Another anthropomorphic mediaeval hilt excavated in Poland

Abstract

In 2000 a well-preserved anthropomorphic knife hilt made of a rib bone was excavated during archaeological works in the old Town of Cieszyn (fig. 1). It is the tenth fi nd of this kind in Poland, dated provisionally to the 13th–14th century. All together 140 artefacts of this type have been found in Western and central Europe, Northern Italy, Great Britain, Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. The hilt is an image of a standing man, wearing a long loose robe, with a falcon on his right arm, feeding the bird with his left hand. He has a falconers’ bag attached to his belt; such a bag is also visible in three other fi nds (Szczecin I, Hamburg, Cirencester: fig. 5). He is wearing a headscarf tied on the left hand side, a detail visible in some other similar hilts (Schwerin, Riga, Angers, Scania). Contrary to some researchers’ claims, it is an element of man’s not of women’s dress, as is proved by a miniature from Codex Manesse and by a hilt from Paris, showing a man and a women, in which such headgear is worn by the man (fig. 4). The article discusses research questions connected with this type of hilts, their typology, dating and functions, and the symbolism of the images.