Work

Pillows, mattresses or log coffin linings: use of cattail ( Typha sp.) in Roman period funerary rituals at Czarnówko in Pomerania

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The preservation of organic remains is fickle, dependent on often highly localised conditions, but this incomplete record provides key insights into the lives, and deaths, of individuals in the past. Such is the case at the Wielbark culture cemetery in Czarnówko, northern Poland, where four graves were found to contain compacted layers of organic material. Identification of cattail ( Typha sp.) and woven fragments of high-quality wool within these masses suggest the remains of pillows, mattresses or linings that may reflect practices of furnishing not just burials but also domestic bedding practices within the Central European Barbaricum in the early centuries AD.

Source: Antiquity

DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2026.10419

Authors: Kalina Skóra, Aldona Mueller-Bieniek, Jan Schuster, Łukasz Antosik

Institutions: Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii, Polish Academy of Sciences, University of Warsaw, University of Łódź

Language: English

Topic: Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies

Subfield: Archeology

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,550

OpenAlex ID: W7212282162