"Gród" - an early medieval Slavic settlement

[BHs]

”And then from the rampart came a guffaw, he he he… because one or another attacker got inpaled…” with these words the late professor Władysław Filipowiak of ancient Slavic history, took up the story of first settlers on Polish soil. The lecture was about one of the first settlement from the Iron Age – Biskupin.

The Biskupin settlement has been discovered by accident while draining marches in mid. 1930s.

The age of this particular settlement was estimated as old as VIII century b.c.. The settlement was established on a slightly wet island of over 2 hectares and consisted of ca. 106 oak and pine log-houses, of similar layout and measurement (appox. 8 x 10 m each), built in 13 straight rows. Each house accommodated one family of 10–12 persons (in total over 1000 people). An open hearth was located in the centre of the house. Because of the damp, boggy ground the streets were covered with wooden planks.

The settlement was surrounded by a tall wooden palisade, set on a rampart made up of both wood boxes filled up with earth. The rampart surrounding this grid town was more than 450 m long.

The settlement was most probably consumed by the lake when the climate change, and thanks to that fact was well preserved to our times. For that, it is called the "Polish Pompeii". Nowadays, a full-scale entrance gate, part of the rampart and two house rows were erected on the site.

Such settlements were called "grody" ("gród" in singular). They were build (in this or similar forms) on Slavic areas of nowadays Poland till the early medieval times, when location of dwelling shifted in favour of towns around or close to castles (first wooden, later on stone / masonry).

It took almost half a year for this Lego model to become reality. First works began in late December 2015 with initial drawings and virtual construction in LDD. As it was my first virtual project, it took some time to complete.

Each hut is, despite same frame construction, slightly different (wall arrangement, thatched roof). Here and there some details like dried herbs, woven cloth or tools mark the hut’s wall. One of the huts is open, and with a bit of luck (the aisles are – as in original settlement – very narrow), one can see the interior and hearth.

The MOC took over 36000 elements to complete. It measures 5x4 baseboards, divided into two modules (3x4 and 2x4) – otherwise due to size and weight it could not be moved out of my flat :). The not-planned in LDD technic boundary runs alongside one the aisles, so fortunately for whole process, I encountered no construction drawbacks.

The settlement is accurate build from historic point of view. Of course there is a limitation towards the number of aisles (9 instead of 13) and houses (the longest rows had 10 huts, mine are 5-4 huts long). The one visible exception is the statue of Światowid (Svetovit, the pagan Slavic god of 4 faces), which stands on the main square of the village, while it would be better of in a chram (a temple) outside the settlement or amid a sacred grove.

As our historic settlers took up hunting, fishing, root and berry gathering, perhaps some early farming on the mainland, and crafts such as weaving, pottery, fur tanning – we have all those on the Lego counterpart. The minifigs sport custom made decals.

Many thanks for Jetboy for his extensive support with the photo shoot.

[Hobbythom]

Both an interesting history lesson and an awesome MOC. I like it!

[Exetrius]

Good lord! Incredibly large, complete and very accurate; what a creation! Fantastic palisade architecture, lovely minifig scenes, nice pathways and cozy houses! Outstanding work!

[TitusV]

Awesome! the scale alone would have made this gorgeous, but all the details and wonderful colour-scheme, especially the dark brown wich work amazingly well...

[durazno33]

Looks awesome! Question though, why are the pickets on the outside ring pointed toward the inner wall and not away? As is it kinda makes a ramp for the attackers to climb over or to use as their own wall from the outside. On the other hand, I can see that if attackers did climb over it, it would make it harder for them to retreat. Thoughts?

[BrickJagger]

Excellent build! I'm impressed with the technique you used to build the roofs. The detailing on the walls is also incredible.

[BHs]

Question though, why are the pickets on the outside ring pointed toward the inner wall and not away? As is it kinda makes a ramp for the attackers to climb over or to use as their own wall from the outside. On the other hand, I can see that if attackers did climb over it, it would make it harder for them to retreat. Thoughts?

You are right up to a point. It would be hard to retreat, but try stomping on such pointed spikes while storming the wall. Not really good point to put your foot on. Also, when using ladders (still not a common tool those days) when you fall or the ladder is tipped from the wall by the defenders, you roll directly on spikes.

The photo below shows the national monument of Biskupin, built at the actual site. Of course, only part of the settlement has been recreated (entrance tower, short part of walls, two rows of housing). We can see how in reality the wall looked like.

[BrickCurve]

Wow, absolutely amazing! Really nice touch using that technique for the path as well.

[Staslegomaster]

I'm from Russia, also a Slavic country. So it's very interesting to read the story and to see your amazing creation. Even the Parthenon didn't exist in the 8th century B. C!!! It took you much time and energy, What is your next plan?

[durazno33]

You are right up to a point. It would be hard to retreat, but try stomping on such pointed spikes while storming the wall. Not really good point to put your foot on. Also, when using ladders (still not a common tool those days) when you fall or the ladder is tipped from the wall by the defenders, you roll directly on spikes.

The photo below shows the national monument of Biskupin, built at the actual site. Of course, only part of the settlement has been recreated (entrance tower, short part of walls, two rows of housing). We can see how in reality the wall looked like.

Ok, looking at the recreation I see how it works now. Yea, definitely not a foot massage for the attackers. Cool cool.

[BHs]

It took you much time and energy, What is your next plan?

I have some smaller MOCs in pipeline. Including one connected with dwarves, which probably will be posted tomorrow (at least the photos).

Next 6-9 months will be quite a challange for me as I will be moving to new apartment (a house really), so most of my free time will be rather remodeling it than Lego. In January my family will welcome another member :), so again some portion of Lego time will be transformed into diaper time :).

But afterwards... I have to dodge some historic castle, something more acurate that this:

[KristinnK]

Are there higher resolution images somewhere? I would love to examine the details, but the small photos make it difficult.

[Littleworlds]

Very impressive build! A model of this scope and accuracy looks ideal to me as a museum piece. Is it exhibited somewhere? It definitely should

[BHs]

Are there higher resolution images somewhere? I would love to examine the details, but the small photos make it difficult.

I have placed some hi res photos, that were not used - these are without any graphic corrections (and by that I mean only getting rid of the background and level if necessary). You will see, that the model was placed on two wooden boards for easy of movement.

Check out the rest here.

Very impressive build! A model of this scope and accuracy looks ideal to me as a museum piece. Is it exhibited somewhere? It definitely should

Thanks! In fact it travels on displays in Poland.

[Littleworlds]

Thanks! In fact it travels on displays in Poland.

Excellent!

[Staslegomaster]

I have some smaller MOCs in pipeline. Including one connected with dwarves, which probably will be posted tomorrow (at least the photos).

Next 6-9 months will be quite a challange for me as I will be moving to new apartment (a house really), so most of my free time will be rather remodeling it than Lego. In January my family will welcome another member :), so again some portion of Lego time will be transformed into diaper time :).

But afterwards... I have to dodge some historic castle, something more acurate that this:

LEGo fans are patient and can wait for your castle and other creations as well. As for the historic castle, have you seen my Shogun castle here? It's less detailed than yours so I'd like to know your oppinion on it. it took me a year and a half to build it. Goog luck.