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Beginnings of agriculture of loess uplands and hills, and anthropogenic changes in the natural environment

Project information

 

Project title: Beginnings of agriculture of loess uplands and hills, and anthropogenic changes in the natural environment.

Project lead:Dr hab. Maria Lityńska-Zając, Professor at IAE PAN

Project lead, institutional: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology (IAE PAN), Centre for Archaeology of Hills and Uplands
Project financing: statutory
Contact:

e-mail: marialitynska@gazeta.pl
telephone: +48 4222905 (Centre for Archaeology of Hills and Uplands, ul. Sławkowska 17, Kraków);
tel. +48 / 12 / 287 30 09 (Archaeological Workshop in Igołomia)
+48 604249422 ((mobile: Maria Lityńska-Zając);

 

 

Project implementation

 

 

Institutions involved:

Name of institution: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology (IAE PAN), Centre for Archaeology of Hills and Uplands; Responsibilities: Project lead, institutional
Name of institution: Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University in Kraków; Responsibilities: collaboration by Prof. dr hab. A. Zając in the project: E.1.1. Synanthrophisation of flora. Archaeophytes.
Name of institution: State University of NY, Buffalo; Responsibilities: collaboration by Prof. Dr. Sarunas Milisauskas in the project: E.1.V. House building in Funnelbeaker culture, based on Bronocice material.

Researchers involved:

Dr Agnieszka Czekaj-Zastawny, archaeologists,
Responsibilities: assignment E.1.II - 6 months

Prof. dr hab. Janusz Kruk, archaeologists, archaeologist,
Responsibilities: (assignment E.1.V) - 12 months

Dr hab. Maria Lityńska-Zając, Professor at IAE PAN, archaeobotanist,
Responsibilities: (assignment E.1.1) - 1 month
(assignment E.1.II.2) - 2 months
(assignment E.1.IV.2) - 1 month

Mgr Danuta Makowicz-Poliszot Danuta, archaeozoologist,
Responsibilities: (assignment E.1.II.3) - 5 months
(assignment E.1.IV.3) - 3 months

Dr Bartłomiej Szmoniewski, archaeologist,
Responsibilities: (assignment E.1.VI) - 12 months, assignment suspended inn 2012

Dr Krzysztof Tunia, archaeologist,
Responsibilities: (assignment E.1.II.1) - 10 months

Dr Piotr Włodarczak, archaeologist,
Responsibilities: (assignment E.1.IV.1) - 12 months

Drawing documentation:

Irena Jordan - 6 months
Jolanta Ożóg - 7 months
mgr Urszula Potyrała - 12 months

Researchers involved, other than IAE PAN

Prof. dr hab. Adam Zając, botanist, Institute of Botany, Jagiellonian University in Kraków,
Prof. dr Sarunas Milisauskas, archaeologist, State University of NY, Buffalo
Mgr B. Baczyńska, retired researcher at IAE PAN

 

 

Characteristic

 

Research objective:

The main objective of the project is to study the relationships between man and nature in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

Detailed goals of the project:

The research within the project consists in the archaeological, archaeozoological and archaeobotanical analyses of materials obtained from several Neolithic and Early Bronze archaeological sites (e.g. Bronocice, Słonowice and Szarbia). These analyses will look into man’s relationships with his natural environment, offering an interesting opportunity to compare settlement preferences of various agricultural groups (Linear Pottery, Funnelbeaker. Mierzanowice, Trzciniec cultures). As an important part of the project, research will be conducted into the production of food (stock raising and farming), hunting, and the wresting of plant-based raw materials from nature. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of the charcoal found at the sites under study is expected to yield a wealth of valuable insights – direct (how human groups in the past used wood) and indirect (inferences about past forest communities). The type of the data obtained is strictly contingent on the archaeological context. Wood traces on pug/cob, in the form of structural imprints, will throw light on house building in Funnelbeaker culture.

It is proposed that the project include studying Early Neolithic settlements (Linear Pottery culture), mostly in south-eastern Poland.

As an important outcome of the project, a monograph will be produced on the Funnelbeaker cemetery in Słonowice.

Another line of research will focus on Early Medieval settlements in the Casimcea River basin, on Dobrogea Plateau, Romania, and their impact on environmental change.

Man’s interaction with the natural environment will also be taken up when analysing synanthrophic species identified in archaeological layers.

The project is to be carried out in several stages. At present (until completion), the assignments listed below will be pursued.

The project is expected to produce important archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data. Its research objective — the environmental context of Neolithic cultures — is still a relatively little-researched subject, and the studies may yield a host of promising insights into the process of Neolithisation. Man’s impact on the natural environment will be presented in a work discussing some aspects of the synanthrophisation of flora.

Project timetable:

E.1.1. Synanthrophisation of flora. Archaeophytes.
2012: Analysis of archaeophytes in fossil materials and comparison with their presence in modern-time flora. Selected examples; article, authors: A. Zając, M. Lityńska-Zając
E.II. Neolithic and Old Bronze settlement complex in Słonowice.
2012: Monograph: Funnelbeaker cemetery in Słonowice; author: K. Tunia
Articles: Animal bone remains from Trzciniec culture objects at Słonowice G site; author: D. Makowicz-Poliszot.
Archaeobotanical research in Słonowice; author: M. Lityńska-Zając.
E.1.III. Early Neolithic settlements in south-eastern Poland.
2012: Analysis of progression in forms and ornaments of Linear Pottery pottery – research report
2015: Monograph and a series of articles; author: A. Czekaj-Zastawny
E.1.IV. Settlement microregion on the lower Raba River. Early Bronze Age.
2012: Chapter “Cultural and chronological analysis of Mierzanowice culture materials, Raba River basin”; author: P. Włodarczak
2012: Chapter “Cataloguing plant remains from Szarbia 9 site”; author: M. Lityńska-Zając
2012: Chapter “Animal bone remains from Mierzanowice culture site in Szarbia; author: D. Makowicz-Poliszot
2013: Collective monograph; authors: P. Włodarczak, B. Baczyńska, M. Lityńska-Zając, D. Makowicz-Poliszott
E.1.V. House building in Funnelbeaker culture, based on Bronocice material.
2012: Analyses of structural imprints on pug/cob, Funnelbeaker objects, BR I – III phases, Bronocice site; J. Kruk
2015: Collective monograph
E.1.VI. Early Medieval settlements in Casimcea River basin, Dobrogea Plateau, and their impact on environmental change.
2014: Auteur monograph. Assignment suspended in 2012 (sabbatical).

The project will be crowned with the following monographs:

2012: Słonowice site, author: K. Tunia
2013: Lower Raba River settlement microregion; authors: P. Włodarczak, B. Baczyńska, M. Lityńska-Zając, D. Makowicz-Poliszot
2014: Early Medieval settlements in Casimcea River basin, Dobrogea Plateau; author: B. Szmoniewski
2015:
Early Neolithic settlements in south-eastern Poland; author: A. Czekaj-Zastawny
Funnelbeaker culture house building; collective monograph

Articles, dealing with these subjects:

2012:
Synathropisation of flora; authors: A. Zając, M. Lityńska-Zając.
Bone remains at Słonowice; D. Makowicz-Poliszot.
Plant remains at Słonowice; M. Lityńska-Zając.
2012-2015: series of articles; Early Neolithic settlements in south-eastern Poland; author: A. Czekaj-Zastawny.

 

 

Publications

 

Czekaj-Zastawny A., M. M. Przybyła. 2012. “Modlniczka 2, powiat krakowski - cmentarzysko kultury ceramiki wstęgowej rytej i osady neolityczne” [Modlniczka 2, Kraków poviat – a Linear Pottery culture cemetery and Neolithic settlements]. Via Archaeologica. Sources obtained from development-led excavations on the A4 motorway project in Małopolskie Voivodship, Kraków.