Reconstructed after excavation works, it is still an important element of the cultural landscape. Having existed in the village “since times immemorial”, the burial mound epitomizes the cultural heritage of the region, even thought it has lost the status of a heritage site.

History

As evidenced by archaeological excavations, the mound should be associated with early Medieval Ages, probably the 10th-11th century.

Description

The mound is situated about 300 m to the north of the continuously built-up area of the village of Wiszenki, on a hilly terrain in an area adjacent to the valleys, on an open terrain (arable field). 

The site of the former earthen mound-kurgan known locally as “The Great Swedish Mound” is now occupied by its reconstructed version. Its original dimensions are unknown. It was not reconstructed immediately after the archaeological research had been completed. The owner of the area reconstructed the earthen structure of the kurgan on his own. At present, its height is approximately 2 m high and its diameter at the base is approximately 10 m. Its area is excluded from agricultural production and is treated as a wasteland.

The mound was first discovered during the measurements of the village of Wiszenki in 1856, carried out by the surveyor Jakub Kowalski. He marked the location of the mound on the plan: “First-time measurements of the villages of Wiszenki, Sulmice and part of the land of the Monastery Village and Grange located in the Lublin Governorate, Zamoyski Poviat, Poviat (District) of Szczebrzeszyn, belonging to the Zamoyski family entail” (Polish: Ordynacja Zamojska). Before the completion of archaeological research, the local people thought that the grave had been made during the Tatar or Swedish wars. The kurgan was examined in 1975-76. Excavations reduced the kurgan to several heaps of soil. It was reconstructed by the owner of the field at the beginning of the 21st century. The above-mentioned map also included three other mounds, located a little to the south of the kurgan and marked on the map as “Burial mounds”. They were still clearly readable in the terrain in the 1970s. In the next years, they were completely leveled by ploughing and surface research carried out by Jerzy Kuśnierz in 2002. In consequence, they ceased to be visible in the terrain.

Progress and findings of archaeological fieldwork

The excavation works covered the entire mound and were completed in 1975-1976 by Andrzej Kempisty from the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw.

Surface surveys as part of the ‘Archaeological Picture of Poland’ project were carried out in 2002 by Jerzy Kuśnierz.

The excavations covered the entire kurgan. The findings derived from that research have not been published in the literature. The field work documentation has not survived to this day. According to oral information obtained from the archaeologist who performed the excavations and were involved in the field survey ordered by the voivodeship heritage conservation officer in 1988, the excavations covered the entire kurgan and reduced it to a few heaps of soil. The villagers who observed the excavations mention several skeletons (including a skeleton of a child with a “broken” skull) discovered at a depth of 80-100 cm, as well as traces of fires in the earthen mound. As established by the researcher concerned, the kurgan dates to the 10th-11th centuries. 

The kurgan is accessible to the general public. 

compiled by Ewa Prusicka, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Branch Office in Lublin, 15 April 2016

Bibliography

• Mapa “Pierworys pomiarów wsi Wiszenki, Sulmice oraz części gruntów Wsi i Folwarku Monasterem położonych w Guberni Lubelskiej Powiecie Zamojskim Okręgu Szczebrzeskim do Dóbr Ordynacji Zamojskiej należących”, plan pomierzył w 1856 roku geometra Jakub Kowalski, scale approx. 1: 4820.
• Collections of the Department of Nature Conservation of the Ministry of the Environment.
• Prusicka-Kołcon E., Inwentaryzacja kurhanów powiatu zamojskiego, Lublin-Zamość
• 2005, typescript from the archives of the Voivodeship Office for the Protection of Historic Monuments in Lublin, Branch Office in Zamość.
• Niedźwiedź E., Niedźwiedź J., Siudak J., Dzieje miejscowości gminy Skierbieszów, powiat zamojski, Zamość 2015, p. 130.