Tri-part container

A container made of antlers discovered in 1996 during archaeological rescue research in Szczecin's Podzamcze within the 14th quarter. The container was made of a fragment of deer antler. Its shape is similar to the letter T. On the edges of each arm, there are four holes used for fastening closures and slings. The surface of the object is richly decorated with motifs of hatched triangles framed by engraved ribbons. There is also a cross on one side and an X on the other. Containers made of antlers were worn around the neck or attached to belts. They were used to store salt or herbs; one specimen filled with coins was also found. They are known from archaeological research on cemeteries, open settlements and burial mounds dating from the 7th to the 12th century, in the territory from the Carpathian Basin to the European Lowlands. The oldest ones were discovered on cemeteries of nomadic Avars in the Carpathian Basin; somewhat younger ones are known from 7th – 9th-century Slavic settlements and cemeteries in Moravia. The horn containers from present-day Poland and north-eastern Germany date to the end of the 10th -12th centuries. Several objects of this type have been discovered in Pomerania, including in Szczecin during excavations on the Castle Hill and in Wolin on Srebrne Wzgórza among relics of horn workshop, and in Santok on the border between Greater Poland and Pomerania.

Sławomir Słowiński