Circular weights in Przeworsk culture – fishnet sinkers or elements of a looms. An attempt of interpretation

Abstract

Clay circular weights are most often interpreted as sinkers for fishing nets or weaving weights – an elements of the vertical warp-weighted looms. The starting point for writing this article was the presence of such specimens at four settlements of the Przeworsk culture located on the right side of the Vistula River (Dobre, Nieszawa Kolonia, Oronne, Puławy-Włostowice). The oldest circular weights are dated back to the Neolithic period. With varying intensity, they are also recorded within the sites of all subsequent periods and in various parts of Europe. The youngest are related to the Middle Ages and Modern Age. The article focuses mainly on circular weights from the Roman Period and the early phase of the Migration Period (Przeworsk culture, Wielbark culture, Masłomęcz group, Luboszyce culture / Elbe circle), also using chronologically and culturally different analogies, as well as the results of experimental archaeology, iconographic and ethnographic sources. Circular weights were analysed for the possibility of relating them with weaving and / or fishing. In the first case, I focus on the analysis of factors such as: the context of the discovery, the number and condition of the weights, as well as their shape, weight and the presence of use-wear traces. In the second, issues such as raw material, accuracy and method of production, as well as weight, place and context of discovery, accompanying artefacts were considered.