WROCLAW, POLAND—Science & Scholarship in Poland reports that remnants of a fourteenth-century castle belonging to Bolko II the Small have been discovered on an island in the Czerna Wielka River. The castle is located in the Lower Silesian Wilderness of southwestern Poland and was mentioned in medieval documents, but archaeologists had not been able to look for it because the area was used a a military training ground until the 1990s. Pawel Konczewski of Wroclaw University said the castle’s foundation was made of bog iron, while its single, rectangular tower was constructed of bricks marked with craftsmen’s fingerprints. The Piast dynasty prince built the fortress as part of a plan to expand his territory. “Bolko II set a new route—to save time and take the lead in trade,” Konczewski said. “On his route was a castle around which a settlement was built. Its inhabitants’ trade was the ironworks, due to rich deposits of iron in the area.” The research team has also found traces of the ironworking village, including mining areas and slag heaps, but they have not yet found any furnaces. For more, go to “Off the Grid: Krakow, Poland.”
