Przegląd Archeologiczny T. 65 (2017)

29 cm

The subject of this article is the history of studies on the Polish-early Rus’ borderland, mainly so-called Cherven’ Towns, i.e. the strongholds of Czermno and Gródek in eastern Poland. I focus on the post-war period (until 1956), but in order to present the events of that time in the proper context it is necessary to briefly go back in time to the Second Republic of Poland and the years 1939-1945. The origins of interest in a systematic analysis of the Cherven’ Towns region can be tracked back to Lwów/L’viv in the 1930s. World War II thwarted the plans and goals made at that time. After 1945, studies on the gords in Czermno and Gródek were restarted and from 1952 excavations on this territory were carried out – officially – as part of Polish-Soviet cooperation. The excavations were abandoned in rather unclear circumstances. The article shows how the dramatic changes in Europe in the mid-20th century influenced the attitudes of scholars, including archaeologists, at that time.