Sensational archaeological discovery hidden beneath Gdańsk’s town hall ‘rewrites’ city’s history
A sensational archaeological discovery made deep under Gdańsk's iconic town hall has rewritten the history of the port city, placing its foundation by Slavs 60 years earlier than previously thought.
In the cellars of the town hall, archaeologists discovered earlier this year the remains of a wooden defensive rampart from the 930s.
This means that there was a Slavic settlement in the area around the city's popular Długi Targ street even before the Polish state was first established by Mieszko I in 960.
Slavic pottery characteristic for the first half of the 10th century and another fragment of a rampart were also discovered.
Archaeologists in the 1970s came up with similar conclusions when the, but their findings were criticised by historians at the time. Now they have been proven right.
"We are updating our knowledge of the history of Gdańsk, Poland and Europe," said Gdańsk Museum director Professor Waldemar Ossowski during a press conference to publicise the findings on Tuesday.
"We discovered the remains of a Slavic settlement under the main Town Hall, which unquestionably indicate the foundation of Gdańsk in 930. In this way we have moved the chronology of the city 60 years backwards,” he said.
Gdańsk Museum director Professor Waldemar Ossowski said the discovery meant “we are updating our knowledge of the history of Gdańsk, Poland and Europe.”
The first mention of Gdańsk comes from the "Life of St. Adalbert", which mentions the visit of the martyr to the city in 997.
The website for the City of Gdańsk reads: “Shortly before Easter 997 St Adalbert, a missionary and bishop of Bohemia, arrived in the area only to be killed soon after, by the pagan Prussians.
“A Benedictine monk, Jan Canaparius from the Aventine monastery described his life and death. In the records, he referred to "urbs Gyddanyzc" or the city of Gdansk as the place where the saint was believed to have baptised a large number of the newly converted.”
Professor Ossowski (pictured) added: "We discovered the remains of a Slavic settlement under the main Town Hall, which unquestionably indicate the foundation of Gdańsk in 930. In this way we have moved the chronology of the city 60 years backwards.”
The museum, which is housed in the town hall, said that the archaeological work had been carried out from September to December.
Radiocarbon dating dated the structure between 911 and 951, while dendrochronological dating fixed the year at 930.
These results confirmed the initial findings of Prof. Andrzej Zbierski from the 1970s.
Radiocarbon dating dated the structure between 911 and 951, while dendrochronological dating fixed the year at 930.
At that time, he discovered the remains of buildings from the 13th century and a wooden construction, which he interpreted as a rampart from the 10th century.
"Until today, no one, neither archaeologists nor historians, took this information seriously, mainly because of the impossibility of precise dating of the find," explained museum spokesman Dr Andrzej Gierszewski.
In two new pits dug in this year's research, Slavic pottery characteristic for the first half of the 10th century and another fragment of a rampart were also discovered.
The results confirmed the initial findings of Prof. Andrzej Zbierski from the 1970s who discovered the remains of buildings from the 13th century and a wooden construction, which he interpreted as a rampart from the 10th century.
The samples of wood and ceramics will be further examined.
The museum director said that the remains of the rampart survived to our times due to a happy combination of circumstances.
"First, they were not destroyed in the 14th century, perhaps because they stabilised constructions built on marshy ground.
“Secondly, the shaft is located in peat, which perfectly preserves organic material," Ossowski explained.
The first mention of Gdańsk comes from the "Life of St. Adalbert", which mentions the visit of the martyr to the city in 997.
A question remains about what to do now with the exposed pits. The director said that making the finding accessible would entail great risk.
"There is a lot of dampness in the cellars and, additionally, in the summer months ground-water enters the excavation to such an extent that it makes it impossible to expose the wooden remains legibly."
He added that for the time being it would be best to backfill the find and cover it with special geotextile until there is an idea of how to show it to visitors permanently and without any risk.
