Frühmittelalterliche Burgwälle des ehemaligen Kreises Militsch-Trachenberg im Lichte der archivalischenund kartographischen Quellen vom 16. bis zum Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts

Abstract

The paper discusses changes in the way early medieval stronghold relics located in the North-East Silesia were perceived during the past four centuries and shows how the interest in these structures were developing from the early modern period until the turn of the 20th century. The aforementioned issues were not studied in a detailed way until now. Written historical records, cartographic sources together with the toponymy as well as the typology of the studied structures that had developed since the 19th century were analysed. Special attention was paid to the stronghold relics in Wrocławice, Lelików, Góry and Milicz. They make up a part of a bigger settlement complex located within the area of the former Milicz-Żmigród district. The paper goes beyond the previous studies which aimed chiefly at recording archaeological sites (creating a complete catalogue) and focuses on a critical approach towards the issue of evolution in methods of documenting strongholds over time.

Keywords

• early medieval stronghold relics
• the Valley of Barycz river
• cartography
• antiquarianism
• archival sources
• Milicz