A melon-like mace

The stone mace, with so-called ribbed body, was found in Żelisławiec in unknown circumstances. It is one of the few finds of this type from the Pomeranian region, considered to be the insignia of power during the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1500-1100 BC). The presented mace, indirectly confirming the hierarchical nature of Bronze Age communities, is associated with the population of the Western Pomeranian Ukrani group. The evidence of significant social stratification are the elite, richly furnished graves. In the Middle Bronze Age period, vast areas were associated with a large group called the Tumulus culture. Under its influence in Western Pomerania developed the Pre-Lusatian culture, which in its early phase was characterized by the burial of the dead in inhumation graves under burial mounds, furnished mainly with bronze objects (bracelets, pins, spearheads, daggers), less often with stone objects (maces and axes). In a later phase, cremation burials become much more frequent. The communities belonging to the so-called Tumulus culture are known from the cemeteries. The lack of traces of settlements indicates they led a nomadic lifestyle.

Monika Witek