy olověných artefaktů z lokality Roudnice a okolí
(11. Století, východní Čechy)”, given at the conference titled Argenti fossores et alii – znaczenie gospodarcze
wschodnich części Górnego Śląska i zachodnich krańców Małopolski w późnej fazie wczesnego średniowiecza
(X–XII wiek), which took place in Katowice from October 24 to October 25, 2012.
34 ETTLER et AL 2015: 72–83.
35 Formed on the basis of Arabic, the word translated as mercantile was used in an Arabic chronicle. It was
Ibrahim ibn Yaqub – a Radhanite, a Jew from Tortosa, a merchant, a traveler, and probably an intelligence agent
in the service of Arabic rulers – who informed the world at that time that such a currency no doubt existed.
36 ZABORSKI 2008: 50.

255
EARLY MEDIEVAL LEAD “WEIGHTS” FROM MŁOSZOWA...
article come in all dierent weights. The lightest “weight” belonging to the category
of conical weights has a weight of 6.43 g (Table 1, no. 1; Plate 1, no. 1); the lightest
belonging to the ring-shaped (disc-shaped) weights, a weight of 5.52 g (Table 1,
no. 18; Plate 1, no. 18). The heaviest lead (barrel-shaped/cylindrical) weight has
a weight of 64.47 g (Table 2, no. 15; Plate 2, no. 15).
Lead weights were used in Europe during a period in which a mixed system of
weights existed, one that was tied, at the same time, to the systems used in Western
Europe, Scandinavia, and the Orient. A discussion of the ties and of the proposals
for interpreting the weights in the dierent systems can be found in the work titled
Wczesnośredniowieczne odważniki z Dąbrowy Górniczej-Łośnia… [Early Medieval
Weights from Dąbrowa Górnicza].37 This, however, was only a research proposal.
Not until we catalogue and conduct binding research on a very large number of these
artefacts will it be possible to give – or at least come close to giving – an answer as
to the function of these artefacts.
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Author’s address:
Dariusz Rozmus
ul. Krasińskiego 10/32
32-300 Olkusz
rozmusd@poczta.onet.pl
ORCID 0000-0002-3264-8923
Translation: David Daniel

TABLE 1
The list of features of these lead artefacts includes a description of each artefact as well as its weight, height,
and width, measured from the points farthest from each other. Wherever possible, the width of the weight’s hole
has also been provided at its widest point. The numbers in the table correspond to the numbers in the text of
the article and on PLATE 1. Photo: Piotr Kolasa
No. Weight
(g)
Height
(cm)
Width
(cm)
Width of
the hole (cm) Description of the artefact
1 6.43 1.1 1.4 0.8 Ring-shaped weight
2 19.01 1.5 1.6 1.1 Barrel-shaped weight
3 9.01 1.0 1.6 0.8 Ring-shaped weight
4 17.27 1.3 2.2 1.0 Conical weight. Deformed
5 8.57 0.8 1.8 1.0 Ring-shaped weight
6 17.34 1.4 2.1 0.9 Conical weight. Deformed
7 13.33 1.0 1.8 0.8 Ring-shaped weight
8 16.72 1.9 1.8 1.0 Barrel-shaped weight
9 10.30 1.3 1.7 1.0 Conical weight (oblate)
10 33.85 1.3 2.4 0.6 Conical weight (oblate)
11 11.89 1.0 1.9 1.2 Ring-shaped weight. Deformed
12 19.87 1.2 2.0 1.1 Ring-shaped weight
13 16.28 0.7 2.1 1.0 Ring-shaped weight
14 10.75 1.0 1.9 1.0 Ring-shaped weight. Deformed
15 9.01 0.6 2.2 1.3 Ring-shaped weight
16 15.54 1.0 1.9 0.7 Ring-shaped weight
17 14.92 0.9 2.1 0.8 Ring-shaped weight
18 5.52 0.3 2.0 0.9 Ring-shaped weight

PLATE 1

TABLE 2
The list of features of these lead artefacts includes a description of each artefact as well as its weight, height,
and width, measured from the points farthest from each other. Wherever possible, the width of the weight’s hole
has also been provided at its widest point. The numbers in the table correspond to the numbers in the text of
the article and on PLATE 2. Photo: Piotr Kolasa
No. Weight
(g)
Height
(cm)
Width
(cm)
Width of
the hole (cm) Description of the artefact
1 54.37 1.8 2.7 1.5 Conical weight. Slightly deformed
2 30.00 1.1 2.9 1.8 Ring-shaped weight. Slightly
deformed
3 30.81 2.0 2.3 1.0 Conical weight. Deformed
4 19.87 0.9 2.4 0.9 Ring-shaped weight.
Slightly deformed
5 47.96 2.1 2.8 1.1 Ring-shaped weight
6 19.94 0.8 2.1 0.9 Ring-shaped weight
7 33.76 2.1 3 1.3 Conical weight. Deformed
8 18.37 0.7 2.1 0.9 Ring-shaped weight
9 19.00 2.2 1.3 – Presumed to be a weight
10 16.11 0.7 2.1 0.8 Ring-shaped weight
11 20.12 1.9 1.3 – Presumed to be a weight
12 29.15 1.1 2.4 – Ring-shaped weight
(deformed; no hole)
13 14.60 1.4 1.5 – Presumed to be a weight
14 13.86 1.4 1.4 –
A ring-shaped weight without
a hole. It is marked by the X that
can be found on it.
15 64.47 1.7 2.9 –
Barrel-shaped weight.
This weight has a hole but because
it is deformed, it is not possible
to measure its width.

PLATE 2

PLATE 3
Fig. 1. The view of Młoszowa village, near Trzebinia, Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Author: Dariusz Rozmus