Badania archeologiczne wsi średniowiecznej w Polsce (lata 1945-2010)
Archeological Investigations into the Medieval Village in Poland (the Years 1945-2010)

Summary/Abstract: Until 1945, peasants, the village and the agricultural economy had not been the main subject of interest to historians or, all the more so, archaeologists. Lack of relevant knowledge was realized by Polish archaeologists as soon as the first decade after World War II. The first attempt to sum up archaeological investigations into the medieval village was made by Zdzisław Adam Rajewski in 1955. The date seems particularly significant for both research methodology and archaeological terminology, as the author was the first to replace the technical term ‘open village’ with a functional and social term ‘village’. However, genuine archeological investigations into the medieval village began over ten years later. They resulted in a series of monographs of individual villages a settlement complexes. During the excavations, the research scope was broadened to include not only the settlement itself but also the issue of agricultural exploitation, that is, the surrounding arable land. In some cases, the sacral and feudal manor spheres were also examined. Very little attention was given to infrastructure, particularly transportation. Further investigations and the resulting publications, which appeared after 1990, were a consequence of growing interest in the spatial development of the village ecumene.

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