A spiral

The bronze spiral is a part of a hoard found in a bog that also contained another spiral, a bronze ring, wires, and pieces of rods, which all can be dated to the Late Bronze Age (ca. 900–750 BC). Two amber beads are strung to the three-coil spiral made of a thin, bronze wire. Amber was a valuable decorative material during the Bronze Age. An analysis of amber objects discovered in Mycenaean burials, dated to 1600 BC and later, proved that the amber used for their manufacture came from the Baltic Sea basin. A large number of findings from the Aegean region may indicate that there was an extensive trade with Scandinavia as early as during the Bronze Age. The supply of this material from Jutland had vanished at the end of the Bronze Age. Probably this was the period when the population of the southern Baltic Sea basin begun their amber trade. Raw material had been exported to Western Europe, where it was probably exchanged for metal. This is indicated by the occurance of tools typical for this region, and large lead content in the bronze alloy found in the sludge in the vicinity of Pruszcz. The trade with Southern Europe started during the Hallstatt C period, which is proven by, for example, objects from Italy and the Alpine region discovered in one of the settlements in the Greater Poland region. On the Polish territory, items made with amber were considered a luxury, and represented a symbol of high status. Most findings (mainly strings of amber beads, parts of necklaces) come from richly furnished graves.

Monika Witek