Z badań nad wytwórczością średniowiecznych ozdób

ON THE STUDY OF THE PRODUCTION OF ORNAMENTS IN THE MIDDLE AGES One of the results of the archaeological survey carried out in Main Market Square (Rynek Główny) in Kraków was the discovery of historical ornaments, including a vast number of medieval rings. The oldest artefacts in this category come from the burial sites basically dating back to the 11th century, while the latest finds in the analyzed collection are dated to the 15th century. The authors present the selected items and discuss certain technicalities of the production of medieval ornaments. Many of the discovered objects underwent specialized tests in the area of metal science, aimed at accurate determination of the alloys used to produce them etc. Apart from the rather uncommon silver ornaments, the discovered collection includes objects made of copper and tin, or, strictly speaking, the alloys of the above. The specialized tests confi rmed great popularity of such alloys for the production of ornaments in the Middle Ages. Another issue of interest for the authors is the medieval production of copperware.