Department of the Middle Ages and Modern Period

The department’s research focuses on cultural and settlement processes from the turn of the Early and Late Middle Ages (13th century) until the 19th and 20th centuries. This primarily involves the architecture of urban and rural areas in Poland, Europe, and Africa. Research programs focus on sacred architecture (churches, monasteries), defensive architecture (the Teutonic Order), and the general material culture of the late Middle Ages and the modern period, including the conservation and reconstruction of monuments recovered during archaeological excavations, as well as studies on the effectiveness of protective coatings on iron archaeological artefacts and the efficacy of traditional construction techniques in preserving archaeological architectural relics in situ.

Main research areas:

• material culture of towns and villages – selected topics in varying degrees of detail;
• pottery production, including primarily the periodisation of changes in ceramic vessel manufacture;
• defence structures: so-called mound forts, characteristic elements of the late medieval cultural landscape, and castles, particularly those associated with the Teutonic Order;
• the funeral culture of the Middle Ages and the modern period;
• the history of clothing and fabrics, analysis of changes in the form and methods of cutting, modeling, and finishing clothing, footwear, and headgear. Research on children’s and adult clothing, and liturgical attire;
• interdisciplinary costume research based on the analysis of written and iconographic sources and recovered archaeological material;
• expert assessments of the state of preservation of archaeological objects;
• conservation of archaeological artefacts made from various raw materials;
• design and arrangement of exhibitions;
• collaboration with museums in the following areas: issuing expert opinions on the state of preservation of stored artefacts, providing substantive support for exhibitions, and conserving objects presented at exhibitions;
• collaboration with institutions, including the Institute of National Remembrance, in the conservation of objects from the graves of murdered victims and concentration camps, issuing expert opinions on the state of preservation of various items, and providing substantive support for exhibitions;
• research on sites of uprisings and world wars, conservation and analysis of items recovered during investigations, and attempts to identify individuals from execution sites;
• searching for prefigurations of semiological artefacts used in modern initiation societies;
• studying the influence of Celtic and Hiberno-Romanesque art on the ornamentation of medieval staurological artefacts.