ŻELECHÓW, POLAND—Science in Poland reports that researchers have investigated the site of a late medieval castle in eastern Poland using lidar and other non-invasive scanning methods. “We knew that the castle existed, although information about its location, size, and construction was not preserved anywhere,” said Wojciech Bis of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Most of the written sources concerning the castle, which belonged to the noble Ciołek family, were destroyed during World War II, he explained. The researchers had expected to find traces of a massive stone structure, so they were surprised when testing revealed an oak and earth rampart reinforced with stone and surrounded by a moat. High groundwater levels preserved much of the wood, dated to about 1466, including door seats, beams from the external walls, and boards from the internal walls. A massive stone foundation at the site may have supported a brick mansion for the Clołek family to live in, Bis added. And, decorative stone tiles from several furnaces have been uncovered in the living quarters. Traces of fires and a cannonball dating to around the time the site was abandoned in the early sixteenth century have also been found. To read in-depth about a medieval Anglo-Saxon castle, go to “Letter from England: Stronghold of the Kings in the North.”
