Archaeologia Polona

The Corded Ware Phenomenon Reconsidered

2025-12-29T22:31:57+00:00

This article focuses on the reconsideration of some aspects of the Corded Ware phenomenon in Europe. It highlights the impact of new archaeogenetic data, which challenge traditional views of archaeological cultures as monothetic entities. It critiques interpretations of extensive steppe migrations as simplistic, particularly concerning genetic changes. Additionally, it underscores the importance of sacred landscapes, sacred mountains and natural shrines, in understanding Corded Ware rituals and beliefs. The continuity and transition between the Corded Ware and Bell Beaker periods are explored, with a view that rather than a sharp break, these periods represent evolving cultural and ritual practices, particularly noticeable in their burial customs. The article calls for nuanced interpretations embracing both archaeological and genetic evidence to understand the intricate cultural development of the 3rd millennium BC in Europe.

Old Traditions and New Innovations. The Late Middle Neolithic in Scania, the Southernmost Part of Sweden

2025-12-29T22:31:52+00:00

The Corded Ware Culture complex in Sweden involves a special form of social structure called the Battle Axe Culture. Among well-known features, such as single graves, there are also other forms of expression. A special form of find is illustrated by a place with a significant accumulation of deliberately burned or otherwise destroyed objects. This mass deposit includes both well-known object forms and items indicative of far-reaching contacts. This kind of deposit practice has continuity dating back more than a millennium.

The earliest part of the Late Middle Neolithic (Younger Neolithic I) appears to be a period of multicultural elements that included a continuation of the Funnel Beaker Culture with evident influences from the Pitted Ware Culture. Another form of expression relates to the so-called palisade constructions. Aspects of relations within southern Scandinavia, involving influences from the Corded Ware Culture and older cultural forms, are discussed. It is suggested that a tradition based on Funnel Beaker Culture has a longer existence in parts of Scania, the southernmost part of Sweden, than in the rest of southern Sweden.

The Corded Ware Phenomenon in the Eastern Baltic Sea Area: 15 Years Later

2025-12-30T01:05:18+00:00

This article reflects on developments in Corded Ware-related material and research in the eastern Baltic Sea area (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, north-western Russia). It builds upon a manuscript on the Corded Ware phenomenon in the eastern Baltic, completed nearly 15 years ago. Intended as the first modern review of the topic, this paper was not published at that time. Although now partially outdated due to the passage of time, it nonetheless offers a valuable overview of how the Corded Ware complex was perceived and studied in the early 2010s. Together with the supplementary commentaries appended to the original text, the article provides basic information about the Corded Ware phenomenon in the eastern Baltic and documents changes and an intensification of research on the 3rd millennium BC that occurred during the 2010s and early 2020s.

Location, Location, Location: The Equivocal Interpretation of Spatial Patterns of the Corded Ware Culture in Northern Germany

2025-12-30T01:19:03+00:00

This paper examines the economic activities of Corded Ware Culture (CWC) communities in the region of Schleswig-Holstein (SH), Germany. It contextualises them within the concept of taskscapes as well as current discussions on mobility and migration. As a novel approach, it considers whether the spatial variation in battle axe deposition strategies – graves predominating in the west, and isolated finds in the east – may reflect the practices of mobile groups with distinct taskscapes, rather than entirely separate or differently behaving populations, as previously suggested. It is argued that the western part of SH functioned as a ritual core in a long durée, while the eastern regions functioned as economic zones. The known settlements take a position between the ritual and economic zones. The argument is made that the human groups were not static; instead, they continuously formed new and flexible social configurations. Ultimately, this mobile and dynamic spatial system is interpreted as a catalyst for the integration of individuals from diverse backgrounds, giving tangible form to the migrations associated with the CWC phenomenon.

Continuity or Great Transformation? Corded Ware Culture Communities in the Lower Oder Region at the Threshold of the Bronze Age (2300–2000 BCE)

2025-12-30T00:38:58+00:00

This article explores the issue of continuity versus socio-cultural transformation in the Lower Oder region during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (2300–2000 BCE). An integrated analysis of material culture, settlement patterns, and environmental data highlights the complexity of cultural dynamics in this area. Elements of the Corded Ware Culture (CWC), the Bell Beaker phenomenon (BB), and southern influences linked to the Proto-Únětice Culture (PÚC) have been identified; however, their interrelations cannot be reduced to a simple chronological succession. Particular attention is given to ceramic forms and flint daggers, which reflect local adaptations of the cultural “packages” characteristic of the BB phenomenon, alongside the persistence of CWC traditions. Moreover, palynological evidence provides insights into landscape use and subsistence strategies during this transitional period. The study argues that, rather than undergoing an abrupt cultural rupture, the region experienced a gradual, multifaceted transformation marked by considerable microregional diversity.

Corded Ware Burial of the Thuringian Basin – Evidence for Social Differentiation and Inequality?

2025-12-30T01:13:24+00:00

This study examines 401 Corded Ware Culture (CWC) burials from the Thuringian Basin using exploratory and principal component analyses within Bourdieu’s framework of habitus and capital. Results reveal a marked gender dichotomy: male graves emphasise weapons and bone tools, while female graves highlight ornaments and different bowls. At the same time, amphorae, beakers, and flint artefacts occur across sexes and ages, reflecting communal practices of feasting, exchange, and symbolic consumption. Age-based differentiation follows a life-course model: subadults were modestly furnished, while adults – especially mature individuals – received increasingly elaborate goods. Women gained recognition earlier through kinship and ritual roles, whereas men accrued status gradually through achievement and material display. Exceptional burials with rare or abundant objects signal inequality, framed within a shared habitus of burial practices. The Thuringian evidence thus portrays CWC society as gender-differentiated and hierarchically stratified, yet unified by common ritual traditions and cross-cutting practices of community life.

Chronology and Distribution of Corded Ware Groups in Saxony-Anhalt

2025-12-29T22:31:51+00:00

The article examines thechronology and distribution of regional and local groups within the Corded Ware Culture in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It begins with a brief overview of the research history. Until the early 1990s, the approach to chronology was typological, sometimes based on some stratigraphically “dated” graves. Multivariate procedures have been applied since the late 1990s. At the same time, chronological research is based on graves dated by 14C. In this study, radiocarbon-dated graves form a basis for typological work. Using the radiocarbon dates, three main stages of the Corded Ware Culture can be identified (Stages 1–3). Furthermore, the first stage can be subdivided into three sub-stages (1a1, 1a2, 1b). Each stage lasted about 150 years, the sub-stages 1a2 and 1b even half this time. The number of radiocarbon-dated graves of Stage 1 of the Corded Ware Culture has increased from four to 52, at least reliably dated graves, since the studies of Johannes Müller and Martin Furholt. Thus, the focus of the chronological study is on this early stage. Beyond chronology, the shapes and decorations of the ceramics allow us to define regional and local groups of the Corded Ware Culture (CWC) in Saxony-Anhalt. Regional groups include the Saale estuary Group (SEG), the North Harz Group (NHG), the South Harz Group (SHG), and the Middle Saale Group (MSG), which may define the territories of ethnic groups or sub-groups. In contrast, four local sections in the north, middle, centre, southeast, and southwest of the Middle Saale Group may define the territories of leading clans.

Returns to Ancestral Monuments. The Transition of Funerary Areas During the 4th and 3rd Millennia BC in Bohemia

2025-12-30T01:21:08+00:00

The earliest manifestation of funerary monumentality in Central Europe is represented by long barrows from the 4th millennium BC. The latest discoveries suggest that it was the long barrows that initiated the tradition of shaping ritual landscapes. Besides their funerary function, these monuments also served as ancestral shrines. Current research indicates the existence of approximately a thousand-year hiatus in the use of these sacred places in Bohemia. Secondary burials associated with the Corded Ware and Únětice Cultures have been recorded in long barrows. Similar sequences can also be observed in other sites where evidence of long barrows is currently not secure. Beaker cultures of the 3rd millennium BC are represented primarily by funerary monuments in the form of round barrows. This form of funerary monuments did not evolve from the long barrows. On the contrary, it represents a new phenomenon originating from the North Pontic/Caspian region, associated with the Yamna Culture.

The Oldest Hammer-Axes of the Corded Ware Culture in Bohemia

2025-12-30T00:20:37+00:00

The aim of this study is to analyse hammer-axes assigned to the so-called A-horizon of the Corded Ware Culture (c. 3000–2350 BC). The focus area is Bohemia. The main emphasis is placed on the raw materials of these artefacts, which were analysed non-destructively using optical stereomicroscopy, X-ray diffraction and magnetic susceptibility measurements. Although archaeogenetic analyses indicate that the Corded Ware Culture arrived in Bohemia as an intrusive element, the raw material spectrum demonstrates continuity with sources exploited in preceding periods. In particular, Jizera Mountains-type (Jizerské hory) metabasite is the principal material of the assemblage of 32 analysed artefacts. The other raw materials used most likely also originate within the Bohemian Massif. These results thus point to a continuity in the use of raw material sources and distribution networks.

Descendants of Great Ancestors? Corded Ware Culture Barrows in Trzciniec Circle Cultural Landscapes

2025-12-30T00:43:07+00:00

The paper focuses on the influence of the Corded Ware culture barrow landscape on the rise of barrow building among Trzciniec Cultural circle communities. It presents a research thesis that explains the mechanisms of the trans-cultural and “timeless” impact of “Corded” mounds, which formed part of the cultural landscape of east-central European uplands in the 2nd millennium BC. The barrows of both cultures certainly combined several functions. They were burial grounds not only where ancestors lay, but also boundary markers defining the familiar area. “Corded Ware” monuments and their arrangements were a source of inspiration and imitation for “Trzciniec” arrivals. The revival of kurgan building by these newcomers and their use of earthen mounds as instruments for asserting their rights to a specific territory, can be viewed a sort of “posthumous heritage” left behind by Corded Ware communities.

Site of Corded Ware Culture in Kavske, Sub-Carpathian Region: Change of Interpretation

2025-12-30T00:29:52+00:00

The article is devoted to two barrows of the Corded Ware Culture (CWC). Mounds I–II in Kavske in the Sub-Carpathian region (Ukraine), have until now been interpreted as the remains of a settlement of this culture. As a result of the analysis of the source base (archival materials and the museum collection), it was established that the CWC material in these mounds is represented by a small group of artefacts. On this basis, the interpretation of the mounds as the remains of a CWC settlement was refuted, instead, they were defined as burial places of the CWC. The planigraphy of the features and, where possible, movable material, is presented. The vast majority of the finds belong to the Funnel Beaker Culture (FBC), and it is clear that the barrow burial ground was founded on the remains of a FBC settlement (individual Mesolithic artefacts were also discovered). Imports of the Trypillia Culture were distinguished from the complex of FBC ceramic vessels. We date the construction of Barrows I–II of the CWC no earlier than the middle of the 3rd millennium BC and note a strong similarity of the ceramic material to the vessels of the Middle Dnipro Culture.

Collective Flint Deposits in Graves of the Corded Ware Culture: Examples from the Sandomierz Upland, Lesser Poland

2025-12-30T00:09:08+00:00

The subject of this article is to present a special type of collective finds, namely compact deposits of flint artefacts in the graves belonging to the Corded Ware culture, to the Kraków-Sandomierz group. Grave deposits from two cemeteries: Kichary Nowe and Wilczyce, situated in the Sandomierz Upland and located in the Opatówka-river valley serve as an example. The authors propose a new perspective on issues related to the placement of such deposits in human graves, hoping that this will contribute to a broader discussion on the meaning and function of finds of this kind in the socio-cultural context of Late Neolithic communities, with particular emphasis on their role in funeral rites.

In memoriam Wojciech Piotrowski (1952–2024) – researcher of Biskupin and “wet archaeology” from Poland

2025-12-29T22:30:20+00:00

Wojciech Piotrowski was born on 25 October 1952 in Warsaw, in the first decade after World War II, when the city was recovering from the ruins. From 1955, he lived with his parents in Zielona Góra (until 1945, the German town of Grünberg), near Poland's new western border. There, he began his primary school education. He read extensively from his school years onwards. Archaeology was popular at the time, and historical themes relating to the Middle Ages were common in novels and in belles-lettres more generally. The year 1966 marked the 1000^th anniversary of the baptism of the Polish prince Mieszko I. For the Roman Catholic Church, which then played an important role in the country, it was the millennial anniversary of Christianity in Poland, and for the political authorities controlled by the Soviet Union, which did not see eye to eye with the Church, it was the millennial anniversary of the state. With the creation of the new Polish People's Republic (PRL – officially since 1952, the 'dictatorship of the proletariat'), the country saw a return to the borders of the times of Mieszko I and his son, King Bolesław Chrobry 'the Brave' of the Piast dynasty (who reigned from 992 to 1025).

The International Symposium: 12th International Conference of the UISPP Commission on Flint Mining in Pre- and Protohistoric Times: Excavating in the Land of the Devil: Past and Current Research on Prehistoric Flint Mines, Worthing (West Sussex), 6–8 May 2025

2025-12-29T22:30:05+00:00

On 6–8 May 2025 took place the 12th International Conference of the UISPP Commission on Flint Mining in Pre- and Protohistoric Times titled “Excavating in the Land of the Devil: Past and Current Research on Prehistoric Flint Mines” (see Werra ed. 2025). It was organised by the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IAE PAN), Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, English Heritage, and the UISPP Commission on Flint Mining in Pre- and Protohistoric Times. The conference was hosted jointly by Worthing Museum and Art Gallery (West Sussex) and English Heritage Grime’s Graves and the Grime’s Graves Visitors Centre (Norfolk, East of England). The symposium was organised at the initiative of Dagmara H. Werra (IAE PAN), Jon Bączkowski (University of Southampton), and Anne Teather (Past Participate / Bournemouth University).

Editorial

2025-12-30T01:30:16+00:00

In the late 19th century, German researchers Friedrich Klopfleisch and, later, Alfred Götze identified a set of archaeological sources they called “schnurkeramische Kultur” (Corded Ware culture). By the turn of the 20th century, this concept had become widespread in many European countries, effectively defining the phenomenon of cultural unification across a vast area in the 3rd millennium BC. In the first decades of the 20th century, Corded Ware finds inspired the development of studies on European prehistory, transcending local geographical and cultural boundaries. They played a key role in the ethnicising concepts of Gustaf Kossinna’s “Siedlugsarchäologie”, as well as in the formulation of the first ideas of interregional scope, presented by Vere Gordon Childe, concerning the key role of steppe migrations in the cultural and demographic changes in European prehistory. It was probably the methods of “Siedlugsarchäologie” that decisively influenced Corded Ware researchers’ commitment to in-depth typological studies characterising individual regions.