Barrows, although not high, have preserved their field form and remain visible among the surrounding terrain. The monument, unique in the country and in Upper Silesia, is a valuable source of knowledge about the oldest history of our ancestors, the Western Slavs.

History of the object

H. Zoll-Adamikowa believes that in our country the Slavs generally used the cremation funeral rite from the beginning of the 6th to the end of the 10th century, but cremation alongside inhumation still existed in the 11th and even in the 12th century. In her catalogue H. Zoll-Adamikowa lists only 104 “certain” Slavic cremation burial grounds recorded in Poland, out of which only 3 were located by the upper Odra River (2 in the Opole Voivodeship and 1 in the Śląskie Voivodeship).

The early Slavic burial ground from the tribal period in Izbicko (Izbicko site 2, AZP 91-39/7) dates back to the 7th-9th century. The necropolis is connected with the first Slavs living in Upper Silesia. Slavic people appeared in the areas of today’s southern Poland in the 6th century, but the density of settlement did not occur until the 8th century. It is believed that it was at the end of the 8th century that tribal organization crystallized in the Western Slavic area. Based on the so-called Bavarian Geographer, it is believed that the necropolis in Izbicko was located in the Opolans tribal area (Latin Opolini). A note by the so-called Bavarian Geographer was written in 844 or 845. It is of a military-informational nature and was written by an anonymous author for Ludwig the German (b. 806 - d. 876) of the Carolingian dynasty. The author tells of the tribes inhabiting the area east of the Elbe and north of the Danube, estimating their overall potential measured in the number of strongholds which they held. According to the note, the Opolans were to inhabit as many as 20 strongholds, so their military strength was potentially quite considerable.

Movable artefacts of the Przeworsk culture, which inhabited the area of present-day Poland from around 200 B.C. to around 450 A.D., were also found at the site. This is due to the fact that the Slavs established their necropolis in the area previously occupied by a settlement of the people of the Przeworsk culture. These people left the area and by the early Middle Ages the relics of the settlement were completely invisible.

Description of the structure

The monument is located southeast of Opole, on the right bank of the Odra River. The barrows are situated north-east of the village of Izbicko, and south of the Big and New Lakes and the Sucha River, in the forest, by the so-called clock road, leading from the village to the forester’s lodge.

The burial ground was discovered before World War II, i.e. in 1927, and then, i.e. in 1927 and 1928, German researchers H. Kurtz and B. v. Richthofen conducted the first archaeological research on it. In 1952 H. Cehak-Hołubowicz started excavations at the site, and in 1970, 1976, 1978 S. Pazda conducted research.

The burial ground consists of 34 barrows, not high mounds, now overgrown with forest. The excavations proved that the cremation funeral rite was used and that the burnt remains of the deceased were placed in the upper part of the mounds. The equipment of the deceased was generally very poor, the found relics were mainly fragments of clay vessels, but a unique relic was discovered in one barrow. Namely, a gold ear-ring, considered to be a product of Byzantine jewellery art, which arrived in Silesia as a result of Avaric influences. It can be added that in Upper Silesia, only two similar archaeological sites were discovered in Rozumice, Głubczycki district and Raciborz - Oborze, Raciborski district.

Visitor access. The site is accessible all year round. The barrows are relatively hard to discern among the surrounding terrain and locating them is quite difficult.

Author of the note: Michał Bugaj, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Katowice, 28.08.2017.

Bibliography

• Foltyn E. M., Foltyn E., Ziemie Górnego Śląska od epoki kamienia do wczesnego średniowiecza, Katowice 2012.
• Jaworski K., Wczesne średniowiecze, [in:] E. Tomczak (ed.), Archeologia. Górny Śląsk, Katowice 2013, pp. 173-175.
• Tomczak E. (ed.), Skarby ziemi wydarte. Górny Śląsk i pogranicze. Katowice 2005., p. 97.
• Kaźmierczyk J., Macewicz K., Wuszkan S., Studia i materiały do osadnictwa Opolszczyzny wczesnośredniowiecznej, Opole 1977.
• Pazda S., Wczesnośredniowieczne cmentarzysko w Izbicku, woj. opolskie, Studia Archeologiczne vol. 13, Wrocław 1983, pp. 95-157.
• Zoll-Adamikowa H., Wczesnośredniowieczne cmentarzyska ciałopalne Słowian na terenie Polski, part I. Źródła, Wrocław – Warszawa – Kraków – Gdańsk 1975.
• Zoll-Adamikowa H., Wczesnośredniowieczne cmentarzyska ciałopalne Słowian na terenie Polski, part II. 2. Analiza. Wnioski, Wrocław – Warszawa – Kraków – Gdańsk 1979.