The Linear PoTTery cuLTure seTTLemenT in The uPLand zone beTween The VisTuLa and bug riVers – currenT sTaTe and PersPecTiVes of research

Szeliga M. 2021. The Linear Pottery culture settlement in the upland zone between the Vistula and Bug Rivers – current state and perspectives of research. Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 73/1, 57-100. There are 171 sites known from the interfluvial of the Vistula and Bug Rivers that attest to settling it between the Gniechowice and early Želiezovce phases of the Linear Pottery culture (LBK). The earliest finds concentrate only in the south-eastern part of this area, mainly in the Hrubieszów Basin. The intensification of settlement occurred in the music-note phase, along with the colonisation of the whole Lublin region and the emergence of the settlement oecumene proper. It mainly encompassed the loess zones and was a network of clusters located along small and medium rivers. Their development is corroborated, e.g., by traces of far-reaching, multidirectional contacts. The current state of research limits the scope of interpretations concerning the development of individual settlement clusters (especially the chronology and scope of the development of the LBK and the character and scale of colonisation and economic activity). Field research needs to be intensified to obtain new archaeological and environmental data on particular microregions.


IntroductIon
Although the first pieces of information on the LBK finds from the Lublin region were published over sixty years ago (Podkowińska 1959, 38;1960, 75), the question of LBK settlement across the upland interfluvial zone of the Vistula and Bug Rivers unfortunately remains problematic and unresolved. On one hand, this state of affairs results from the fact that only a small percentage of the sources have been published (this notably concerns the most numerous inventories yielded by excavation works). On the other, it has been effected by the slow pace of obtaining new sources (with a clear quantitative disproportion between the materials gained through surface survey and those that come from archaeological digs, where the former are clearly more numerous). These obstacles are important reasons why only one comprehensive study on the LBK finds from the entire Lublin region has been published so far, which was issued in the second half of the 1980s (Brzozowski 1988). That publication remains the only source that presents the territorial dispersion of LBK finds over the entirety of the upland areas spreading between the Vistula and Bug Rivers. All subsequent publications have focused exclusively on the south-eastern (Zakościelna 2007b, fig. 1) or southern (Czekaj-Zastawny 2008, 231-235, map 4) parts of this vast territory.
The intensification of excavation works conducted during the last ten years and more, and the considerable number of new sources obtained as a result, necessitate an update and a summary of the current state of research on LBK settlement across the Lublin region. It appears that despite the still unsatisfactory degree to which the source material has been presented in publications, the above-mentioned conditions provide new perspectives for investigating the character and intensity of LBK settlement, as well as the stylistic development of this culture in the discussed territory. At the same time, this leads us to reflect on the potential of the available corpus of sources and its utility in future research. The above-mentioned issues, together with the presentation of the updated corpus of sources, are the main subjects of this paper.

AreA of Study
The analysed territory is located within the historic Lublin region and encompasses the boundary between the belt of uplands and lowlands, which spreads from the middle Vistula Valley in the west to the Bug Valley in the east, and from the Sandomierz Basin in the south to the valleys of the lower Wieprz, Tyśmienica and Włodawka Rivers in the north ( Fig. 1:  1-2). The southern and central parts of this vast zone are composed of geographically dominant loess areas, which have a strictly upland character, and which belong to the northeastern territory of the belt of Polish Uplands. Their characteristic features are considerable morphogenetic and hypsometric diversity, as well as the presence of a fertile soil cover fig. 1. Arrangement of LBK settlements across the Lublin region: 1 -location of the discussed territory; 2 -dispersion of the excavated sites (a) and of those discovered during surface survey (b) (map based on Gawrysiak 2004, dispersion of the sites after Brzozowski 1988, fig. 1;Zakościelna 2007, fig. 1; czekaj-Zastawny 2008, map 4, with additions); 3 -physical-geographical regionalisation of the Lublin region: 1 -Wieprz Ice-Marginal Valley; 2 -Sosnowica depression; 3 -Włodawa Heights; 4 -Lubartów Heights; 5 -Łęczna-Włodawa Lakeland; 6 -nałęczów Plateau; 7 -Świdnik Plateau; 8 -dorohucza depression; 9 -chełm Hills; 10 -dubienka depression; 11 -Middle Bug river Valley; 12 -Małopolska Gap of the Vistula river; 13 -chodel depression; 14 -Bełżyce Plateau; 15 -Giełczew Hills; 16 -Grabowiec Interfluve; 17 -Horodło ridge; 18 -urzędów Heights; 19 -Western roztocze; 20 -Zamość Basin; 21 -Hrubieszów Basin; 22 -Middle roztocze; 23 -Sokal ridge; 24 -Bełz Plain; 25 -eastern roztocze (after Solon et al. 2018) developed on the loess substratum. The northern foreland of the upland area is of a transitional upland-lowland character, with a gentle, rolling or hilly landform. These areas are characterised by slight differences in elevation and a more complex hydrographic network with a much less fertile soil cover, developed mainly on the sandy-clay glacigenic substratum (e.g., Michalczyk and Wilgat 2008, fig. 1; Turski et al. 2008, 259-264).
The geomorphological diversity of the territories encompassed by the discussed zone is reflected by their classification in several macro-regional units. They are, above all, the entire Lublin Upland with the Roztocze, as well as the western parts of the Volhynian Upland and of the Pobuże Basin and, to a much lesser degree, the southern areas of Volhynian Polesia, Western Polesia, and the Southern Podlasie Lowland (Kondracki 2002;Solon et al. 2018, fig. 2). Together, they make an extremely diverse landscape mosaic composed of numerous depressions, elevations and plains that are considerably elevated and have a rich ecosystem diversity. This variety, which is, on one hand, combined with high soil quality (this especially applies to the upland loess area) and with preferable hydrographic conditions, and, on the other, with the presence of numerous and various groups of flora and fauna, undoubtedly contributed to the considerable value of the discussed zone in the eyes of the prehistoric settlers, even in the earliest phase of the Neolithic.

SHort HIStory of PreVIouS reSeArcH
In the middle of the 1960s, only 12 LBK sites from the Lublin region were known. They are located in its eastern part, that is, between the Wieprz and Bug Rivers (Gurba 1961, fig. 4). Seven of them were identified during excavation works, which, in most cases, led to discovering a somewhat small number of settlement features (Gródek 6, Werbkowice-Kotorów I; cf. Liana and Piętka-Dąbrowska 1962, 147-155;Dąbrowska and Liana 1963, 45-47;Uzarowiczowa 1964, 436-439), or to finding more or less numerous diagnostic sets of artefacts found on the secondary deposit (Strzyżów 1 and 2; Werbkowice-Kotorów II; cf. Podkowińka 1960, 46, 71, tabl. I: 1;Dąbrowska, Liana 1963, 55;Głosik and Gurba 1963, 361). At the same time, the stylistic diversity of the pottery attested to its association with both the pre-music-note and music-note phases of the LBK (Uzarowiczowa 1964, fig. 3, 8;Liana and Piętka-Dąbrowska 1962, tabl. XXXIII: 3, 5, 12, 13). Furthermore, the cremation grave, as well as a small set of pottery discovered at site 2 in Gródek were associated with the earliest (Gniechowice) phase of the discussed archaeological culture (Kempisty 1962, fig. 1-2). The richest inventory discovered at that time was obtained during rescue research at the settlement of Tarnoszyn, site 1, which is dated to the music-note phase (Gurba 1961, 212, fig. 1;1970, 177, fig. 2). This collection, despite being comprehensively analysed (Chorostowska 1966), has never been fully published. The only exceptions are flint materials, whose analysis (Zakościelna 1981, 4-9) remains the most important point of reference for studies on LBK flint-knapping in the Lublin region.
The corpus of sources was significantly enriched in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of an intense surface survey conducted within the framework of the Polish Archaeological Record (Polish: AZP). Excavation works carried out in the western (e.g., Kaliszany 2, Puławy-Włostowice 3, Wąwolnica 1) and eastern (e.g., Hrubieszów-Podgórze 1A, Lipowiec, Podhorce 2, Świerszczów 28, Wieniawka 6) parts of the Lublin region, also yielded new discoveries. The obtained materials are linked with the classical and late LBK phases (cf. Kącki 1982, 4, fig. 1;Kokowski 1985, fig. 1: b;Zakościelna 1988a, 9;1988b, 27, 28). As to the results of the surface survey, a small set of pottery from Sumin, associated with the Zofipole phase, is particularly noteworthy (Brzozowski 1986, 72, tabl. 23: a-d). In total, 76 LBK sites were known at the end of the 1980s. These were the basis of a separate study (Brzozowski 1986), published in a compressed and substantially abridged form (Brzozowski 1988). The great majority of the mentioned finds have not been examined, and are still in need of a thorough analysis, followed by publication.
The last decade of the 20 th century was, above all, a time of new surface discoveries, made especially in the eastern part of the Lublin region (Tab. 1). At that time, only two sites were discovered during excavation research, and data on the LBK finds yielded by them is limited to general pieces of information presented in brief field reports. Four archaeological features and an unspecified collection of artefacts, which were associated with the Zofipole phase, come from the site of Hrubieszów-Podgórze 5 (Niedźwiedź and Panasiewicz 1994, 52, fig. 2). Research at the multicultural site of Łopiennik Dolny 3 resulted in the discovery (in the secondary deposit) of flint and stone artefacts, as well as pottery that comes from the music-note phase of the LBK (Zakościelna and Gurba 1991;1992). A serendipitous discovery of an incomplete vessel (linked with the pre-music-note phase of the LBK) in the escarpment of site 1B from Gródek supplemented the above-mentioned discoveries (Buszewicz 1990, 9, fig. 3: 4). Unfortunately, the subsequent excavation carried out at this site did not yield new Early Neolithic materials (Niedźwiedź 1994). The publication of the results of the zooarchaeological analysis performed on the materials from one of the pits explored at the site of Świerszczów 28 was of great importance for the study of the LBK in the interfluve between the Vistula and Bug Rivers (Nadachowski and Wolsan 1999). So far, this is the only such data concerning the Lublin region.
Particularly important and numerous source materials have been obtained during the last twenty years, especially as a result of rescue excavation research carried out prior to construction works. Without question, the most abundant relics of LBK settlement were discovered at Bogucin 6 site and are represented by 51 features, as well as by several hundreds of pottery fragments and flint artefacts (Tab. 1). The arrangement and character of the discovered features indicate that the settlement included at least four longhouses, whereas the pottery represents the styles of the classical and late music-note phases, as well as of the early Želiezovce phase (Gawryjołek- Szeliga and Szeliga 2012, 71-73). Other, much less numerous sets were also found at Hrubieszów-Podgórze 5 and Świerszczów 3 during research conducted prior to the construction of the bypass going around Hrubieszów.
Both sites yielded only sparse LBK features (associated with the construction and use of single residential structures of the longhouse type) and inventories of flint and ceramic artefacts. In the former case, they are associated with the classical and late music-note phases (Gawryjołek- Szeliga et al. 2013, 48-49), whereas those from the latter one come from phase Ia of the LBK (Szeliga and Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2021). Single features containing numerous artefacts from the music-note phase were analysed during archaeologically supervised works at the sites of Hrubieszów-Kolonia Sławęcin 12 (Szeliga et al. 2017, 8) and Leopoldów 5 (Jączek and Kubera 2018, 7). A considerable collection of pottery linked with the music-note phase of the LBK was also discovered during excavation works conducted at the multicultural site of Horodysko 3. Unfortunately, all the mentioned finds were discovered in the secondary deposit (Bronicki 2016, 33-35). Independently of this accumulation of new discoveries, attempts to analyse earlier finds of the LBK from the Lublin region have been also initiated during the last 20 years. So far, the materials from Świerszczów 28 (Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2009) and Puławy-Włostowice 3 (Szeliga 2018) have been researched. The analyses of the rest are at an advanced stage of realisation.

current Source dAtABASe
According to the current state of research, there are at least 171 known sites linked with the LBK. The totality of the finds, presented in Fig. 1 and Tab. 1, were associated with this chronological and cultural horizon based on data published in earlier archaeological literature, as well as in the AZP documentation. Unfortunately, limitations caused by the Covid-19 pandemic made it impossible to complete the AZP surface survey at the time of preparation of this publication, thus the presented list certainly should be considered incomplete, and therefore only provisional.
The known sites are very diverse in terms of the numbers and characters of archaeological sources. The most abundant group are surface finds (147 sites, 85.96%), primarily represented by scarce or even single pottery sherds and only occasionally by larger groups of even more than 40 specimens (Tab. 1). The chronological and cultural identification of the pottery was based on its technological and stylistic features (presence of incised ornaments), but employing these criteria only occasionally made it possible to precisely classify the finds according to the internal LBK periodisation. Sporadically, non-pottery finds, usually diagnostic stone or obsidian artefacts, were associated with this horizon, whereas flint products were linked with it even less frequently (Tab. 1).
The excavated sites constitute only 14.04% of the entire corpus of sources (24 sites; Tab. 1). They are also very diverse in regard to the numbers and types of finds, encompassing inventories ranging froma few to several hundred specimens, mainly pottery sherds. Unfortunately, the small degree to which particular sites were researched and to which the obtained data was published often makes it impossible to precisely determine the quanti-tative and qualitative structures of these discoveries. Nearly all the excavated sites represent the remains of settlement and economic activities conducted by the LBK people, and sometimes include the remnants of residential structures of the longhouse type (at least at four sites; Bogucin 6, Hrubieszów-Podgórze 5, Puławy-Włostowice 3 and Świerszczów 3). It should be stressed that features were discovered at only 11 explored sites (Tab. 1). The rest of them only yielded different numbers of materials found either in the secondary deposit, within the non-feature layers and/or in the fills of younger features. This makes it difficult to correctly assess the scale and scope of human activity at particular sites and, as a result, to properly classify them. So far, we know only one funerary feature (cremation grave) located at the site of Gródek 2 (Kempisty 1962), but its cultural and functional identification has occasionally been questioned (Czekaj-Zastawny 2009, 36, fig. 8). Most probably, the damaged skeletal grave discovered at the site of Werbkowice-Kotorów I should be also linked with the LBK, which is indicated by the fact that it yielded a pendant made of a Spondylus shell (Kurzawska and Sobkowiak-Tabaka 2020, 66, fig. 4B).

terrItorIAL dIStrIButIon of tHe SIteS
The territorial distribution of the finds indicates that there were at least several clusters of LBK settlements in the Lublin region (mainly located across the loess uplands), which were closely related to the regional hydrographic network. The vast majority of these sites are located in the south-eastern area of the discussed region, which is part of the western Volhynian Upland. They concentrate in the zone of black and brown soils that spread along the middle and lower Huczwa River and the adjacent left-bank section of the Bug, from the valley of the Bukowa River in the south to Horodło in the north ( Fig. 1: 2). There are 63 sites located across these territories (constituting ca. 37% of the total number of LBK sites from the upland area of the interfluve between the Vistula and Bug Rivers), which are primarily parts of the Hrubieszów Basin, the Horodło Ridge and, to a much lesser extent, the Sokal Ridge ( Fig. 1: 3). They are also the areas with the greatest number of excavated sites. The south-easternmost group of ten sites, located along the valleys of the Szyszła and Solokiya Rivers, and within the Bełz Plain (which is the western part of the Pobuże Basin) ( Fig. 1: 2), is an addition to the settlement cluster of the Western Volhynian Upland.
The LBK sites from other areas of the interfluve spreading between Vistula and Bug Rivers are much more scattered. Their great majority are grouped in more than ten clusters of various sizes that are separated by vast zones yielding no materials (settlement voids?). The locations of these potential settlement microregions were strictly linked with the layouts and orientations of the local watercourses ( Fig. 1: 2). The largest of them, containing from six to over ten settlements, are located on the Nałęczów Plateau (by the lower and middle Bystra river), in the Urzędów Heights (upper Wyżnianka), the Dorohucza Depression (middle and lower section of the Wieprz valley, near the mouth of the Łopa), near the Graboviec Interfluve (upper part of the Wełnianka and the Wojsławka with the Horodyszcze stream) and in the Zamość Depression (lower and middle section of the Czarny Potok stream valley near the mouth of the Łabuńka river and the upper part of the Wieprz near the mouth of the Stara Gorajka) ( Fig. 1: 2-3). Slightly smaller clusters, encompassing from three to five sites, are located in the Middle (upper Wieprz) and Western Roztocze (valley of the Biała Łada River), as well as in the Chodel Basin, the eastern part of the Nałęczów Plateau (valley of the Ciemięga river) and on the Świdnik Plateau (mouth of the Giełczewka to the Wieprz). The rest of the LBK sites from the discussed region are widely dispersed, usually occurring individually and at considerable distances from each other and from the aforementioned settlement clusters. They are probably the remains of occasional economic expeditions to the territories located outside the main LBK settlement oecumene, within the loess uplands and sandy-clay zones of their northern foreland ( Fig. 1: 2).
Despite the previously mentioned incompleteness of the corpus of sources, the territorial distribution of the sites across the upland part of the interfluve between the Vistula and Bug Rivers precisely corresponds to the previous findings on the general settlement preferences of the LBK societies in other, much better researched upland areas. This phenomenon is indicated by the fact that the vast majority of the analysed sites occupy territories with good quality soils formed on the loess substratum, and by the occurrences of settlement clusters on hillsides and high valley terraces of small and medium watercourses that flow to the Vistula, Wieprz, and Bug ( Fig. 1: 2). Undoubtedly, such tendencies were among the most important factors influencing the organisation and structure of the LBK settlement network in the Lublin region (Brzozowski 1988, 6-7). They have close analogies in the territory of the upper Vistula drainage basin (Kruk 1973, 46-48, 72-74;Kruk et al. 1996, 41-48;Czekaj-Zastawny 2008, 98-104, 111-112) and across other European territories (e.g., Modderman 1959, 3-6;Sielmann 1971, 80-124;Končelová 2012, 191-196).

StyLIStIc dIVerSIty of tHe Pottery And tHe LocAL
PerIodISAtIon of tHe LBK Generally, the diversity of the pottery from the upland interfluve spreading between the Vistula and Bug Rivers reflects the full scope of the stylistic development of the LBK recorded in south-eastern Poland, from the pre-music-note phase to the latest stage linked with the spread of the Želiezovce decoration style (e.g. Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa 1979, 51-65;Czekaj-Zastawny 2008, 16-18). The least numerous, and at the same time the most enigmatic materials are linked with the early phase of the LBK (Fig. 2). So far, only six sites have yielded them. They are located exclusively in the eastern part of the Lublin region, especially in the Hrubieszów Basin (Szeliga and Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2021, fig. 11). These finds are a diverse group, found in only a few features having either a settlement character (Gródek 6, Hrubieszów-Podgórze 5, Świerszczów 3; cf. Uzarowiczowa 1964, 450-452, fig. 3;  fig. 1-2). However, this group of finds also includes quantitatively diversified pottery inventories (Sumin 1; Szeliga and Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2021, fig. 12: 16-19) or even single vessels (Gródek 1B; Buszewicz 1990, fig. 3: 4) that were not found in features, and thus have no archaeological contexts. The scope of the formal and stylistic diversity of the mentioned materials corroborates their association with the Gniechowice (Ia) and especially with the Zofipole (Ib) phases of the LBK across the territories located north of the Carpathians (cf. Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa 1968, 61-67;1979, 48-51;. This fact allows us to associate the beginning of the LBK colonisation of the Lublin region with the culture's earliest phase, which indicates a certain intensification of the settlement process with the younger stage of the pre-music-note phase. At the same time, the territorial dispersion of thus classified finds allows us to narrow down the area of the earliest agricultural colonisation exclusively to the eastern part of the discussed region (more precisely to the Hrubieszów Basin and in the Middle Roztocze). This entails a discussion on the potential migration routes of the LBK settlers to these territories, as well as on the territories from which they migrated, taking into account the possibility that these societies arrived directly from Volhynia (cf. Szeliga and Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2021).
The main colonisation of the interfluve between the Vistula and Bug rivers occurred during the music-note phase of the LBK, with which the absolute greatest number of finds (including those obtained through excavation) is associated (Tab. 1). The territorial range of thus classified materials encompasses the entire territory to which this paper is devoted, and the presence of diagnostic pottery materials was confirmed in nearly all of the regional settlement clusters. Undoubtedly, the greatest numbers of finds come from excavation works conducted in the western (Puławy-Włostowice 3, Bogucin 6), central (Leopoldów 5, Łopiennik Dolny 3) and eastern (e.g., Horodysko 13, Świerszczów 28, Hrubieszów 5, Hrubieszów-Kolonia Sławęcin 12, Tarnoszyn 1) parts of the analysed region (Tab. 1). The styles of the numerous pottery inventories discovered at the above-mentioned sites are generally not extremely diverse, and are limited to decorative motifs, especially characteristic of the classical (NII) and late (NIII) stages of the music-note phase (Fig. 3). Particular inventories contain various proportions and quantities of such materials, attesting to the existence of certain territorial arrangements. The clear predominance of the late musicnote motifs, including characteristic oblong or tear-shaped grooves (cf. Pavúk 1969, 271-273;Kadrow 1990, 62) has been recorded so far mainly at the sites located in the western part of the Lublin region (Bogucin 6, Puławy-Włostowiece 3; see Gawryjołek- Szeliga and Szeliga 2012, 73;Szeliga 2018, 189). In the inventories from the eastern zone of this territory, they were only an insignificant addition to the much more numerous classical musicnote materials (see Zakościelna 2007b, 40;Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2009, 62;Gawryjołek-Szeliga et al. 2013, 48-49;Bronicki 2016, 42). It appears that these differences are important when considering the chronology, character and dynamics of the LBK stylistic development in the discussed area. The youngest and a somewhat small group of finds is comprised of materials made in the Želiezovce style. Until recently, they were only known from the site of Podhorce 2 and were represented by a modest collection of pottery sherds decorated with patterns that refer to the style of the early Želiezovce phase (Fig. 4: 11, 12). This set was discovered, along with pottery from the music-note phase, during the exploration of non-feature layers (Kącki 1982, 4, fig. 1). A much more numerous group of pottery materials was yielded by the recent rescue research at the site of Bogucin 6, located in the eastern part of the Nałęczów Plateau ( Fig. 1: 2). Among the LBK pottery discovered at the mentioned site, the most numerous group was ornamented in the early-Želiezovce style (Gawryjołek- Szeliga and Szeliga 2012, 71). This identification was particularly based on the presence of pseudonotches impressed on one of more incised lines (Fig. 4: 5,7,8,10) or located between two parallel lines, forming straight, angular or s-shaped ornamental patterns ( Fig. 4: 3, 4, 6, 9). Analogous pseudo-notches were also recorded on single vessel sherds from Puławy-Włostowice 3 ( Fig. 4: 1, 2). Their presence, as well as their co-occurrences with tear-shaped music-note grooves in both mentioned inventories (sometimes on the same vessel; see Fig.  4: 3) is very characteristic of the early-Želiezovce decorative style (Pavúk 1969, Abb. 13-16;Kadrow 1990, 62, fig. 8;Dębiec 2015, 41-47).
The small number of the early Želiezovce sets and the fact that they always contain pottery ornamented in the late music-note style makes it impossible to distinguish the Želiezovce phase as a completely separate (in respect of its style and chronology) stage of LBK development in the Lublin region. It seems that what is observed in the youngest inventories only reflects the geographically limited adaptation of the early-Želiezovce decorative patterns in the environment of the LBK late-music-note ornamental traditions. This adaptation, discernible especially in the western part of the Lublin region (Puławy-Włostowice 3, Bogucin 6), is a reflection of more general cultural changes initiated in the northern and north-eastern foreland of the Carpathians during the classical phase of the LBK. These changes were a result of the gradual weakening and, as a consequence, complete reduction of the influence exercised by the previously influential centre located in south-western Slovakia. In the discussed territories, this phenomenon was manifest by the termination of the stylistic and typological development of the pottery (Kozłowski 1985, 69). In general terms, these processes, as often mentioned in archaeological literature, generally occurred in stages, first in the drainage basin of the Dniester River and in Volhynia, and somewhat later in the upper Vistula basin (Kadrow and Zakościelna 2000, 190-191, fig. 2, 3; Zakościelna 2007a, 290). The above-mentioned phenomena are reflected by clear differences between the stylistic diversities of inventories from the eastern and western parts of the Lublin region, which attests to the stagnation of two distinct ornamental traditions (the Želiezovce style in the west and the music-note style in the east), lasting until the end of the development of the LBK. The verification of this concept undoubtedly requires further research, which includes obtaining new inventories from various parts of the discussed region.

cHronoLoGIcAL frAMeS of LBK SettLeMent
At present, there are no valid radiocarbon dates of the LBK features from the vast upland territory of the interfluve spreading between the Vistula and Bug Rivers. So far, sporadic attempts to obtain such dates yielded results exceeding the time frame of the discussed culture (Szeliga and Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2021). The only exception is the 14 C date of charcoal most probably from the secondary deposit in the feature of the Lublin-Volhynian culture at Bogucin 6. The date indicates a range of 5170-5075 BC (68.2%) and undoubtedly refers to the time when the site was settled by the LBK communities (Gawryjołek- Szeliga and Szeliga 2012, 72).
The lack of radiocarbon dates makes it currently impossible to precisely establish the time frame of the LBK development in the Lublin region. Nevertheless, the temporal ranges obtained at sites from the drainage basin of the upper Vistula and from Volhynia (cf. Dębiec and Dzbyński 2007, 56-58; Kotova et al. 2007, 415, tab fig. 6) allow us to infer that the first LBK societies appeared as early as between 5400 and 5300 BC (cf. Jakucs et al. 2016, fig. 24), whereas the decline of the culture occurred c. 4900-4800 BC at the latest. The necessity to verify and specify this general and conventional time frame is without a doubt one of the most important objectives of future research.

rAW MAterIAL MAnAGeMent And fLInt ProceSSInG
Although the available corpus of sources has increased in size during the last dozen years or so, the general findings concerning raw material management among the earliest agricultural societies from the Lublin region made in the 1980s (Zakościelna 1981, 3-9;Balcer 1983, 56-58;Caspar et al. 1989, 171, 172) are generally still valid. The available data indicates the clear zonality of the supply of raw materials to the LBK communities inhabiting the interfluve between the Vistula and Bug Rivers, in which its western part was provisioned with raw materials from the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains) and the east was associated with Volhynia and Podolia.
As to the settlement clusters located by the Huczwa, Solokiya and Bug Rivers, the Cretaceous Volhynian flints yielded by rich outcrops located in the midwestern part of the Volhynian-Podolian Plate were of the greatest economic importance throughout the history of the LBK. Their predominance is indicated by the modest inventory from Świerszczów 3, linked with the pre-music-note phase (Szeliga and Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2021), and by much more numerous sets, associated with the music-note phase, from Tarnoszyn (Zakościelna 1981, tab. 1), Hrubieszów 5 (Gawryjołek et al. 2013, 46) and Świerszczów 28 (Gawryjołek- Szeliga 2009, 63, 64). The share of Volhynian flint in the aforementioned inventories exceeded 80% in each case, often representing the totality of the LBK finds (Gawryjołek et al. 2013, 46;Szeliga and Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2021). The minimal percentages of other raw materials, including erratic flint, as well as Świeciechów and Chocolate flint (Zakościelna 1981, tab. 1;Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2009, 63, 64) attest to their negligible role in local raw material processing.
Contrary to the inventories from the eastern part of the Lublin region, those from the west (Puławy-Włostowice 3, Bogucin 6) are composed of considerably more diverse raw materials and demonstrate a greater variation in their share within particular sets. Their compositions clearly corroborate the predominance of flint from the north-eastern edge of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Świeciechów and Chocolate flint) and the smaller, or even minimal, economic importance of other siliceous raw materials (Zakościelna 1981, tab. 1;2002, fig. 1;Gawryjołek-Szeliga and Szeliga 2012, 61, 62). The fact that most of the flint materials from Puławy-Włostowice were found outside archaeological features makes it impossible to distinguish all artefacts associated with the early Neolithic settlement horizon (see Szeliga 2018, 189). This, in turn, raises doubts as to the frequencies of certain raw materials, especially the considerable, and at the same different, shares of Chocolate and Volhynian flint (see Zakościelna 1981, tab. 1;2002, fig. 1;Balcer 1983, tab. 4). Nevertheless, these reservations do not influence the assessment of the general raw material preferences observed among the local LBK communities, which usually processed flint from the Świętokrzyskie Mountains and probably played a considerable role in the redistribution of this material to remote territories (Szeliga 2014, fig. 2, 8;2018, 191, 192). The rest of the raw materials included in the inventories from Puławy-Włostowice and Bogucin were of much lesser (minimal or even negligible) importance. This mainly applies to materials from the most distant areas (i.e. Volhynian and Cracow-Jurassic flint), represented by only a few or even single products. Their occurrences in the western part of the Lublin region and the sporadic discoveries of products made of flint from the Świętokrzyskie mountains in its eastern area (e.g. Świerszczów 28; cf. Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2009, 64) reflect, above all, intense contacts (of a certainly non-economic character) between particular LBK settlement clusters. They also attest to the active role of the local communities in the general system of long-range distribution and raw material exchange, functioning since the music-note phase across vast areas on both sides of the Carpathians (e.g. Kaczanowska 1985, Karte 3;Lech 1979, 130, 131, fig. 1; 2003, fig. 1; Mateiciucová 2008, 142-144).
The situation in the central zone of the analysed area, including the settlement clusters concentrated along the middle Wieprz and its tributaries, is the most unclear. The small number of materials obtained during excavation research and especially the lack of inventories from archaeological features (Łopiennik, Horodysko; cf. Zakościelna and Gurba 1991, 13;1992, 3;Bronicki 2016, 35), or their modest character (Leopoldów; see Jączek and Kubera 2018, 7), seriously hinder the accurate identification of the actual raw material preferences displayed by the local LBK societies. The locations of these territories and data obtained from other zones of the Lublin region allow us only to assume that the raw material structures of the local inventories were heterogeneous and that the share of flint from the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (especially Świeciechów flint) and Volhynia was considerable. The actual importance and scope of local erratic flint processing (which includes the so-called Rejowiec flint, having a considerably good quality and whose numerous and rich outcrops occur across the great part of the Chełm Hills) remains an open question (Libera et al. 2014, fig. 1). The current state of research allows us to infer that this raw material was intensively used in the nearest vicinity of the aforementioned outcrops, especially in the settlement clusters of the LBK from the northern part of the Grabowiec Interfluve ( Fig. 1: 2). It appears that the results of an analysis performed on flint materials from the site of Horodysko 13 indirectly corroborate this assumption (Libera 2016, 78-94). Unfortunately, the complete absence of LBK materials yielded by features at that site makes it impossible to accurately assess the economic importance of this raw material during the early stage of the Neolithic, but it must have been considerable.
The small number of materials from features (Tab. 1), and the insufficient degree to which they were researched, allows us only to tentatively and generally discuss LBK flint knapping in the Lublin region. The discussion includes only basic information on core exploitation and the production of half-products and tools, which was provided by the available inventories. At the current state of research, this data does not demonstrate any substantial regional differences and corresponds to production trends observed across other territories of LBK settlement. The adequate assessment of these observations will be made possible by comprehensive analyses performed on inventories obtained during earlier research and especially by obtaining new, homogenous sets representative of particular settlement clusters.
In light of the available corpus of sources, we can state that the general trend of flint processing was oriented towards the production of regular blades that usually were not longer than 10 cm. At the same time, the prevailing share of blade segments recorded in particular sets, with a small number of whole specimens (Zakościelna 1981, 8;Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2009, 65;Gawryjołek-Szeliga and Szeliga 2012, 64), indicates that the intentional breaking of blades -in order to make them more slender and to reduce their curvaturewas a common phenomenon (e.g. Kaczanowska 1971, 11;Dzieduszycka-Machnikowa and Lech 1976, 88, 89;1979, 128;1983, 12). Flint half-products were obtained from singleplatform cores that, in the initial stage of their exploitation, had narrow striking surfaces (located on the thin side of the nodule and oriented at an acute angle to the striking platform). This characteristic precisely corresponds to the morphological features of the Świeciechów flint pre-core forms discovered in Puławy-Włostowice (Zakościelna 2002, 112-116, fig. 3, 4;Szeliga 2018, 190, 191, fig. 10, tabl. XIII-XVII). Core processing was focused on obtaining blades, which is attested by various repair marks (especially those made to correct the core angle and to change the core orientation) recorded in particular inventories (Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2009, 65;Gawryjołek-Szeliga and Szeliga 2012, 65). In the final stage of exploitation, blade cores were most often transformed into forms used to obtain flakes or were used as hammerstones (cf. Szeliga 2018, tabl. XVIII: 1). Blades and flakes were transformed into tools according to general tendencies of LBK tool production. This fact is indicated by the scope of the technological diversity of tool forms and by the frequencies of particular tool types within given inventories, which do not considerably differ from what can be said about inventories discovered across other territories settled by LBK communities. The decidedly most numerous find categories are end-scrapers, retouched blades and flakes (with much lower, often minimal numbers of other tools such as truncations, borers, burins and blades with retouched edges) (cf. Zakościelna 1981, 9;Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2009, 66;Gawryjołek-Szeliga and Szeliga 2012, fig. 18;Gawryjołek-Szeliga et al. 2013, 46;Szeliga and Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2021).

econoMIc BASeS
The character and scope of economic activity are among the most poorly understood aspects of LBK colonisation of the Lublin region. This is a result of the insufficient degree to which the source materials were researched and especially from the small number of publications presenting previous specialist examinations, which were limited to zooarchaeological analyses. In light of the current state of research, animal osteological materials were obtained from six sites linked with the earliest (Hrubieszów-Podgórze 5, Świerszczów 3) and the younger phases (Hrubieszów-Kolonia Sławęcin 12, Hrubieszów-Podgórze 5, Świerszczów 28, Tarnoszyn 1, Werbkowice-Kotorów I) of the LBK. They are mainly modest sets of finds encompassing from a few to several dozen specimens (in some cases they are even more numerous) (Tab. 1). The only published results of the previous zooarchaeological analyses concern the vast set of post-consumption remains discovered in pit 6 at the site of Świerszczów 28. Their taxonomic diversity indicates the presence of domesticated (cattle, goat, sheep/goat, pig) and wild animals (roe deer, deer, horse, black grouse, catfish, terrapin, mussels), which attests to the importance of hunting, next to animal husbandry, in the economy of LBK society and, as a result, to the exploitation of diverse ecosystems. Some of the bones bear traces of processing in the form of incisions and burning (Nadachowski and Wolsan 1999, 238). The data obtained in Świerszczów was also supplemented with minimal information on the occurrences of sheep/goat, pig and cattle remains in a small set from Tarnoszyn (Chorostowska 1966, 38;Brzozowski 1986, 146). The majority of the remaining osteological collections have not been analysed, or were examined to a degree that requires verification and complementary research. As to the archaeobotanical data, which has never been subjected to separate analyses in the context of studying LBK settlement in the Lublin region, the situation is even more difficult. In addition to the analysis of recently obtained zooarchaeological materials and the reanalysis of earlier such data, the augmentation of the archaeobotanical data set is a necessary condition to comprehensively characterise the LBK economy in the discussed area.

InterreGIonAL contActS
This question can be discussed only in a general way due to the still modest number of excavated sites, as well as the fact that only a few homogeneous and abundant sets of artefacts have been yielded by archaeological features, and analysis of these has been minimal. In this context, the disproportionate representation of particular regions and settlement clusters, (which is reflected by the fact that the vast majority of the excavated sites are concentrated in the Hrubieszów Basin and the Horodło Ridge, and sporadically occur across the other zones of the Lublin region) is a serious impediment ( Fig. 1: 2). Despite this fact, the general raw material structures of particular inventories clearly attest to the existence of active contacts between the LBK communities inhabiting the south-eastern part of the discussed region and those from its north-western area. This fact is attested by the apparent distribution of Świeciechów and Chocolate flint artefacts to settlement clusters located in the Western Volhynian Upland and by the inflow of Volhynian flint products to settlements occupying the western part of the Lublin region. The communities inhabiting the latter probably also played the leading role in the redistribution of Świeciechów and Volhynian flints to territories located north -that is, to settlement clusters across Kuyavia or even Chełmno Land, where sparse artefacts made of these raw materials occurred at sites representing the classical and late phases of the LBK (e.g. Domańska 1988, 83;2002: 147, 148;Grygiel 2004, tab. XI;Kabaciński 2010, 106, 107, tab. 3, 12;Małecka-Kukawka 2008, tab. 1). This assumption is especially supported by the data yielded by the site of Puławy-Włostowice, including the character of the finds (the deposit of Świeciechów flint pre-core forms), the location of this site ( Fig. 1: 2) and the potential role of the Vistula as a communication artery (cf. Szeliga 2018, 192). This fact is probably also connected with the inflow of obsidian products to the Polish Lowland, which, besides the geographical premises, may be indirectly indicated by the sporadic occurrences of such artefacts across the Lublin region (Tab. 1). An atypical, ladder-shaped ornament (composed of small arched dashes densely arranged on a single incised vertical line) recorded on a thin-walled vessel fragment from Horodysko 13 might be evidence of these mutual contacts and intercultural influences between the LBK societies inhabiting the Lublin region and Kuyavia (Bronicki 2016, fig. 5: 8). This pattern is decidedly different from the local motifs present on LBK vessels and bears a close similarity to the Šárka style (Bronicki 2016, 49) -especially to the methods of adapting it that are known from the Kuyavian sites (cf. e.g., Grygiel 2004, fig. 136: 4;156: 16, 18;Pyzel 2010, fig. 69: 1-5, 9). It is thus possible that the discussed ornament is one of the manifestations of the previously unknown reception of Kuyavian stylistic patterns in the local LBK zone. The discovery of the Šárka pottery set in Rovantsi (Volhynia) may attest to the much greater scale of this phenomenon (Saile et al. 2018, Abb. 5). The discussed question undoubtedly requires further source studies, but the presence of Kuyavian stylistic influences (including the transmission of the Šárka orna-mental traditions) in the ornamentation of the LBK pottery from the Lublin region and Volhynia appears to be highly probable.
Another (unfortunately very modest) group of finds includes pottery that demonstrates close analogies to the style of decoration used in the Transcarpatian Eastern Linear cultural circle. They are known from only two sites associated with the younger phase of the LBK and are represented by three bases of thin-walled bowls from Puławy-Włostowice (Szeliga 2018, tabl. I: 8;IX: 4, 5), as well as by an almost complete vessel discovered at Świerszczów 28 (Zakościelna 1988a, fig. 2: b;Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2009, tabl. X). Their ornaments find numerous and close analogies in the inventories of groups inhabiting the northern part of the Carpathian Basin, including the Kapušany-Tiszadob and Szarvas-Érpart groups and the Bükk culture (cf. Zakościelna 1988a, 9;Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2009, 62;Szeliga 2018, 189). The character of these finds makes it impossible to conclusively determine if they were imports or only local imitations of the Transcarpathian style. Nevertheless, the presence of a music-note ornament on one of the fragments from Puławy-Włostowice (Szeliga 2018, tabl. IX: 5) indicates that at least some of such vessels were locally made. This assumption is corroborated by finds from other highland areas, which include the northern foreland of the Sandomierz Upland (Szeliga and Zakościelna 2019, fig. 4: 2, 4). Irrespective of this fact, the aforementioned pottery materials from the Lublin region, along with the scarce finds of obsidian products (Tab. 1), suggest the existence of intense influences exercised by the Eastern Linear cultural centre on the vast areas of the upper Vistula and Oder drainage basins (especially in the territories of Podkarpacie and Lesser Poland) during the younger phase of the LBK (cf. e.g. Godłowska 1982;Kaczanowska and Godłowska 2009;Kozłowski et al. 2014;Kabaciński et al. 2015;Szeliga and Zakościelna 2019). Their presence at sites located in the interfluve of the Vistula and Bug, just as the sporadic occurrences of Jurassic-Cracow flint artefacts (Puławy-Włostowice; cf. Zakościelna 2002, fig. 1;Szeliga 2018, 192) should be especially linked with the contacts between the local societies and groups inhabiting the above mentioned regions, particularly the LBK clusters from the Rzeszów and Sandomierz regions (cf. Szeliga 2014, fig. 8).

SuMMAry
The range of the available sources clearly confirms the constant and intense colonisation of the upland areas located in the interfluvial zone of the Vistula and Bug Rivers by the LBK communities between the Gniechowice phase and the early stage of the Želiezovce phase. The number and dispersion of the diagnostic finds attest to the ephemeral character and limited range (Hrubieszów Basin, Middle Roztocze) of the discussed settlement during the earliest period (Szeliga and Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2021), as well as to its greatest intensification during the music-note phase, which witnessed the colonisation of the whole analysed region. Unfortunately, the lack of radiocarbon dates makes it impossible, at the moment, to narrow down the chronological framework of the settlement processes and to determine the total time frame of the local LBK development. This problem is essential in the context of the temporal retardation of the classical music-note and late music-note decorative traditions (observed in the materials from the Lublin region), which was, in part, parallel to the geographically limited reception of the early-Želiezovce style.
Similarly to other upland areas, the arrangement of LBK sites across the Lublin region demonstrates the extremely strong connection of the discussed colonisation with the loess zone (cf. e.g. Modderman 1959, 3-6;Sielmann 1972, Abb. 1, 3, 11;Kruk 1973, 72-74;Kruk et al. 1996, 41-48;Lenneis 1982, Karte 4;Czekaj-Zastawny 2008, 96-108). At the same time, the tendency to agglomerate settlements within geographically isolated microregions that usually occupy the high and middle parts of river valleys (especially of small and medium watercourses) is clearly visible. This phenomenon is especially discernable in the central and north-western parts of the Lublin region ( Fig. 1: 2) and, to a much smaller extent, in its south-eastern area, which is characterised by a much greater density of settlements (especially along the valley of the Huczwa River). This microregional structure has close analogies in the organisation and character of the settlement network of the LBK in other territories of the upper Vistula drainage basin (cf. Kruk 1973, 45-48;Czekaj-Zastawny 2008, 111, 112). The scattered character of the sites located outside the loess zone ( Fig. 1: 2) indicates the limited significance of these territories for the settlement of early agricultural societies -they were rather occasionally penetrated for economic reasons. On the other hand, the results of the recent research conducted in the northern foreland of the Sandomierz Upland (cf.   fig. 2; 2020) does not allow us to rule out the possibility that permanent forms of LBK colonisation also existed outside the compact loess cover of the Lublin and Western Volhynian Uplands. This can be indirectly attested by the very location of the Puławy-Włostowice site. This question is one of the most essential issues to be solved during future research.
The development of particular settlement clusters was probably dynamic and based, e.g., on intense contacts between the communities that inhabited them. These contacts are mainly manifested by the distribution of various siliceous raw materials via intermediate exchange (both in the upland interfluve between the Vistula and Bug and across much vaster territories). It appears that a special role in this system was played by the societies inhabiting the north-western part of the Lublin region. They were important consumers of southern materials (Chocolate and Jurassic-Cracow flint, obsidian) imported from the LBK settlement clusters occupying the Sandomierz Upland and Podkarpacie. At the same time, they played the key role in redistributing Świeciechów and Volhynian flint artefacts, as well as obsidian products, to the LBK settlement clusters in Kuyavia. The character of the interregional contacts maintained by the communities inhabiting the Lublin region was undoubtedly not limited to the distribution and exchange of raw material. This is in-dicated by the presence of potential references to the Kuyavian style among the local pottery ornaments. The sporadic occurrences of imports from the Transcarpatian Eastern Linear cultural circle and/or of their imitations also confirm the aforementioned conjecture. Unfortunately, the modest number of diagnostic finds makes it impossible to precisely assess the actual scale and range of these contacts, but their multidirectional and far-reaching character is unquestioned.
The nature and scope of the settlement and economic activities performed by the LBK societies inhabiting particular clusters remain little known. The first reason for this state of affairs is the complete lack of available data, or, where data are available, its small amount and poor representativeness. The second reason is the unsatisfactory degree to which inventories yielded by previous excavation works were researched. As in other territories of the Vistula drainage basin, the settlements consisted of household groups (composed of overground buildings accompanied by construction pits that were secondarily used for economic purposes) (cf. e.g. Czekaj-Zastawny 2008, 38, 39;Pyzel 2010, 201, 202;Dębiec 2014, 67-71). Potential remains of such structures were discovered at only a fewl sites from the Lublin region (Bogucin 6, Hrubieszów-Podgórze 5, Puławy-Włostowice 3, Świerszczów 3; cf. Gawryjołek- Szeliga and Szeliga 2012, 72, 73;Gawryjołek-Szeliga et al. 2013;50;Szeliga and Gawryjołek-Szeliga 2021, fig. 1: 3;Szeliga 2018, 182). So far, both the degree to which they were researched and the state of their preservation make it impossible to reconstruct particular houses and to assess their numbers or spatial arrangement at particular sites. Information concerning the economic activity of the LBK communities, especially agricultural activities and animal husbandry, is very modest and limited. The fact that only a small portion of the zooarchaeological data was published, as well as the complete lack of archaeobotanical analyses, render it impossible to make any interpretations or perform comparative examinations in this field.
Despite the undoubtedly informative potential of the present corpus of sources, many deficiencies and shortcomings significantly limit interpretative possibilities regarding many vital questions on the presence and development of the LBK society in the upland interfluve between the Vistula and Bug Rivers. In the context of future research, it should be stressed that there is a necessity to thoroughly research and publish the present source materials, as well as to conduct new, interdisciplinary excavation works oriented towards augmenting the archaeological and environmental data that would be representative of particular settlement clusters. It appears that this would help us in complementing and verifying the previous observations and in solving numerous problems concerning the chronological and stylistic range of LBK development, as well as the character and scale of the settlement and the economic activity of this population. Thereby, it would be possible to assess the actual role and importance of the Lublin region, and that of the communities inhabiting it, in the general development of the LBK in the drainage basin of the Vistula. Table 1. List of LBK sites from the upland interfluvial zone of the Vistula and Bug rivers. Abbreviation explanations: A -accidental find; S -surface survey; e -excavations; ft -features; G -graves; P -pottery; f -flint; S -stone; o -obsidian; Ab -animal bones. the numeration of the sites is compatible with fig. 1:2