Unikatowe znalezisko elementu uprzęży końskiej z terenu Lubelszczyzny

At the end of the last century, a small object, probably made of bronze, was found in the area of Dys, Niemce commune, Lublin district, Lublin voivodeship. The artefact, discovered by chance, lacks an exact findspot as well as any cultural context. The object is a looped knob (divider), whose association with horse harness equipment seems beyond doubt. Within the horse’s bridle, it served both as a decorative element and, more importantly, as a functional one: it was used to thread or cross straps or ropes, or to connect metal components into functional sets. The artefact from Dys is relatively well preserved. It features a simple, hemispherical cap or shield and four legs (three of which are preserved) that emerge approximately 2 mm from the edge on the underside of the cap. Below, the legs rest on a ring, which is now only partially preserved. Looped knobs are frequently recorded across Central Europe in assemblages contemporary with the phenomena referred to in archaeological literature as the Cimmerian, ThracianCimmerian, or pre-Scythian horizon. They present similar dimensions but show considerable variation in the structure of the cap and base, as well as in the number of legs connecting these two parts. The looped knob from Dys shows certain (though not exact) formal similarities to the Füzesabony-type looped knob, associated with the so-called Cimmerian horizon. Such items appear in burial assemblages that include materials of this horizon, dated to the end of phase HaB2 and the transition to HaB3. The analysed artefact closely resembles, for example, looped knobs from barrow 1 at Pécs-Jakabhegy in Hungary. So far, no satisfactory analogies have been identified within Polish territory. The artefact from Dys is not the only looped knob known from the Lublin or Subcarpathian regions. A heavily damaged object of similar function was also found in Podhajce, Łaszczów commune, Tomaszów district, Lublin voivodeship. The assemblage of Cimmerian or Thracian-Cimmerian artefacts discovered in the Lublin region is not particularly large. These are rare imports within the Lusatian culture environment of this area. Worth mentioning are, for instance, cheekpieces of the Dunakömlöd type from Komarów-Osada (loco commune, Zamość district, Lublin voivodeship) and Honiatyn (Dołhobyczów commune, Hrubieszów district, Lublin voivodeship), a Kamyševacha-type cheekpiece from Mikulin (Tyszowce commune, Tomaszów district, Lublin voivodeship), and a fragment, probably of a Černogorovka-type cheekpiece, from Gródek (Hrubieszów commune, Hrubieszów district Lublin voivodeship). This small set of finds will likely grow in the future.