Chain belt

The chain belt is composed of 13 flat almond-shaped segments made of sheet iron, with their ends bent inward. Six of these segments form an additional arm of the belt. Large belts of this type, i.e., of segmented construction, were quite rare in the Western Pomerania in the pre-Roman period, between the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. Similar belts constructed of massive metal segments are known in northern Germany and are therefore called “Holstein belts”. These belts are one of the products typical for the Jastorf culture. The people of this culture inhabited northern Germany, southern Scandinavia and the western part of Western Pomerania in the last centuries BC. Its name comes from the archaeological site at the town Jastorf in Lower Saxony. The presented chain belt was probably found in a stone-buried urned cremation in the cemetery of the Jastorf culture in Wąwelnica, Police poviat. This is a typical way of burying the dead in the Jastorf culture, as they practised only cremation. The grave contained, apart from an iron chain belt and an urn, a bronze fibula, five iron bracelets, and a sail-shaped earring - another object characteristic for the Jastorf culture. The cemetery in Wąwelnica was discovered by chance in 1888, while extracting stones. A total of about 20 graves were excavated and identified as urned cremation with the pyre debris, surrounded by stones. Some of the urns were destroyed during incompetent amateur exploration of the site. Currently, it is not possible to clearly assign the surviving elements of equipment from Wąwelnica to specific grave assemblages.

Bartłomiej Rogalski