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Fig. 49. The alleged cult circle at Parsteiner lakę near Pehlitz. K - the drcle; R - ruins of the Mariensee monastery. Aft er J. Herrmann, 1971, p. 528.

Fig. 50. The alleged cult circle near Saaringen. A - the location of the drcle; B - barrows. After J. Herrmann, 1971, p. 528.

culture layer, which, according to the archaeologist, points to the cult func-tion of the structure. This supposition can be confirmed or falsified only by further excavations.

At the town of Breclav in Moravia, near the point where the contempor-ary borders of the Czech State, Slovakia and Austria meet, a Great--Moravian stronghold of a signiflcant name Pohansko (a pagan place) was discovered and explored in the 60s. The stronghold occupied a substantial hilł encircled in meanders of the Dyja river. The relevant flnd was located to the north-east of the apse of a Great-Moravian church, and consisted of

Fig SI. Breclav-Pohansko. A plan and a graphic reconstruction of a smali cult object. After B. Dostał, 1975, p. 108.

eight hollows symmetrically surrounding the ninth one. They were accom-panied by a C-shaped ditch. As this relatively smali object (3x2.5 m) lay over one of the graves belonging to the Great-Moravian cemetery, we can conclude that it was constructed after the fali of Great Moravia. Bofivoj Dostał (1975, p. 104-110) interprets the hollows as traces of idols. The surrounding ditch may be a remnant of a palisadę, as similar constructions, though forming fuli circles, appeared in Tushemla. Another Czech discovery comes from Hradsko u Msena, but attempts at classifying it as a sanctuary are unconvincing (Solle, 1977, p. 358-361).

The next object of that type was found on Tumskie Hill in Płock, 50 metres above the łevel of the Yistula, by Włodzimierz Szafrański (1983). It consisted of remnants of five fire-places located at the bottoms of drcular hollows forming a triangle, with the sixth, deeper, stone-paved hollow situ-ated aside. Near the central ftre-place, reaching furthest to the north, a smali stone błock and traces of a pole were found. According to W. Szafrański, the layer containing these finds was the oldest in the whole site. Only after its destruction was the Piast stronghold, which soon became the Capital of the district, founded.

Quite recently remains of another Mazovian sanctuary were discovered on Gaik hill in Radzikowo Stare near Czerwińsk by Iwona Dąbrowska (1988). Only introductory publications conceming the results of the excavations carried out there are available at the moment. Remnants of alleged sanctuaries from Wyszogród (Gierlach, 1980, p. 123-125) and Wrocław (Ostrowska, 1961, p. 185-189) are highiy controversial. In the very heart of the Piast State, in Gniezno, traces of a ąuadrangular fire-place with some bones and pottery were found (Mikołajczyk, Sikorska, 1964, p. 180-181), which, however, is not a sufficient proof that Gniezno had housed a pagan sanctuary.

Further examples of open-air sanctuaries of that type come from Ruthe-nian territories and seem much morę exciting that those presented so far.

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