Don’t assume
May 17th
I assumed something and learned again that I shouldn’t. And that assumption was just so slight that I wasn’t even thinking about it. I was in my local museum for an exhibition of recently discovered Bronze Age settlements along the Narew River in northeast Poland. They were discovered by using the LIDAR technology to see any variations in the ground that can be the remains of old-time settlements. Then some excavations were performed to try to save what was still possible. One of those settlements was of tremendous interest to me (more on this below) and I assumed that I can easily find more information on this subject online. And I was wrong — there are only some cursory notes about this discovery and archeological finds there. I searched long and thoroughly, but with no success. So, now I only have a memory of what I saw and read in the museum (the exhibition already ended) and hope for more information to become available soon. I mean — if I knew that there is no information about this subject online, I could take some notes there at the museum, or even take some photographs. But I assumed…. And was wrong.
But here is the real story about this — among the settlements found, one was very unusual. For example, wooden palisades were quite well-preserved in a bog. And it wasn’t even a real settlement. There were three rings of a wooden wall encompassing what in the middle was a very small area. So small that even a single house wouldn’t fit there. That goes to show that it wasn’t a place where people lived, or even it wasn’t a place for the local population to take shelter in times of danger. Most likely it was a place of worship, some sacred place, a shrine for people from about 3000 years ago. But the most curious fact about it was the innermost palisade. It was still well-preserved, with sharpened stakes pointing INWARD. It looked like this shrine was constructed to keep (I hope only symbolically) an evil spirit or evil being inside and not being allowed to leave this enclosure in the marshes build 3000 years ago. Maybe even it was a kind of prison to assure the local Neolithic population that this evil is confined to a secure place and not allowed to mingle and hurt the population. Very strange.
And now, I have only a memory of learning about this in the museum, nothing on the internet to further my knowledge on this subject. I do remember the name of the village nearby where it was found. And that is only about 20 kilometers from where I live, so I know what to do. The problem is that there are marshes and wetlands around this village and other places are private farms, so finding that spot and getting access there can be tricky. No matter — I got time and will start soon, just a bike ride for reconnaissance of the area will do for a start.
