The article presents metal artefacts discovered during field surveys recently carried out at the cemetery of the Bogaczewo culture and the Olsztyn group at Zalec, Mrągowo County (fmr. Salza, Kr. Lötzen). The cemetery was explored by German archaeologists in the early 20th century. However, due to the damage inflicted during World War II, some pieces of information from the excavations at Zalec were lost. Only years later was it possible to reconstruct and publish some of the data2, with the records of an Estonian archaeologist, Marta Schmiedehelm, containing a copy of the report of the head of the excavations, Felix Ernst Peiser3, proving to be a valuable source of information. The aforementioned document contains information about approx. 90 investigated features, mostly cremation burials.

On the basis of the report, it was also possible to pinpoint the exact location of the site and to conduct preliminary reconnaissance of the area6 followed by surface surveys with metal detectors. The latter were carried out in 2016 by the Jerzy Okulicz-Kozaryn Dajna Foundation. They yielded 95 artefacts that finally confirmed the existence of a cremation cemetery at the site. All of the discovered artefacts were found on a small hill above the escarpment at the northern edge of Lake Zaleckie (Fig. 1). They came from an area measuring approx. 30×50 m, from a mixed topsoil layer (Fig. 2). The discovered artefacts represent a diverse group, both chronologically and typologically.
The most interesting finds include an A 96 brooch and fragments of Mazurian-type triple-crest fibulae characteristic of the Bogaczewo culture in phase B2/C1–C1a11 (Fig. 3). The finds also include brooches with returned foot from the Late Roman Period and Dollkeim/Kovrovo type brooches, which can be attributed to the early phase of the Migration Period (Fig. 4). The material also includes fragments of plate brooches, i.e., elements of attire associated with the period when a unit called the Olsztyn Group developed in Masuria (Fig. 5). Plate brooches are an interesting category of artefacts, considering that for over 100 years researchers have been trying to solve the mystery of the origin of the aforementioned unit based on their appearance36.

The second large category of artefacts discovered in the course of surface surveys at Zalec consists of belt elements – buckles and fittings. These artefacts can also be dated to both the Roman Period (Fig. 6) and the Migration Period (Fig. 7). The latter group includes, among others, an iron buckle corresponding to type H25 (Fig. 7:26) and a bronze buckle with an oval frame and metope on the pin (Fig. 7:27). Recent research has also yielded fragments of bracelets, including cuff bracelets popular among the Bogaczewo Culture population (Fig. 8:30.31), as well as rings (Fig. 8:34–36). Neck ornaments, notably three pendants (Fig. 9:37.38) and simple bronze beads (Fig. 9:39.40), are also worth mentioning. One of the beads was made of a light, silvery metal – probably zinc (Fig. 9:41). Such ornaments, which are not very common, had already been discovered before the war and described as Zinkringe85.

Other finds from the Zalec cemetery include spurs, dating to the Roman Period and the Migration Period (Fig. 10:43–46), and an iron ring with hooks, probably an element of a horse’s bridle (Fig. 10:47). Additionally, tools, including fragments of iron knives (Fig. 11:48), an iron hooked pin with a twisted shaft (Fig. 11:49) and an iron fishhook (Fig. 11:50), should be mentioned. The state of preservation of some artefacts makes their identification impossible; some are simply lumps of molten metal. The last find on the list is a fragment of a bronze coin, probably a sestertius of Emperor Gordian III (Fig. 12). In the Balt areas, the influx of Roman coins began during the Marcomanni wars and lasted less than 100 years, until about the mid-third century107.

All the discovered artefacts confirmed an earlier established dating of the Zalec cemetery. According to the available sources, the cemetery was set during phase B2. It functioned throughout the Late Roman Period, until the disappearance of the Bogaczewo Culture, when it was taken over by the people of the Olsztyn Group. The end of the cemetery can probably be synchronised with the decline of the fthe Olsztyn Group, i.e., phase E3109. Of particular note are the artefacts discovered during the latest surveys that date to the early Migration Period (brooches with full catchplate, belt buckles with oval frame). Said phase has not been recorded in the archival material110. Therefore, the latest discoveries fill this gap and, at the same time, confirm the functioning of the cemetery in this period.