Glass rings used to be one of the most common jewellery types in the 10th-13th centuries in Central Europe, especially Silesia. The popularity of this type of decoration in this area could indicate its local origin. The chemical composition of the glass seems to confirm this theory. The Silesian glass rings analysed in this paper were made of high-lead alkaline and nonalkaline glass or of lead-ash glass. There was also a close relationship between the colour of the finished products and the chemical composition of the glass. This provides new data for the study of the problem of production and distribution of glass jewellery in Central Europe.

This study concerns glazed objects from two major centres in Silesia: Wrocław and Opole. All the glazed items from layers dated from the late 10th to the first half of the 13th century are appraised, i.e. ceramic and stone Easter eggs, knobbed rattles, ‘stars’ and pottery. Each category of artefacts is appraised separately as they differ from each other in terms of the production technique and presumably their provenance. Therefore, the locations of the workshops that produced these items is considered. Based on the collections from Wrocław and Opole, a different frequency of individual glazed items is observed, which is related to their specific distribution and most likely the different role of both centres. A separate issue is determining the value and social function of the glazed vessels, Easter eggs and rattles. In contrast, less emphasis is placed on their symbolic function, as this issue has been widely discussed by other researchers.

The study focuses on the early medieval large glass beads from the area of Poland, i.e. specimens whose diameter equals at least 1.5 cm but usually ca. 2 cm or more. The main aim of this study is to define their function, considering precise context of discovery of particular specimens, metric data and microscopic analyses. Another important task of the study is to determine whether large beads were local products or imports, and from which region and in what social circumstances they reached the studied area. Alongside macroscopic and stylistic features, chemical composition of glass that was used for production of the beads can be conclusive in this situation. In our opinion, it is a special category of finds that appeared in this part of Europe during the time of cultural and political transformation in the 11th–13th centuries.

La existencia de una tradición inca de representaciones pictóricas de carácter narrativo, con función de registros históricos, está confirmada tanto por un grupo de obras de arte, muy probablemente de orígen prehispánico, como por fuentes escritas. La referencia más conocida sobre "pinturas históricas" de los incas es, sin duda, la relativa a las famosas "tablas de Poquen Cancha" hoy desaparecidas, pero que existieron y fueron consultadas hasta por lo menos mediados de los años 1560. Se ha postulado, que estas "pinturas históricas" pudieron haber sido, en parte, copiadas durante el periodo Colonial en diferentes tipos de soportes, como lienzos y queros. En el presente texto se analiza la escena de un conflicto armado, representada en un quero, excepcional en cuanto a su complejidad y riqueza de detalles. Se avanza en la hipótesis de que pueda ser la representación del conflicto entre los Incas y los Chancas.Palabras claves: Incas, Chancas, quero, arte prehispánico.The existence of an Inca tradition of narrative pictorial representations, acting as historical records, has been substantiated by both a group of works of art, very probably of pre-Hispanic origin, and written sources. Clearly, the best known reference to "historical paintings" of the Incas is that regarding the famous, today dissapeared "tables of Poquen Cancha," which existed and were consulted until mid-1560s at least. It has been postulated that, during the Colonial period, part of these "historical paintings" may have been copied on different types of media, such as canvases and queros. In this article, the authors analyze the scene of an armed conflict represented in a quero, unusual in terms of its complexity and richness of detail, and put forth the hypothesis that it may be the representation of the conflict between the Incas and the Chancas.

No abstract