Bone amulet

An amulet made of animal bone, discovered during the 1966 excavations in the Old Town in Kamień Pomorski. An amulet, in this case a predator bone, was a small object worn around the neck. This practice was associated with a belief in the amulet’s power to ward off evil spirits and protect the wearer against disease. In the early Middle Ages, amulets were usually made of wolf and bear tusks, although some used deer or fox teeth. Rarer amulets were made out of bones other than mammal teeth, as well as fish vertebrae. Amulets of this kind are the oldest material manifestation of belief in the apotropaic power of objects. Pendants made of metals and amber served the function of amulets associated with the belief in pagan gods. In these cases, the desire to manifest one’s views or membership in a particular social group should also be taken into consideration. For example, miniature axes, an attribute of the Scandinavian god Thor, were also discovered during archaeological excavations in Pomerania. Among them, a particularly interesting type includes amber pendants of this kind discovered in Wolin and Gdańsk, since it seems that they might have been made in local workshops, as evidenced by the context of the find. A similar function can be attributed to cross-shaped pendants, commonly referred to as crosses, as well as small bags worn around the neck known as kaptorgas and crescent-shaped pendants, commonly referred to as lunulas.

Ewa Górkiewicz-Bucka