Ośrodki węzłowe i kontakty transbałtyckie pomiędzy społecznościami północno-zachodniej Rusi i ziem polskich w X stuleciu

The inflow of oriental silver to the lands of Western Slavdom, through the centers of Eastern Europe via the Baltic Sea, was the main determinant of material contacts between the communities of the two regions of the continent. However, they show only one direction – namely, from east to west. The results of the latest research show their second aspect, this time relations from west to east. To the centers located in the north-western zone of Eastern Europe arrived ceramic vessels specific to pottery of the North-Western Slavic territory or people who made them there on the spot. In addition, Tornow type vessels have been registered in Gorodok on the Lovat river. The chronological framework of the occurrence of these artefacts corresponds to the times when the strongholds in the Tornow-Klenica zone were liquidated. Staraya Ladoga and Wolin played a leading role in these relations. Both strongholds served as nodal points, where the forms of trans-Baltic shipping were combined with the inland navigation routes leading deep into both areas. The material culture of the communities of these settlements is also characterized by a number of similarities. Large buildings of post-and-plank construction were discovered there, erected at the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century. The presence of large houses that stand out in the landscape of both centers is also perceptible in the second half of the 10th century. The material culture registered inside and in the vicinity of these wooden structures indicates that they could have been the seats of people involved in long-distance trade who can be regarded as “trade diasporas”. Their attributes included wooden anthropomorphic idols, balances and weights, and artifacts of Oriental origin. This article is an attempt to initiate a new Polish-Russian discussion on the cultural ties between the communities of Polish lands and Rus’ in the early Middle Ages.