After the local government decided to build an observation tower on top of a hill on Wolin, an island in the Baltic Sea, a Polish archaeologist was called in to search for buried artifacts from the site’s macabre past.
The Hill of the Hanged, a public park, had once been an execution ground, a cemetery, and, according to some, a place for human sacrifices—so who knows what horrifying discoveries were to be made?
But what archaeologist Wojciech Filipowiak found caused more excitement than disgust: charred wood that indicates the remains of a 10th-century fortress that could help solve a Viking Age riddle.
Was a fearsome fortress mentioned in ancient texts a literary fantasy or reality?
It has long been known that Norse warriors established outposts over a millennium ago on Poland’s Baltic coast, enslaving native Slavic peoples to supply a thriving slave trade, as well as trade in salt and amber.
However, the location of the largest Viking settlement in the area was unknown, a city and military stronghold that early 12th-century texts called Jomsborg and linked to a possibly mythical mercenary order, the Jomsvikings. Some modern experts believe that Jomsborg was never a real place, but rather a legend. Findings on the Hill of the Hanged on Wolin Island could alter that opinion.
“It’s very excitingsaid Filipowiak, an expert in archeology and ethnology at the Polish Academy of Sciences. “It could solve a mystery that goes back more than 500 years: Where is Jomsborg?”.
Interest in the Vikings, once a niche field of academic study, has skyrocketed in recent years as TV shows like ‘Game of Thrones,’ movies, graphic novels, and video games have embraced themes, clothing, and symbols. nordic. The Viking Age, or an approximation of it, has become a fixture of popular culture.
This has been good news for the tourism business in Wolin. “Vikings are sexy and attract a lot of interest”, said Ewa Grzybowska, the Mayor. She said more money is needed to carry out excavation work and develop Wolin into a world-class destination for Viking researchers and hobbyists.
“Everywhere you go here, there’s a piece of history,” he said.
However, that history has often been a source of contention.
Nazi archaeologists combed Wolin, which was part of Germany until 1945, looking for evidence of Viking presence—and evidence of what the Nazis believed it was the superiority of the Nordic race and its dominance in the early medieval period over the local Slavic peopleswho later came to identify themselves as Poles and claimed the land for Poland.
When Poland took control of Wolin after World War II, Polish archaeologists searched for artifacts that would help reinforce a national identity. For decades after World War II, “many more children wanted to be slavs defending the islandsaid Karolina Kokora, director of the Wolin history museum.
That changed after Poland rejected communism and began turning West, away from Russia and its emphasis on Slavic pride. “After 1989, everyone wanted to be a Viking,” Kokora said.
ANDREW HIGGINS
THE NEW YORK TIMES
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6740845, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-06-01 14:00:09
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