An epaulette with spiral disks of the Czernice-type

The armlet is made of bronze, and consists of a hoop ended with two large spiral shields. On bail, the surface is covered with a rich decoration consisting of groups of transverse and diagonal incisions and a herringbone motif. Adolf Kohn, a farmer, ploughed it in his field in 1899. It is an element of the hoard that contained another twin armlet with shields, an open undecorated hoop and fragments of several other bronze objects: an ornamental belt, an axe, a necklace, a narrow band and, a unique pin. The whole deposit dated to the 1st half of the 3rd Bronze Age (approx. 1300-1200 BC) was transferred to the collection of the Society of History and Antiquities of Pomerania (Towarzystwo Historii i Starożytności Pomorza) in Szczecin only in 1905. In 1928, together with the whole legacy of the Society, it was transferred to the newly established Museum in Szczecin. It was stored there until 1944 when the collection was evacuated due to the Allied air raids on the city. At that time, two armlets and a hoop were transported deep into Germany, while the remaining items, or rather their fragments, were secured on site. The artefacts left in the Museum were moved in crates to the basement or the lower floors of the museum building in Luisenstrasse (now Staromłyńska Street). It was not until 2009 that, due to the Polish-German exchange of ancient archaeological artefacts, it became possible to merge all the hoard elements. Apart from its unquestionable expositional value, the hoardtreasure from Mielenko Gryfińskie is also of great scientific importance, especially in the study of manifestations of pre-Lusatian culture in Pomerania and its connections with other areas of Europe.

Dorota Kozłowska