A House on a Holy Mountain? A Late Bronze Age Building on Mount Radunia in the Ślęża Massif (Woj. Dolnośląskie / PL)

Abstract

A House on a Holy Mountain? A Late Bronze Age Building on Mount Radunia in the Ślęża Massif (Woj. Dolnośląskie / PL)

The Ślęża Massif, a vast nature reserve and a complex of archaeological sites, has for many years been considered to be a place of religious practices. However, the latest research has shed a completely new light on this issue. As a matter of fact, this mountainous area played not only a cult role, but most of all it served as a place of refuge and exploitation of natural resources from prehistoric times up to the modern era. The aim of this paper is to present the results of the excavation on Mount Radunia, located on the southern side of the massif, and the discovery of remains of a building found next to Kacza Kałuża, a natural water reservoir and the centre of this archaeological site. The building was erected as a semi-subterranean construction with a free-standing wooden superstructure in the form of a gabled roof. Furthermore, the exploration of the building yielded a large amount of artefacts, which revealed the Late Bronze Age date of the construction and the utilitarian character of the site of Radunia.