| Wislanie Snapshot |
| Research Notes by Dennis Benarz |
| The Wislanie,
as opposed to the northern Polish tribes, were people of the woods and
forests, not plainsmen. Their homeland included the primeval Great Sandomierz
Forest. Their forest enviroment may have played a large role in shaping their thinking. They do not appear to very aggressive or confrontational as a group. It appears that one of their main tactics in time of attack was to retreat and hide in the deep forests, where the woods and the wild animals provided them considerable defense. Like other West Slavic tribes, the Wislanie did not bury their dead but favored cremation. Nor did they build stone temples and statues of their gods, but rather gathered in circles in groves and clearings to worship and when they built, they built using wood. This denies us substantial prehistoric evidence of their range and culture. However, there is evidence of settlements at/near Sandomierz and Mielec 5000 years ago. Further, there's firm evidence of an iron smelter near Tarnow, 16 miles west of Debica, in use sometime between 70 BC and 270 AD. Some Wislanie were reluctant to convert to Christianity. Although the Polish realm officially accepted Roman Catholicism over 1000 years ago, the conversion of the Wislanie was not immediate and pockets of resistence were often overcome with force of arms. Although Benedictine missions operated in the area between 1000-1300 AD, the establishment of parishes in the area of Tarnow-Debica did not commence until about 1300 AD which was about the same time that Lithuanians began to convert to Christianity. |
| Observations: |
| Notes: |
| Local Selected Carbon-14 Dated Samples: |
| Age:
Sample:
Location:
Composition: 10100 Gd-130 Debica, Kolejowa St Peat at depth of 8.71 to 8.74 meters 7990 Gd-597 Grabiny 101078/LS Unspecified round wood at 7 meters 5945 Gd-600 Latoszyn* 170878/2 Oak at 5.5 meters 5985 Gd-581 Latoszyn* 170878/4 Oak tree trunk at 5.3 meters 5915 Gd-580 Latoszyn* 170878/1 Oak at 5.0 meters 2730 Gd-1011 Latoszyn* 070787/1 Unspecified wood at 3.5 meters 2420 Gd-582 Latoszyn* 180578/1 Unspecified wood at 2.5 meters *Location is actually the gravel pit on left bank of Wisloka River opposite Latoszyn and nearer Grabiny. Source: Silesian University of Technology, Institute of Physics, 2000-2001. |
| Earliest Local Inhabited Sites in Debica County: |
| Debica, Borowa, Pilzno Evidence of Wislanie settlements in 700-900 AD. |
| Dennis Benarz, Chicagoland USA 2002-2007 |
| THE SEARCH FOR PHYSICAL EVIDENCE |
| Discovery of ancient charcoal or other campfire material, which can be reliably tested for age, has not yet occured in the Debica/Pilzno/Straszecin area. To date, only the presense of prehistoric peat bogs and forest have been revealed. |
| Other Selected Carbon-14 Dated Samples: |
| Age:
Sample:
Location:
Composition: 11190 Gd-967 Tarnowiec (Tarnow) Peat at depth of 200 cm 1920 Gd-229 Lysa Gora*** (Tarnow)Charcoal from ancient iron works 3500 Gd-133 Polonie Kolonie II Charcoal from base of flint mine 1660 Gd-1545 Zawada (Mielec)* Chacoal 1120 Gd-1549 Zawada (Mielec)* Charcoal 5710 Gd-886 Zawada (Mielec) * Burnt Log from palisade of settlement, Trench 52, Object 32, depth 55 cm 3770 Gd-2041 Sandomierz** Charcoal 5090 Gd-2040 Sandomierz** Charcoal 5110 Gd-984 Sandomierz ** Charcoal * Archeological excavation at 50 28 00N, 21 20 00E, Jan Michalski, August 1980. Site is about 16-18 miles north of Debica. ** Archeological excavation at Vistula River valley near Sandomierz, H. Kowalewska-Marszalek, August 1980. Site is 46 miles NNE of Debica. *** Correct location is Lisia Gora, 16.4 miles W of Debica. Source: Silesian University of Technology, Institute of Physics, 2000-2001. |
