Przeglądanie według Temat "Szczuczyn"

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The Yew Cross from Szczuczyn – a Symbol of Life and Death or an Unusual Memento?
(the Authors, 2022-12) Michalik, Jakub
Archaeological research in the crypts of the Church of the Holy Name of the Virgin Mary in Szczuczyn has been carried out since 2012. Many years of research have made it possible to identify some of the buried people, including the Piarists who served as the hosts of the church. One of the monks identified was Stanislaw Marszycki, who took the name Simeon of St Joseph after his monastic vows. Identification of the Piarist was possible thanks to the information on the coffin. On the deceased’s vestments rested a wooden crucifix, which can be interpreted as part of the deceased’s individual equipment. The crucifix was subjected to wood species identification using a microscope with transmitted light. This made it possible to determine that it was made from the wood of the common yew tree (Taxus baccata L.). Yew wood is a valuable material and was used to make both large boatbuilding components, furniture, and weapons, and was also readily used in 18th- -century gardens. The yew was also a tree around which there was a great deal of superstition. Because of its toxicity and longevity, it was treated as both a tree of death and life. The cross from the monk’s coffin, according to superstition, might have guarded the deceased against evil, been an individual object with which the deceased was associated, or perhaps was chosen because yew wood was eminently polishable and with a beautiful colouration.
True or False – Difficulties in Interpreting the Funeral Dress from the Burial of the “Bride” in the Szczuczyn Crypt, Poland
(the Authors, 2022-12) Dobek, Mikołaj
Funeral costumes are elements of funerary furnishings with very different characteristics. Their form has not only been influenced by local funeral customs but also by the property status of the families of the deceased and the fashion trends prevailing in a given region. The study of funerary clothing clearly translates into the general development of knowledge about the evolution of fashion, and thus the issue is no longer only the domain of costume specialists, but also archaeology. This is clearly discernible on the example of the results of archaeological research conducted in the crypts of the Church of St. Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary – over 100 burials turned out to be hiding the largest archaeological collection of modern funerary clothing from the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Against the background of these costumes, the clothes in which the woman placed in burial no. 8 (EA crypt) stands out. Her attire took an exceptionally impressive form, as evidenced by the fact that this tomb aroused the interest of the local population long before archaeologists arrived in Szczuczyn. According to the stories of the locals, she was buried in a wedding dress. As a result of the verification carried out both on the stand and as a result of laboratory analyses, it was determined whether this theory can be confirmed with the use of scientific methods. The analyses, apart from referring to the theory of stories told by local history enthusiasts, turned out to contribute a lot to the current state of knowledge on the development of 18th-century women’s fashion.