Gród w Pasymiu u zarania wczesnego średniowiecza na tle przemian kulturowych późnego okresu wędrówek ludów i początków wczesnego średniowiecza
Authors: Wadyl Sławomir 
Published: December 2022

The connections between the Pasym stronghold and the Olsztyn group, an archaeological culture which emerged in the Masurian Lakeland around AD 500, were noted from the very first excavations carried out at this site. One of the most striking things about the Olsztyn group in relation to other cultures in this corner of Europe is the remarkable number of dress accessories they accumulated, in particular fibulae from various parts of Europe — from the Merovingian dominions in the west, to the lands around the Danube in the south and the Black Sea region in the east. Until recently, the demise of the Olsztyn group had been ascribed to the latter half of the 7th century. However, there is now evidence that some cemeteries and settlements remained in use until the early 8th century. The latest excavation results show that the first use of Okrągła Góra dates from the latter half of the 7th century. Some of the artefacts discovered at the site clearly point to a connection with Olsztyn group communities. There are strong indications that materials associated with the terminal phase of the Olsztyn group and the beginning of the early medieval period form a single horizon. Fresh data concerning settlement on the Ostrów peninsula has been provided by the results of palynological analysis. Palynological indicators of cultural activity date from AD 750–900. Both before this period and for 250 years after AD 900 there is no evidence of crop cultivation at this site. During the late migration period, open settlements were the norm in this region, and they were usually sited on fairly small hills near lakes. Undefended settlements were also the mainstay of early medieval settlement. The beginnings of the Pasym stronghold can be traced to the latter half of the 7th century, and all available evidence indicates that it is the only site of this type in the Masurian Lakeland that is of such early date. It is worth noting that the origins of the stronghold can be synchronised with the time when the first early Slavic strongholds were in use, in particular the earliest phases of features discovered at Szeligi (Płock District), Haćki (Bielsk District) and Zymne (Volodomyr Region). Current research shows that other defended settlements began to appear in Prussia during the 9th–10th centuries. The emergence of the idea of the stronghold in the Western Baltic sphere is an intriguing phenomenon. During the 6th–7th centuries a group of strongholds was built in the area bounded by the rivers Vistula, Dnieper and Daugava, and it is they that may have inspired the hilltop settlement at Pasym. Marek Dulinicz referred to them as ‘places that gave rise to power’ (2000, 85). They were focal centres of supralocal significance. Dulinicz defined the shared traits of these centres: 1. their origins dated back to the early medieval period (6th–7th century), 2. they were located in places that stood out form their surroundings, 3. their interiors had a characteristic layout, 4. numerous artefacts of foreign provenance were found there, 5. they yielded specific artefact assemblages pointing to preferences for particular occupations, 6. burnt human remains were found in cultural deposits (Dulinicz 2000, 85). The Pasym stronghold essentially meets all of these criteria. The reasons for choosing to set the stronghold on a peninsula, which could well have corresponded to the notion of the first land known from numerous variants of Indo-European cosmological myths, may have been rooted in symbolism and magic. It is an interesting observation that this site lies at the symbolic centre of the western zone of the Olsztyn group, surrounded by major cemetery sites at Tumiany, Kielary, Wólka Prusinowska, Leleszki and Burdąg. Pasym may have been perceived as an extremely advantageous location, hence the stronghold would have doubtless become the axis mundi for neighbouring communities, and the central place for the whole of the society. All of the evidence indicates that the stronghold at Pasym was the focal point of the social space and settlement structure of communities inhabiting the south-west Masurian Lakeland. It was the main landmark in terms of both topography and social geography, and the embodiment of the axis mundi for local communities. At the stage of socio-political development at which communities in this part of the Masurian Lakeland found themselves at the beginning of the early medieval period, authority and power were exercised through community gatherings concerning public issues (social, political, legislative) as well as military and religious matters. In the latter half of the 7th century a representative or representatives of the social elites, who had come to prominence and had the necessary means at their disposal, convinced the community to build a stronghold.