Ard marks and changes in land use at the beginning of the Early Middle Ages A case study from the site of Miloslawice, north Silesia Justyna Baron In a forest near the present village of Miłosławice in Silesia, 34 mounds of various sizes were found that are the results of human activity. Research including excavations of two of them has not proved the original intention of the mound builders, and only one burnt human bone makes it impossible to interpret the whole area as barrow cemetery, but the plough marks found under a large mound are interesting. Both the strati- graphy and pollen data enable us to prove a change in land use, which took place between 6 and 8 th centu- ries AD as 14 C dating from the mounds revealed. The paper aims to present and discuss the ard furrows discovered recently under a large round mound at Miłosławice. The study is focused on the remains of the furrows and their stratigraphical relationship with the mounds. Early Middle Ages – ard marks – mound – Silesia – land use Stopy orby a změny využití půdy na počátku raného středověku. Případová studie z lokality Miłosławice, severní Slezsko. V lese nedaleko dnešní vsi Miłosławice ve Slezsku bylo objeveno 34 mohyl různé velikosti, které jsou pozůstatkem lidské aktivity. Výzkum zahrnující odkryv dvou z nich neprokázal původní záměr stavitelů mohyl; jediná přepálená lidská kost neumožňuje interpretovat celou lokalitu jako mohylové pohřebiště, pozoruhodné jsou však stopy orby zjištěné pod jednou z velkých mohyl. Jak stratigrafická, tak palynologická data nám dovolují prokázat změnu využití půdy, která se odehrála mezi 6. a 8. stol. n. l., jak dokládá 14 C datování vzorků z mohyl. Cílem článku je prezentovat a diskutovat orební brázdy nedávno objevené pod velkou okrouhlou mohylou. Studie se zaměřuje na stopy brázd a jejich stratigrafický vztah s mohylami. časný středověk – stopy orby – mohyla – jihozápadní Polsko – využití půdy Introduction Circular, parallel, random or criss-crossed lines interpreted as ard marks are frequently reported as having been discovered under mounds of various shape, size and chronology (e.g., Pätzold 1960; Thrane 1989; Fries-Knoblach 1995; Lang 2000), and also from several Polish sites (e.g., Kowalczyk 1968; Abramek 1971; Wiklak 1972; Burchard 1998; Cholewa – Wojciechowski – Limisiewicz 2008). Both their nature (traces of traditional farming preserved under barrows vs. ritual preparation of a ground before setting a grave) and relationship to barrows has been a subject of controversy and discussion (e.g., Rowley-Conwy 1987; Kristiansen 1990; Tarlow 1994 with further references therein). The paper aims to present and discuss the ard furrows discovered recently under a large round mound at Miłosławice in north Silesia with a particular focus on the environmental context of the site and the stratigraphical relationship between one of the mounds and the ard furrows. The site The archaeological site of Miłosławice is located on a northern side of Baruth-Głogów ice-mar- ginal valley, which reaches a depth of 10 m here. The valley is comprised of a number of broad basins separated by a series of ranges, and the site under study is located on one of them. The Sułów Hills (moraine), which are the south-western section of the Cieszków Hills, extend northwards from the site, while south from the site, the Twardogóra Hills, which are part of the moraine hills that stretch from Magdeburg in Germany to the Ostrzeszów Hills in western Poland are located. Today, in the former ice-marginal valley, the River Barycz and its tributaries flow. Former inhabitants of the area might have crossed the river and the high-flattened riverside land formed a narrow shelf separating Archeologické rozhledy LXV–2013 906 906–916