Site description and research history

Łysa Góra (meaning ‘Bald Hill’ in Polish) is a glacial sand dune between the Orzyc River and one of its oxbow lakes, near Bagienice in northern Mazovia (Figure 1). During the sixth–fourth centuries BC it was adapted and inhabited by members of the West Balt Barrow Culture. These communities, characterised by fortified sites, aquatic subsistence strategies and collective urn burials, constituted a culturally distinct phenomenon on the margins of Iron Age Europe (Hoffmann & Rzeszotarska-Nowakiewicz Reference Hoffmann, Rzeszotarska-Nowakiewicz and Rzeszotarska-Nowakiewicz2016).

Figure 1.

a) Location of Łysa Góra and the extent of the La Tène culture in the fourth century BC. b) A view of the site from the west and c) site plan with trenches, showing the helmet findspot (black dot) (photograph b) T. Rakowski; graphics a) B. Kaczyński; c) C. Sobczak).

Identified in 1957 and excavated intermittently between 1971 and 1992, the site has yielded several unexpected imports from the La Tène culture (Waluś Reference Waluś, Okulicz-Kozaryn and Nowakowski1992). However, the absence of comprehensive analysis and publication prevented wider recognition of the site’s character and significance.

In 2024, the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw and the Faculty of Archaeology at the University of Warsaw resumed investigations. Aimed at reassessing the site’s function and chronology, the research is reshaping earlier interpretations based on limited publications, identifying Łysa Góra as a key Early Iron Age site. Nearly 350 metal artefacts were uncovered during excavations, including ornaments, weapons and evidence of bronze-working. Other finds comprise abundant pottery, animal bones, cereal grains, cultivated plant seeds and charred wood.

Ramparts, crafts and rituals

Situated amidst marshland, the postglacial elevation offered an ideal defensive location. Around the mid-first millennium BC, this position was further secured with two types of timber-and-earth fortifications. In 2024, traces of one defensive line were identified in the southern part of the site, cut partly into the natural sediment layers. This structure comprised an embankment with a palisade and an external ditch, lined with wooden elements—possibly wattle—remnants of which were preserved at the base of the ditch (Figure 2a). Another, entirely timber, fortification was found in the northern part of the site (Figure 2b). It remains unclear whether these defensive systems were contemporaneous and functionally integrated; future fieldwork, supplemented by non-invasive methods (Electrical Resistivity Tomography & magnetic method), will help clarify this.

Figure 2.

Remains of the defensive features: a) trench 6 profile (above) and plan (below) views showing a ditch (1) and rampart (2); b) trench 5 profile (above) and plan (below) views showing a rampart (3) and walkway (4) (photographs by B. Kaczyński; graphics by S. Rzeźnik & C. Sobczak).

The settlement appears to have had a production- and trade-oriented character. Supporting evidence includes fragmented and portioned bronze ornaments, frequently found in compacted bundles, likely prepared for remelting (Figure 3a). Ceramic casting crucibles were also documented in the 1970s. The presence of amber beads and an unfinished amber ring (Figure 3b) suggests participation in long-distance amber exchange with regions south of the Carpathian Mountains (cf. Dulęba & Markiewicz Reference Dulęba and Markiewicz2023).

Figure 3.

Selected finds: a) bundle of fragmented bronze ornaments; b) unfinished amber ring; c–e) Early La Tène bronze ring ornaments; f) an iron brooch (photographs: a) B. Kaczyński; c–e) A. Maciałowicz; b & f) A. Kowalewska).

Among the iron tools recovered, several adzes were identified. Carbonised wood remains preserved in the socket of one adze were subjected to anthracological analysis for species identification. Microscopic observation of a transverse cross-section revealed a ring-porous structure with both very wide and narrow wood rays (Figure 4)—anatomical features characteristic of oak wood (Quercus sp.) (Wagenführ & Scheiber Reference Wagenführ and Scheiber1974: 342–44; Schoch et al. Reference Schoch2004).

Figure 4.

Iron adze and carbonised wood removed from its socket. Microscopic analysis of the wood (below) reveals a typical oak structure (photograph by M. Aniszewski).

In the marshland at the foot of the dune’s south-western slope, a zone of ritual deposition was identified (Figure 5a). Two deposits were recorded, comprising bronze ring ornaments and earrings with glass beads. One of the deposits included a spiral armlet made of bronze ribbon, richly decorated with incised ornamentation (Figure 5b). A terminal bore traces of repair, featuring two circular holes left by rivets.

Figure 5.

An unearthed ritual deposit and its location (a), and a reconstruction of a bronze spiral armlet (b) found within the deposit (photograph by B. Kaczyński; DTM by C. Sobczak; drawing by B. Karch).

Southern connection

Traces of ritual activity were also identified within the fortifications, notably a Berru-type bronze helmet of La Tène origin, found crushed and fragmented alongside several iron tools (including adzes and a scythe) in a pit filled with charred remains (Figure 6). The helmet closely parallels finds from Dürrnberg in Austria (Moser et al. Reference Moser2012). Łysa Góra also yielded 31 mostly fragmentary Early La Tène brooches and ring ornaments dated to around the mid-fourth century BC (Figure 3c–f). Planned metallurgical and provenance studies, including lead isotope analyses, aim to identify possible ore sources and to compare results with similar artefacts from Bohemia (Danielisová et al. Reference Danielisová2021).

Figure 6.

Plan view of the pit containing the bronze Berru-type helmet (1), an iron scythe (2) and four adzes (3a–d) (photograph by B. Kaczyński).

Helmets in the Early La Tène milieu symbolised high social status and affiliation with the warrior elite, a concept likely alien to local, presumably acephalous societies. Thus, the presence of the bronze helmet at Łysa Góra may suggest more than an exotic import, possibly reflecting the physical presence of southern groups, including members of their elite. An alternative explanation based on down-the-line exchange cannot be entirely excluded because smaller La Tène objects, mainly ornaments, did reach even distant parts of Central and Eastern Europe, suggesting indirect contacts. This interpretation is less convincing, however, given the prestigious character of the helmet and the absence of comparable examples outside the La Tène zone in the fourth century BC. The site’s proximity to the amber-rich Kurpie region and routes leading to the Sambian Peninsula links these finds to the organisation of this segment of the ‘Amber Route’. The various La Tène artefacts, including the helmet, may therefore indicate that representatives of La Tène communities were involved in establishing or maintaining this long-distance network (cf. Woźniak Reference Woźniak and Woźniak2013). This hypothesis will require verification through further research.