The poor prince. A modest princely grave of the Roman Iron Age at Zgliczyn Pobodzy, northern Masovia (Poland)

Abstract

In 1978 a grave was uncovered near Zgliczyn Pobodzy in Northern Masovia, furnished with Roman import. In a way rarely encountered in the eastern zone of the Przeworsk culture, the deceased had been buried in a chest-like wooden construction as an extended body. When the criteria for defining ‘princely graves’ of the Lübsow group are applied, this grave might be left behind disregarded, since precious metal is present only in the form of small pieces of wire. However, the grave is extraordinary with respect to what is common for northern Masovia and the area east of the Vistula in general, containing several artefacts that are unique for large areas between Oder and Vistula, and therefore it has to be considered as a ‘princely grave’ of the Lübsow group.