Stone Circles in Trątkownica – A Trace of the Goths in Kashubia

Near the Kashubian village of Trątkownica, in the commune of Somonino, there is a mysterious cemetery called the "Stone Wedding." This prehistoric site, covering an area of 0.75 hectares, is a remnant of the Gothic tribe, who arrived in Pomerania from Scandinavia around the 1st century AD, bringing new forms of burial – stone mounds surrounded by boulders and monumental stone circles.

The cemetery consists of two circles, five large mounds, and over sixty flat graves, which are still being studied by archaeologists. The stone circles served not only as burial sites but also as gathering places for elders and courts. The most common burials are skeletal graves with bodies oriented with their heads to the north. Many of them have been robbed, but archaeologists have found numerous bronze garment clasps – fibulas.

The place is shrouded in a legend about an enchanted wedding procession. Late-coming wedding guests, traveling to the inn in Trątkownica, were said to have been cursed by impatient cooks with the words: "May you all turn to stone!" The name "Stone Wedding" comes from this story.

The cemetery in Trątkownica is an important archaeological site and evidence of the presence of the Goths in Pomerania.