Miniature amphora

The small-sized, filigree ceramic vessel, made of clay with a touch of gold-shimmering mica, measures just 6.7 cm in height and less than 4.0 cm in diameter. The simple, cylindrical shape, combined with the delicate decoration of the surrounding rhythmic lines, gives it an original, minimalistic character. The miniature container comes from an unmarked grave in a large burial ground of the Lusatian culture in Kiekrz near Poznań. The discovery of the site was made by accident in 1847 during the laying out of the railway line connecting Poznan and Szczecin. The amateur excavations carried out at the time recorded mostly cremated burials. The number of vessels in individual graves counted up to 13 pieces, but bronze objects were only occasionally found in the urns. In total, at least 350 large and miniature vessels of various shapes were excavated. Objects less common as grave furnishings, such as a clay drinking horn, rattles, a four-legged clay bird and a sieve, were also discovered. All the artefacts acquired at this time were donated on the initiative of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV to the collection of the Society for Pomeranian History and Antiquities in Szczecin (Gesellschaft für Pommersche Geschichte und Altertumskunde), whose activities the monarch strongly supported. In 1956, most of the finds from Kiekrz stored in the Szczecin museum were transferred to the Archaeological Museum in Poznan. To date, only 23 vessels, mostly small in size, and 2 ceramic rattles remain in the National Museum in Szczecin. Dorota Kozłowska