Sprawozdania Archeologiczne

Between Two Worlds: on figurative representations of the Middle Neolithic Stroked Pottery culture

Rebecca Bristow — 2025-12-16

Once characteristic of the Southeastern and, to a lesser extent, Central European Neolithic lifestyle, the use of
clay figurines, figurative vessels and applications took a turn at the start of the Middle Neolithic (5000 BCE). While thousands were still found in Southeastern Europe, their number dropped significantly in large parts of Central Europe. This article focuses on the Stroked Pottery culture, the Samborzec-Malice culture, and the Southeastern Bavarian Middle Neolithic group as an area of transition between a figurative Southeastern Europe and a non-figurative Northwestern Europe. Observing notable changes in both the shapes and contexts of the finds as early as when farmers settled in Central Europe, I argue that the disappearance of the Southeastern clay
tradition was tied to changes within communal practices, as well as a transformation of figuration through a common, stylised motif.

Pots: the key to the type-chronology of the Lublin-Volhynian culture ceramics

Stanisław Wilk — 2025-12-16

The Lublin-Volhynian Culture is the oldest community representing the Early Eneolithic socio-economic model
in Lesser Poland. Together with the Wyciąże-Złotniki group, it has been the subject of a multifaceted analysis as
part of the National Science Centre’s project, ‘Adaptation of Transcarpathian cultural patterns of the Copper Age in Younger Danubian cultures in the Lesser Poland Upland,’ which was carried out between 2018 and 2023. A significant element of this research was a typological and chronological analysis of the ceramics of the Lublin-Volhynian culture. It showed that pots show apparent variability in form and ornamentation over time. The clarification of the absolute chronology of the Lublin-Volhynian culture enabled the separation of a group of graves containing pots, whose chronology was defined by AMS dates. These became the base for a pattern of variation in the forms and decoration of the pots. The resulting pattern corresponds to the general dynamics of development of the discussed unit between c. 4050-3700 BC.

The problem of dating the beginning of the central settlements of the Brześć Kujawski culture. The case of radiocarbon dating of site 3 at Żegotki, Strzelno commune

Kalina Więcaszek — 2025-12-16

One of the most characteristic elements of the Brześć Kujawski culture (4350-4000 cal. BC) were central settlements distinguished by dense development in the form of longhouses and associated graves, a large area (on average 3-6 ha), and a long period of use. A controversial issue is the dating of the beginning of this type of settlement (4600/4500 cal. BC versus 4350 cal. BC) and, consequently, of a given culture.
The article aims to analyse six radiocarbon dates from a previously unpublished central settlement in Żegotki, Strzelno commune (Site 3), excavated in 1995. Each date refers to a separate house, giving a general picture of the settlement chronology within the range of 4300-3980 cal. BC. This finding is consistent with the general BKC dating model (Czerniak et al. 2016) and the dating of the settlement in Osłonki (Budd et al. 2020).

Pattern in diversity; Grime’s Grave and Krzemionki, understanding commonality in flint mining across Europe

Jon Bączkowski — 2025-12-16

Across Europe, in the late 19th century, deep-flint mines dating to the Neolithic period were discovered. Since their discovery, it has been noted that the mines, located many kilometres apart, share common traits. Despite these connections, little research has compared the pan-European mining phenomenon. It is beyond this paper to review the numerous European mines, rather, two sites will be detailed: Krzemionki, southeast Poland, and Grime’s Grave, eastern England. The comparison of these two prehistoric mines, located c. 1500km apart, expands knowledge of a mining methodology likely to have started in the mid-5th millennium BCE and spread
across Europe, becoming associated with large and enduring complexes.

Beakers with corded ornamentation in the Northwestern Pontic (Early Bronze Age)

Svitlana Ivanova — 2025-12-16

Corded ornamentation is known on pottery from various Eneolithic and Bronze Age archaeological cultures in the Northwestern Pontic region. The ornamental patterns vary and are not associated with any particular type of vessel. This article examines beakers decorated with compositions of cord impressions. These have predominantly been found in the burials of the Budzhak/Yamna culture. Their distribution may be related to the influence of different cultural blocks – the northern block, associated with the Corded Ware culture, and the western block, linked to the cultures of the Early Bronze Age in the Balkan and Danube region.

Once again about ‘missing’ cremated skeletal remains. An example of a cemetery in Raczkowice in the context of transformations of funerary rituals of the Przeworsk culture in the Younger and Late Roman Period

Kalina Skóra — 2025-12-16

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the contents of cremation pit graves, urns and pyre sites from the cemetery of the Przeworsk Culture in Raczkowice from an osteological perspective, which is related to the issue of the small number of burnt skeletal remains. The collection was analysed in terms of weight, state of preservation, anatomical differentiation and frequency of different skeletal parts, addressing the question of whether the skeletal remains were selected from the cremation pyre and what proportion of them was deposited in the grave. The results obtained for Raczkowice are presented against the background of the Przeworsk Culture’s funerary customs in the declining phases of the Roman Period.

Andrzej Pelisiak (Review) Lubomir Šebela and Antonin Přichystal, Silicite daggers in the territory of the Czech and Slovak Republics. Spisy Archeologického ústavu AV ČR Brno, 78. Brno 2024: Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology. ISSN 1804-13

Andrzej Pelisiak — 2025-12-16

Zenon Woźniak

Halina Dobrzańska — 2025-12-16

Optional and inconvenient additions: rounded retouched tools from the Micoquian site of Pietraszyn 49a, Poland

Andrzej Wiśniewski — 2025-12-16

The rounded retouched tools that have been singled out in the Micoquian assemblages (‘Keilmessergruppe’)
have long been an enigma. Even though their presence was recognised as early as the early 20th century, they received their formal name, the so-called ‘groszaki’, much later. More recently, similar tools have been recorded at the open-air site Pietraszyn 49a, SW Poland. These examples are slightly larger than average. They were made from flakes and a chunk. During production, marginal and invasive retouch and thinning were used. The same technical means were used to produce bifacial tools. These specimens were compared with other tools of this type in Poland, both in metric and morphological terms. On this basis, the tools differed in this respect within and between assemblages. Nevertheless, the repetition of the oval forms suggests that they may be the result of
the transmission of cultural information.

Imported artefacts from the site Brzezie 17 (Lesser Poland) in the light of the Linear Pottery culture exchange contacts with the Eastern-Linear circle

Agnieszka Czekaj-Zastawny — 2025-12-16

In the second half of the 6th millennium BC, two cultural circles developed on both sides of the Carpathians – the Linear Pottery Culture and the Eastern-Linear Culture. Contacts between these two units were based mainly on the long-distance exchange of richly decorated ceramics and stone raw materials. Very strong connections are visible primarily between the area of the upper Vistula river basin and eastern Slovakia. A very good example of these contacts are imported objects from the LBK settlement in Brzezie Site 17. As the analyses carried out have shown, they come from the territories of eastern Slovakia – the Šariš Basin and East Slovak Plain. As the LBK developed, the exchange of goods gradually flourished. The intensification of contacts with the south is legible at most of the settlements in south-eastern Poland, mostly starting from the decline of the LBK II phase. These contacts ceased suddenly as the Linear Pottery Culture and the Bükk Culture diminished.

Leaf impression of burdock on Neolithic pottery from Zagaje Smrokowskie (Miechów Upland, Poland)

Iwona Sobkowiak-Tabaka — 2025-12-16

This study examines Neolithic pottery from Zagaje Smrokowskie, site 10, which features a burdock leaf imprint on one of the vessel bottoms. Burdock has been present in human settlements across vast areas of Eurasia, as evidenced by numerous findings of its macroremians. However, this is the first finding of a burdock leaf imprint on Neolithic pottery in Poland. The identification of leaf imprints on pottery enhances our understanding of pottery production techniques and provides valuable insight into the local flora.

Vynnyky—Lysivka, Lviv district. Ceramic rattle from a Funnel Beaker Culture village

Małgorzata Rybicka — 2025-12-16

A clay rattle, made using the technology of the Funnel Beaker culture, was discovered during research conducted
in 2024 on the settlement of this culture in Vynnyky-Lysivka. It was found in Feature 3/2024, which contained pottery with the style of its eastern and southeastern groups, as well as fragments of tableware with characteristics of the Brînzeni group of the Trypillia culture. Clay rattles are very rarely recorded in the Funnel Beaker culture, but are more commonly found in the Trypillia culture. A distant analogy for this rattle from Vynnyky-Lysivka is found in the graves of children from the Vykhvatintsy cemetery. The settlement of the Funnel Beaker culture from Vynnyky-Lysivka dates, which are similar to those of Brînzeni and Vykhvatintsy. The presence of
pottery imports from the Brînzeni group’s environment suggests that the clay rattle is associated with the Funnel Beaker culture. It is probably the result of contacts with the Trypillia Culture groups.

Sepulchral complex of the Globular Amphora Culture discovered at the site 50 in Srebrzyszcze, dist. Chełm, Lublin Voivodeship

Barbara Witkowska — 2025-12-16

At Site 50 in Srebrzyszcze, a unique complex of sepulchral features of the Globular Amphora Culture was discovered, consisting of a single human grave accompanied by two deposits of animal remains. The uniqueness of this discovery lies in the fact that the person to whom this expanded ritual complex was dedicated was a child, and also in the construction of the complex itself, which represents a type of structure with stone surrounds, very rarely encountered in the East Lublin group of the Globular Amphora Culture. Therefore, the results of research conducted at Site 50 enrich the picture of the Globular Amphora Culture from the Lublin Upland territory, as the
sepulchral complex under scrutiny represents the easternmost construction of the Nałęczów type. A radiocarbon date was obtained for the human burial, which may contribute to further considerations upon the chronological position of graves without stone surrounds within the GAC.

New data on metal artefacts of the Corded Ware culture in the Little Poland (Małopolska)

Hanna Kowalewska-Marszałek — 2025-12-16

During archaeological excavations at Kichary Nowe, Site 2, near Sandomierz, five graves belonging to the Kraków-Sandomierz group of the Corded Ware culture were unearthed, three of which contained metal artefacts, including ornaments and tools made of gold and copper. The presentation of these finds in the context of other metal specimens belonging to this culture is the subject of this article. The results of their chemical composition analyses will also be discussed.

Corded Ware culture burial rites: new evidence from Orły, site 4 in the Subcarpathian loess region, southeastern Poland

Dariusz Król — 2025-12-16

Archaeological investigations conducted in 2023 at Orły, Site 4, in the Subcarpathian loess region, revealed a niche grave associated with the Corded Ware culture. Inside, the remains of two adult men were found, accompanied by a rich assemblage of grave goods, including ceramic vessels, lithic tools, and a bone awl. This article presents the results of the analysis of the grave’s construction, osteological material, and grave goods, relating them to the cultural and chronological issues of the Final Eneolithic communities in the 3rd millennium BC.

Prehistoric amber item at Žabalj-Nove Zemlje site (Vojvodina, Serbia)

Kata Furholt — 2025-12-16

This study focuses on a newly-discovered, perforated pendant from the Žabalj-Nove Zemlje site in Vojvodina, Serbia. The main settlement structure of this multiperiod site is primarily associated with the Late Neolithic Tisza and Vinča cultures (5400-4500/4450 BCE), where two burned houses were excavated from a total of 204 rectangular building anomalies detected archaeomagnetically. A unique, triangular-shaped and perforated pendant appeared on the top of the daub layer of one of the burned houses. The layer was disturbed in several parts by later pits; thus, the pendant cannot be directly linked to a closed Late Neolithic context. Material analysis, including Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) and Fourier-Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), confirmed the material to be amber, while excluding other likely options such as beeswax or citrine. The Žabalj amber pendant is contextualised within the local scale and in the broader framework of the Carpathian Basin to gain insight into prehistoric amber use, which was predominant during the Bronze Age. However, this pendant does not typologically fit with Bronze Age amber beads; thus, the possibility exists that it dates to the Neolithic.

The Kryspinów Type Staters

Tomasz Bochnak — 2025-12-16

This article examines the type of Celtic coins known as Kryspinów type staters, represented by five known specimens. It provides an archaeological context, highlighting a complex cultural landscape of communities coexisting in the milieu of the La Tène tradition. The Kryspinów type is identified as a local issue, attributed to the Tyniec Group, yet primarily circulating among the population associated with the Przeworsk culture. The paper also presents the results of XRF analysis conducted on two specimens. The iconography of the type, which combines motifs borrowed from shell staters of the Boii and Republican denarii, is discussed, with three classes distinguished based on variations in the reverse design.

Lady from the West buried in the middle of nowhere? An exceptional grave from the Late Pre-Roman Period at Budziszki and the question of the emergence of the Przeworsk culture in north-eastern Mazovia

Andrzej Maciałowicz — 2025-12-16

A cremation grave from the Late Pre-Roman Period, discovered at Budziszki in north-eastern Mazovia, offers insights into the emergence of the Przeworsk culture in this poorly researched border region. The burial, probably of an adult woman, contained a bimetallic ‘ball brooch’, a clay urn and a stone polisher. Many features of this grave indicate western affinities. Some originate in the western zone of the Przeworsk culture and the socalled Jastorf culture in the Polish Lowland, while others trace back to the Jastorf culture of the middle Elbe and Oder regions. The grave, dated to phase A1b or early A2, predates the establishment of a stable settlement associated with the Przeworsk culture in the area. The evidence, including the Budziszki burial and other discussed
finds, suggests that the presence of small, mobile groups from the west may have initiated the local development of this cultural unit. The Budziszki find exemplifies the hybrid character of the cultural processes shaping the Przeworsk culture in north-eastern Mazovia.

Czermno / Cherven’: seasons 2022 and 2023. Interdisciplinary studies on site 2 Zameczek (hillfort suburb settlement). Chronology, archaeological features, finds analysis

Tomasz Dzieńkowski — 2025-12-16

The article discusses the results of the latest interdisciplinary studies on Site 2, ‘Zameczek’, a stronghold complex in Czermno (historical Cherven’). The fieldwork completed in 2022-2023 focused on Site 2 and included noninvasive investigations (GPR and LiDAR prospection), sondage excavation, laboratory analysis and conservation of archaeological finds, absolute dating, and desktop studies. The research objectives and questions formulated when embarking on the investigation of the suburb settlement addressed key issues related to its chronology and function. Another key task was recognising and recording the site’s stratigraphy. The two seasons of sondage excavations yielded thirty-eight functionally distinct features interpreted as utility pits, remains of upright timbers,
remnants of wooden communication structures, fragments of a rampart (?) and an eco-feature. The excavation of archaeological deposits and features belonging to Phases I and II yielded an assemblage of more than 37,000 objects, most of them pottery.

Medieval Glazed Ceramics from Kraków Nowa Huta-Zesławice, Site 88, Lesser Poland Voivodeship. Their Formal and Technological Analysis

Bartlomiej Szymon Szmoniewski — 2025-12-16

This study analyses medieval glazed ceramics from Site 88 in Kraków-Nowa Huta-Zesławice, focusing on their formal and technological aspects. The research examines macroscopic features, chemical composition, and production techniques, comparing them with finds from other sites in Lesser Poland. Results indicate a local glazing tradition in Lesser Poland linked to metallurgical activities, with continuity from the 11th to the 14th century. The study expands knowledge of the distribution and production of glazed pottery in medieval Poland.

Kaptorgas with 'horses' from the so-called Kraków part of the Dzierznica II treasure. Part one

Anna Bochnak — 2025-12-16

This paper presents a detailed documentation of 12 kaptorgas with ‘horses’ from the Kraków part of the Dzierznica II treasure. These artefacts are currently housed in the National Museum in Kraków. Until now, these pendants have not been fully published, thoroughly described, or subjected to any archaeometric, technological, or contextual analyses. As part of the ongoing research project, meticulous macroscopic photographs were taken of each artefact. A micrometric magnifying glass was then used to examine details and construction techniques. Finally, preliminary instrumental chemical analyses were conducted using XRF. The material proved extensive and multifaceted, making it both possible and necessary to provide an initial summary of the findings at this stage of the research. This article focuses on descriptive aspects, offering preliminary suggestions regarding the composition and type of raw materials used, as well as initial observations on their stylistic features and manufacturing techniques. Based on these results, further research stages and procedures will be presented in forthcoming publications.

Cargo on wheels - medieval cart components from Granary Island, Gdańsk.

Joanna Dąbal — 2025-12-16

This text discusses the remains of a late medieval cart with a partial cargo recovered on Granary Island during the 2024 excavation, along with their historical context. The wooden components found have been technically described and compared to the limited archaeological database. They are furthermore considered in the context of the construction details of other medieval carts. The discovery is dated to the beginning of the 15th century, based on artefacts found in layers containing the cart fragments and supported by 14C analysis. The construction of the cart has been analysed with the aid of historical depictions from the period and undertaken in the spatial and functional context of the Granary Island. Although the formal constraints on the investigation limit the interpretation, the discovery is considered unique in Europe.

Elements of early modern hand-held firearms from the site of Ciołeks’ castle in Żelechów, Garwolin County

Wojciech Bis — 2025-12-16

In 2022, fragments of hand-held firearms were discovered at the site of the castle of the Ciołek family in Żelechów, Garwolin County, Masovian Voivodeship. Based on the craftsmanship, analogies known from the literature, and museum artefacts, it can be assumed that these were elements of a 16th-century hackbut. They most likely originated from a single barrel, which was damaged during use. Metallurgical analyses have shown that the barrel was forged from iron. A formal analysis allowed for a graphical reconstruction of its original form.

Cultures of mortuary practices inferred from archaeobotanical and archaeological results from the 17th-18th century Protestant burials of the von Glasenapp family in Białowąs (Balfanz), Western Pomerania

Jakub Stankiewicz — 2025-12-16

The primary objective of this paper is to compile the results of archaeobotanical analyses (seeds/fruits, pollen, wood) of samples taken from 10 coffin burials dating to the 17th-18th centuries, belonging to the Protestant family von Glasenapp at Białowąs (Balfanz). This study provides new insights into local funerary customs and the role of botanical elements in funerals. The plant remains preserved in the coffins indicate considerable restraint in the quantity and type of plants used. The coffins were primarily filled with hop cones, hay, and wood shavings. When considering the history of the von Glasenapp family and the results of the archaeological and archaeobotanical research, it is possible to reconstruct Christian Protestant funerary traditions as practised at the household level.

Remains of a 1944 Artillery Position in Miejsce Piastowe, Krosno County

Ewa Rydzewska — 2025-12-16

The article presents the results of rescue archaeological investigations conducted at Site 22 in Miejsce Piastowe. The excavations uncovered World War II remains associated with military activities during the Carpatho-Dukla Military Operation. A detailed analysis of the spatial organization of features and the distribution of artefacts enabled the reconstruction of the arrangement of howitzers and the associated trench infrastructure at the site. It also allowed for an estimation of the number of shells fired, thereby facilitating a reconstruction of the intensity of combat in the area. The findings confirm the presence of German artillery at this location in the second half of 1944, corroborating the course of events described in historical sources.

Anna Dzieduszycka-Machnikowa

Piotr Włodarczak — 2025-12-16