The hillfort is a remnant of the strategically important venue at the estuary of the Noteć river to the Warta river, defending one of the few passages through the swamps on the Noteć river along the trail from Poznan through Międzyrzecz to Szczecin.

Location and description

The hillfort is located on a sand islet, in the fork formed by the Warta and Noteć rivers, on the south bank of the Noteć river and on the right, east bank of the Warta river - currently on the left one due to an alteration of the river bed after the flood of 1885.

The hillfort in Santok is a concave, two-component structure. Originally, the shape of the entire complex approximated a circle with a diameter of around 240 m. On the north side the hillfort is considerably truncated, which is a result of the widening of the Warta river bed. A cone with a diameter of around 40 m was located in the north-western part of the site, rising up to 10 m above the water level. It was a remnant of a late hillfort on a mound, which has survived to modern times in a residual state. The northern part also included remnants of ramparts of the internal hillfort, adjoined by a vast ancillary settlement (the so-called external hillfort) surrounded by a rampart that was 5 m tall as recently as in 1932, but only 3 m tall in 1958. The middle part of the hillfort includes a slight elevation with a fragment of the internal rampart. 

History

The hillfort in Santok was inhabited without interruptions from the late 7th century to the 14th century. At first, a settlement was established on a sand bank, later to be surrounded with a palisade. It cannot be ruled out that already at the turn of the 10th century the hillfort was encircled by a wooden and earthen rampart. Around the mid-10th century the hillfort was destroyed in a fire. Afterwards, still in the 10th century, it was surrounded by the wooden and earthen rampart. In the second half of that century an ancillary settlement surrounded by a rampart and a moat was established outside the hillfort. From the turn of the 11th century, apart from prosperous agriculture and fishery, the thriving of craftsmanship - especially pottery - began, most likely concentrated in the ancillary settlement. In the late 11th century the hillfort was destroyed by a fire, which was probably related to the fights between the troops led by Bolesław the Wrymouth and the Pomeranians. In that period the Pomeranians erected a small fortress on the north bank of the Warta river, which they used for invading the hillfort in Santok. The destroyed hillfort was rebuilt and significantly extended in the first half of the 12th century. The period between the early 13th century and the late 14th century yielded, among others, traces of a stone structure with an unknown purpose as well as a graveyard. In the late 13th century a gatehouse was redeveloped by use of bricks and wooden cladding of streets was replaced with cobblestones. The redevelopment of the hillfort was continued in the next century. The last stage of functioning of the site in Santok is related to a mound topped with a masonry tower, surrounded by a wide moat and existing in the 15th century. 

Progress and findings of archaeological fieldwork activities 

The hillfort was accidentally discovered during the widening of the Warta river bed in 1884. In the years 1932-1934 excavation works were carried out by German archaeologists W. Unverzagt and O. Doppelfeld, followed by a survey conducted by Polish researchers Z. Hołowińska and A. Dymaczewski. Excavation works were started anew by a team supervised by K. Zamelska-Monczak in the years 1997-1999, 2007-2008 and 2012.

In the course of archaeological surveys it was established, among others, that the oldest hillfort had been reinforced by a palisade of pine bales and had included a gatehouse erected on its north-west side. Inside, there were residential and utility buildings and the cabins and other objects were erected in the wattlework structure. The cabins were small, measuring 4-5 m in width and 6-8 m in length. The oldest hillfort was burned down around mid-10th century and a two-component structure was erected in its place, surrounded by a wooden and earthen rampart heaped on a wooden base reinforced with a hook structure. The interior of the hillfort featured cabins in a log structure that stood at communication passages partially lined with wood.

The oldest settlement layers mainly yielded clay, hand-formed utensils rounded only at the top. At first, very few metal objects were found. However, the number increased in subsequent settlement layers. Moreover, in layers dating to the 9th century considerable amounts of horn objects as well as imported glass beads appeared.

As confirmed by the results of surveys, a fire broke out in the hillfort in the late 11th century, while after the reconstruction, in the first half of the 12th century, the hillfort was considerably extended by reinforcing the 10th-century internal rampart with an outer rampart applying the box-like timber structure. Most probably a considerable part of wooden structures was destroyed during another fire of the hillfort that occurred in the mid-12th century. Military finds relate to the turbulent history of the Santok fortress: arrowheads and bolt heads, fragment of a sword and spurs. The final stage of its functioning yielded traces of a stone building with an unknown purpose and a graveyard.

The hillfort is available to visitors during a tourist season, when the crossing of the Warta river, with a starting point in the Santok village, is possible.

Author of the note Dr Krzysztof Garbacz, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Regional Branch in Zielona Góra, 11-12-2017

Bibliography

• A and U. Dymaczewscy, Wczesnośredniowieczny Santok, Wyniki badań wykopaliskowych we wnętrzu grodu w latach 1958-1961, “Slavia Antiqua”, vol. 14, 1967, pp. 185-241.
• Holowińska Z., Santok, “Słownik Starożytności Słowiańskich”, vol. 5: S-Ś, 1975, pp. 50-52.
• Hensel W., Hilczer-Kurnatowska Z., Studia i materiały do osadnictwa Wielkopolski wczesnohistorycznej, vol. 6, Wrocław 1987, pp. 18-27, fig. 3, 4 (earlier sources there).
• Zamelska-Monczak K., Santok – badania archeologiczne w 2007 i 2008 roku. Stan i perspektywy, [in:] Santok. „Strażnica i klucz królestwa”, 30 lat Muzeum Grodu w Santoku (Popek W. (ed.)), Gorzów Wlkp., 2010, pp. 47-62.
• Garbacz K., Przewodnik po zabytkach województwa lubuskiego, vol. 3, Powiaty: gorzowski – słubicki – sulęciński – międzyrzecki – strzelecko-drezdenecki, Zielona Góra 2013, pp. 74-78.