Klaipėdos universitetas

This paper presents the Elbląg group at its peak, that is, the late sixth and early seventh centuries. Imports are presented, namely Scandinavian (but also Merovingian) denominators of opulence (drinking horns, particular imported goods, seaxes in ornamental scabbards, and so on), and also the possible grounds on which local settlers thrived (the amber trade, maybe also the salt trade). The geostrategic position of the Elbląg group is analysed, as well as sea trade routes and boats used on the Baltic Sea during the Late Migration Period. Contacts between southern Scandinavia and the Elbląg group are described against the wider cultural and political background.

This paper presents an item that has been mentioned in archaeological literature a few times, but never in a detailed analysis: the beak brooch from grave 38 in the cemetery of the Elbląg group at Nowinka. It is a south Scandinavian import that came to northern Poland around the middle of the sixth century, but was in use for quite a long time, which is suggested by traces of wear, as well as introducing a hinge construction that is untypical of that type.