Results of excavations of the castle in Danków on the Liswarta river Cover Image

Badania archeologiczne zamku w Dankowie nad Liswartą
Results of excavations of the castle in Danków on the Liswarta river

Author(s): Wojciech Dudak, Radosław Herman
Subject(s): Archaeology, Local History / Microhistory, Middle Ages, 13th to 14th Centuries, 15th Century
Published by: Wieluńskie Towarzystwo Naukowe
Keywords: Danków; Liswarta river

Summary/Abstract: Dankow appears in the pages of history at the beginning of the 13th century. The town wasonce situated on the trail leading from Sieradz to Kraków, on the border of Little Poland, Silesiaand Great Poland, at the crossing of the Liswarta River. Danków was probably owned by theRogowski family in the 14th century, and by the Kobylański family in the 16th century. In the17th century, the new owners, the Warszycki family, had their residence here and raised bastionfortifications that remain to this day.Archaeological research on a survey carried out in 2014 aimed at a preliminary determi-nation of layers in the fortified bastion. Activities concentrated on the only apparent element ofsecular building in the castle, that is the ruins of the so-called Castellans House. The results ofthe partial investigation suggest that it may be associated with residential buildings that existedprior to the construction of the fortification. A skeleton burial, discovered in the wall surroundingthe church, may confirm hypotheses about land use predating the castle’s fortress. Combiningthe discovery of this tomb with information from written sources, this article suggests that thearea occupied in the 17th century by the current church already functioned as a cemetery thatmight be associated with an older, perhaps medieval, temple. The preliminary research gathereda collection of movable relicts, the oldest of which dates from the 15th century. The area coveredby the study does not ascertain any presence of cultural layers associated with the operation ofthe castle. Presumably these were destroyed during levelling and agri-technical works.

  • Issue Year: 15/2015
  • Issue No: 15
  • Page Range: 59-72
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Polish