The barrows have preserved their field form and remain visible among the surrounding terrain. The monument, unique in Poland and in Upper Silesia, is a valuable source of knowledge about the oldest history of our ancestors, the Western Slavs.

History of the structure

The early medieval cemetery in Rozumice (Rozumice site 1, AZP 103-38/24) dates back to the 7th-8th c. (possibly the end of the 6th c.) and should be associated with the first Slavs who settled in Upper Silesia. The early medieval date of the necropolis raises no doubt, but the exact dating of the site to the turn of the 6th and 7th centuries and the 8th century is not entirely certain. Slavs appeared in what is now southern Poland in the 6th century, but their settlement was more concentrated in 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.

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).

According to Krzysztof Jaworski, the necropolis in Rozumice was used by the Slavic tribe of Golęszyce (Latin. Golensizi). The basis for this hypothesis is a written source, namely a note by the so-called Bavarian Geographer written in 844 or 845. It is of a military-informational nature and it was written by an anonymous author for Ludwig the German (b. 806 - d. 876) of the Carolingian dynasty. In the note the author mentions 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 Bavarian Geographer, the Golensizi tribe was relatively weak, having only held a total of five hillforts at the time.

A few movable artefacts from the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age were also found at the site.

Description of the structure

The cemetery is located approx. 1.7 km southeast from the centre of Rozumice, in a forest called Rozumicki Zagaj, near the Czech border.

The necropolis was discovered already in the 19th century, in 1879, by a man named Stöckel from Racibórz, but the excavations were not carried out until 1964 and 1970 by Elżbieta Dąbrowska.

Nine barrows have been recorded, but there may be as many as a dozen. Some mound embankments are of considerable size for this kind of early medieval burial ground. Archaeological excavations have shown that the dead were cremated and the burnt human remains, along with the remains of the pyres, were placed within the barrows. During the works only a few fragments of clay vessels were found. In Upper Silesia, only two other similar early medieval cremation barrow cemeteries were discovered, namely in the towns of: Izbicko, Strzelecki District and Racibórz - Obora, Racibórz District.

Visitor access. The site is accessible all year round. The barrows are in a forest, but some of them are relatively hard to discern among the surrounding terrain. Artefacts recovered during the archaeological excavations can be admired at the Racibórz Museum.

Author of the note: Michał Bugaj, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Katowice, 19.10.2017.

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.
• Kaźmierczyk J., Macewicz K., Wuszkan S., Studia i materiały do osadnictwa Opolszczyzny wczesnośredniowiecznej, Opole 1977.
• Dąbrowska E., Sprawozdanie z wstępnych badań wykopaliskowych cmentarzyska kurhanowego w Rozumicach, pow. Głubczyce w 1964 roku, Sprawozdania Archeologiczne, Vol. 20, 1969.
• Dąbrowska E., Sprawozdanie z badań wykopaliskowych prowadzonych na cmentarzysku kurhanowym w Rozumicach, pow. Głubczyce w roku 1970, Terenowe badania na Opolszczyźnie, Opole 1970.
• Parczewski M., Płaskowyż głubczycki we wczesnym średniowieczu, Warsaw 1982.
• 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.