EN
The article describes eight wooden string instruments found during archaeological excavations in Poland. The instruments are currently housed in Polish museums and research institutes and are a part of the national heritage. They date back to the period between the end of the 10th century and the first half of the 16th century. The instruments originating from the Middle Ages and early Renaissance reflect a high wood culture in Poland in the early centuries of its history. These archaeological collections include four different types of string instruments: lyres, vielles (fiddles), rebecs, and lutes. Individual parts of all the instruments were subjected to detailed measurements including the total length, width and thickness of the body, the total length, width and thickness of the soundboard and the wall height. The type of wood used for their construction was also determined and included: Norway spruce (Picea abies) – the older lyre from Opole and the soundboards of the gittern from Elbląg, lime (Tilia sp.) – the younger lyre from Opole and the lyre from Gdańsk, aspen (Alnus sp.) – the bodies of the vielles from Elbląg and Płock and the body of the gittern from Elbląg, European beech (Fagus sylvatica) – the peg board of the hypothetical rebec from Ostrów Lednicki, as well as Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) – the soundboards of the vielles from Płock and of the supposed nyckelharp from Wolin. The soundboards of the vielles from Elbląg was made of alder or poplar, while the pegs and bridges – of maple (Acer sp.), birch (Betula sp.) and oak (Quercus sp.). The body of the instruments: the soundbox with the neck and with a peg board or pegbox was usually made of one piece of wood and covered with a separate soundboard made of different or the same type of wood as the body. However, the soundboards are found less often than the instrument bodies because the plates with a few−millimetre thickness are more prone to decay.