Project information

 

Project title: The northern part of the ducal residential complex on the Cathedral Hill in Chełm

Project No: 2014/13/B/HS3/04930

Project lead: prof. dr hab. corresponding member PAS Andrzej Buko

Project lead, institutional: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Project financing:National Science Center, 2014-2016

Contact:

e-mail: abuko@uw.edu.pl
phone (22) 620-28-81 do 86

Project implementation:

prof. dr hab. corresponding member PAS Andrzej Buko – Project lead
dr Marcin Wołoszyn - Principal investigator
dr hab. Radosław Henryk Dobrowolski - Principal investigator

 

 

Characteristics

 

1. Research project objectives/ Research hypothesis

 

The Early Medieval Chełm – informal capital of the Halych-Volhynian Duchy - belongs to the key centres of the Polish-Ruthenian border but is still poorly examined in archaeological sense. Interdisciplinary research realized in the years 2010-2012 for the MNiSW (Ministry of Science and Higher Education) Project resulted in uncovering the remnants of Duke Daniel Romanovitch’s (from 1253 the King of Ruthenia) multiphase residence in the southern part of the High Hill. Identified relics of monumental architecture were described as innovative, unique and not having any analogies on Polish territory and even in this part of Europe. In 2013, after the grant ended, archaeological excavations were held in the northern part of the High Hill, a part which was not examined within the frames of the grant. In accepted opinions this was to be an undeveloped courtyard in front of the residence. But the research brought discoveries which to a large degree change the former concepts of the hill’s topography.

Within the trench area uncovered were relics of another monumental building of stone-and-brick, originating from the Daniel Romanovitch times, and the accompanying many meters of stratifications. Unknown is the function of this mysterious and burned building (St. John’s temple? Holy Trinity temple? St. Kosmas and Damian temple? secular building?), while its existence constitutes a great scientific surprise (particularly in the face of the discoveries made in the years 2010-2012). In this context new questions arose: How was the space of the supposed courtyard situated outside of the residential buildings organized?

 

2. Research project methodology

 

Our objective is to examine the northern part of the High Hill. Research will be performed by applying scientific methods from several disciplines. Most important shall be the archaeological excavations, allowing to investigate and determine the plan, chronology and functions of the recently discovered building and its stratifications. Indispensable for this purpose is an open-airtrench of several meters depth (4-5 m) and accompanying additional test trenches. Complementary to the archaeological excavations will be the detailed study of the geological context of this hill part, based on taking soil cores and architectonic expertise. For the purpose of dating we plan at least 20 analysis made by following methods: (1) radiocarbon (dating of charcoal) and (2) luminescence dating (of mortar and archaeological finds). Subject to this type of dating shall be the small finds.

 

3. Expected impact of the research project on the development of science, civilization and society

 

The complex of architecture relics discovered during realization of the last Project deserves special attention, since in the unanimous opinion of historians and archaeologists the oldest part of the residence building identified at the Cathedral Hill in Chełm presents a unique in this part of Europe constructional solution. This regards the concept of the palace building in form of an aula, as well as the alterative hypothesis, assuming the presence of a residence divided in many parts, built on an embankment made for this purpose and closed within a regular quadrangle of walls. If the hypothesis that the monumental architecture was spread over the whole hill area shall be confirmed, then all previous assumptions on the original architectonic form of the residential complex should be modified. At present stage of research the closest reference to buildings in Chełm seem to be the royal residences in Hungary or the palaces of Byzantine origin. Complex examination of the Halych Dukes residence shall fill the scientific blank in research on architecture of this period in East-Central Europe and east of Vistula in particular. The end product of research results shall be a published monograph in Polish.

 

Project information

 

Project title: Reconstruction of earlymedieval economy on the basis of fitocenoses' development and plant biodiversity - Radom case study

Project No: 2014/13/N/HS3/04592

Project lead: mgr Grzegorz Skrzyński

Project lead, institutional: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Project financing:National Science Center, 2014-2016

Contact:

e-mail: grzegorz.skrzynski@gmail.com
phone (22) 620-28-81 do 86

Project implementation:

mgr Grzegorz Skrzyński - Project lead
dr hab. Maria Teresa Lityńska-Zając - Scientific advisior

 

 

Characteristics

 

1. Research project objectives/ Research hypothesis

 

The main aim of the research is the reconstruction of the economic activity of an early human societies. The research will be carried out on the basis of changes of floras' biodiversity in Mleczna valley near the "Piotrówka" stronghold in Radom. Analysis of the subfossil plant macroremains gained by sampling fen beds and from archaeological sites will form the basis for the verification of supposition about the positive effects of the settlement on the biocoenotic diversity of Polish lowland river valleys. To recognize the changes in biodiversity of flora it will be required to identify the vegetation in the time before and after the Slavic expansion. It allows to determine how these lands was transformed by the process of colonization. The results will be compiled as a floristic lists which contain the phytosociological of and the ecological analyses. Results of analyses allow to observe the change of plant communities' structure and their biodiversity in the early Middle Ages. In addition, the residual of synanthropic plants will be radiocarbon dated, so they will be used to indirect dating of settlement activity, which is identical to the appearance of synanthropic plants. The results of the research will also be used in the reconstruction of early medieval economy. The studies will be an important step to recognition the biological processes and they become an important point of reference in an archaeological research.

 

2. Research project methodology

 

The analysis of macroscopic plant remains obtained during water sieving of organic matter from fens and flotation of chared macroremains from the archaeological objects will be the main method used in the project. Taxonomy of gained plant residues will be determined by the morphological-comparative method. At this stage of research, using the herbarium collections is strictly necessary. Also, a syntaxonomic classification of plants will be made. On the basis of the taxonomic lists there will be identified relation of the particular plant species to the environmental conditions of their growth. In order to standardize the results and capture any correlation between samples statistical analysis will be developed. As a complement to botanical analysis there will be applied the radiocarbon (14C) dating of organic residues. In addition, if it will be possible, the indirect archaeological dating will be done. There will be made a palynological analysis which will verify and enrich, based on an analysis of plant macroremains, taxonomic and syntaxonomic identifications. Pollen analyses will allow identifying potential inconsistencies between the macro and micro remnants of the former flora occurring in the Mleczna valley. Thanks to that kind of analyses the spectrum of research will be expanded and local vegetation shall be known.

 

3. Expected impact of the research project on the development of science, civilization and society

 

Analyses of changes in biodiversity in archaeobotany and paleoecology based on macroremains are unique. It will provide a lot of new data for several fields of botany and plant ecology. It will be also an invaluable source of information for archaeologists studying the economy of early medieval Slavic population. Results of the research significantly contribute to the knowledge of mechanisms of flora anthropogenization in the early Middle Ages. Planned analysis will provide comparative data for phytosociologists interested in transformations of plant communities and their correlation with extensive agricultural economy. The results of this work also will bring significant information for cognition of dangered by extinction segetal weed species and plant communities which they form. In addition, the study will contribute to the very rich and floristically diverse heterogenic communities located on the borders of main phytocoenoses (such as riparian forest - farmland or pasture). However the main aspect of planned analyses will be the most valuable for archaeologists. Apart from the basic information about cultivated plant species they will provide knowledge of advance of agricultural works (sowing, crop rotation, resting, harvest and processing of it). Taxonomic classification of wood remains makes it possible to specify preferences of different kinds of wood used by early medieval settlers (building material, fuel, etc.). The speed and area of vegetation changes will indirectly infer about the size of the original human diaspora which settled in the Mleczna valley in the early Middle Ages and appearance of the first remains of synanthropic plants will give the possibility to determine the approximate date of the colonization of the study area (thanks to radiocarbon dating). Discovered on archaeological sites plant remains, according to the archaeological context, will also allow the inference about other areas of life of ancient society (magic, beliefs, herbal medicine, diet and other). In addition, the results of this research will be applied during investment which aim is to create an archaeological park in Radom city. Results of analyses of macroscopic plant remains have wide use in reconstructing ancient settlements and strongholds and their economy. They will also be the basis for the restoration of environmental conditions, which operated in the former community.

 

Project information

 

Project title: The oldest phase of the Linear Pottery Culture in the Lesser Poland (5600/5500-5300 BC) - Genesis, dating, settlement, economy

Project No: 2014/15/B/HS3/2460

Project lead: dr Agnieszka Czekaj-Zastawny

Project lead, institutional: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Project financing:National Science Center, 2014-2016

Contact:

e-mail: aczekajzastawny@gmail.com
phone (22) 620-28-81 do 86

Project implementation:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

 

 

Characteristics

 

1. Research project objectives/ Research hypothesis

 

Beginnings of the Linear Pottery culture (LBK) settlement in the Malopolska region are identical to neolithisation process of this area, ie. the appearance of the first groups with the agricultural economy. This was a very important turning point, not only for the prehistory of that region, but for the whole of Central Europe. Areas of the Upper Vistula River basin played a very important role, because there were within the first stage of LBK expansion. This process still has not been fully elucidated, mainly because of the still insufficient amount of data. The aim of the project is the reconstruction of the oldest settlement phase of LBK in Lesser Poland, ie. examination the positioning of the settlements, construction and functioning of settlements, the economy, artifacts, genetics, structure and state of health of the population, the absolute and relative chronology. In effect this will allow to reconstruct the origins of the influx of the first groups of of the farming population and the nature of the course and the dynamics of this process, showing of settlement development and interregional contacts, and to determine the chronological framework of the oldest phase of LBK, and correlating it with the eastern linear circle. The results will be collected in a monographic study (in typescript). They will also successively presented at conferences and in a series of thematic articles published in journals of Philadelphia and ERIH lists.

 

2. Research project methodology

 

The research methodology is related to the individual elements of the project:
I. Field studies
Three seasons of fieldwork is planned. The work will be carried out maintaining high methodological standards (detailed exploration and documentation, three-dimensional location of materials, spatial analysis in GIS, screening explored the whole works, systematic sampling for analysis specialist). Before starting the excavation is planned to execution of geophysical surveys.
II. Interdisciplinary specialized analyzes
In order to achieve the maximum cognitive effect of excavated layers is planned to carry out the following specialist analysis: stylistic-typological and comparative analysis of pottery and flint/stone artifacts, mineralogical-petrographic and granulometric analysis of ceramic, ahemical analysis of food residues, analysis of isotopes and rare elements, anthropological and paleozoological analysis, analysis of animal and human DNA, paleobotany, palynology, radiocarbon dating). To implement the project was established an interdisciplinary research team, consisting of specialists with extensive experience, enabling the development of research results to a broad European comparative perspective.
III. Elaboration and synthesis of results
The work related to the implementation of this part of the project will proceed in stages, as the influx of artifacts and results of specialized analysis. An integral part of the project is a comparative study in the field of ceramic and flint production.

 

3. Expected impact of the research project on the development of science, civilization and society

 

Neolithisation process is one of the most intensely debated issues in studies of Younger Stone Age. This applies particularly to areas of Central Europe, where there has been the emergence of the LBK. The oldest stage of cultural development is poorly known. Test trenches made so far in Gwoździec indicate that we are there to deal with the oldest phase of this culture, not disturbed by younger settlements, and radiocarbon dating made so far suggest that this may be one of the oldest sites of this culture in Europe. Systematic examination of the settlement on a large scale will form the basis for the characterization of the oldest chronological phases of LBK not only in the Lesser Poland region, but will also contribute to a significant increase knowledge about this episode of Early Neolithic in Central Europe. The implementation of the objectives established in the project will undoubtedly contribute to a considerable increase of knowledge on issues across the Polish lands of the Stone Age, as well as to explain the problems of origins and development of the Central European Neolithic. The expected results of the project, are in fact a much wider area than the Lesser Poland and will have a crucial impact on the following issues: 1) The genesis of the Linear Pottery culture and dated its beginnings, 2) the Neolithisation process of Central Europe, 3) The process of adaptation of the first farmers to local circumstances, 4) development and architecture settlements, 5) the development of the farming economy, 6) The chronological and stylistic correlation between the oldest phases of LBK and areas of the Eastern linear circle, 7) interregional contacts and relationships with the stem areas.

 

Project information

 

Project title: Self-perception of refugee women in Poland in the context of stereotypes and traditional gender roles and their impact on the identity and cultural adaptation

Project No: 2014/15/B/HS3/2462

Project lead: dr Katarzyna Kość-Ryżko

Project lead, institutional: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Project financing:National Science Center, 2014-2016

Contact:

e-mail: katarzyna.kosc.ryzko@etnolog.pl
phone (22) 620-28-81 do 86

Project implementation:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

 

 

Characteristics

 

Scientific purpose/Hypothesis

 

The purpose of the project is the analysis of the course of the work on own identity of women refugees, who live in Poland, as well as the analysis of the way it is reflected in their self- description language and of biographical narration, they construct. The main issues are the categorizations used to describe their status before their refuge and nowadays. I would like to know the relationship between the pictures, the women-refugees construct of themselves, (reflected in their daily functioning and in their interactions with the environment around them); the role of previous culture (including the dissonance caused by norms and expectations, which have their source in the stereotypes and cultural patterns of functioning, depending on the gender), and the process of acculturation and its influence on the identity changes of women-refugees.
The research question concerns the way the process of shaping the identity of women- refugees is influenced by their present situation and by the fact that they are refugees/exiles. I would like to know the role of their original cultures, which they play in their auto-perception, (auto)stereotypisation, low self-esteem and, finally, in their sense of stigmatization. The key to know the women's identity models and pictures of themselves will be the biographical reports, compiled according to the narrative and discursive approach (Taylor 2001).
I hypothetically assume that the "mirror", in which women refugees see themselves most often, is not the "social mirror", reflecting the opinions and convictions functioning within the receiving society, but rather the "distorted mirror" of their own cultures, distorting their pictures of themselves, determining their self-identification and making the acculturation process difficult.

 

The Influence of Results

 

The situation of the women-refugees is a unique one in many respects. They possess the enormous integration potential and social capital, which is usually depreciated. In my opinion, if they have the appropriate support, they are able to participate actively in social life. I hope that the proposed research will help to find the answers to many essential questions concerning the women-refugees' adaptation difficulties, their causes and the possibilities of improving the conditions, they live in. The research results will enable to undertake the specific integration actions dedicated to the exiles' environment; this will act counter to their isolation and conflicting relations with the representatives of the receiving society, which more and more often appear in Poland (likewise in the Western Europe countries).
The proposed research studies are innovative, because of their interdisciplinary character, social importance and the possibility of practical application of research results in the education, training and administration sector. I see the crucial character of the project in the fact that the knowledge of the unique situation of women-refugees is really insufficient in our country.
The final result of the project beyond the monograph, articles and presentations at conferences provide practical application of research findings by workers of institution helping foreigners, employees refugee centers, teachers, etc. I also plan to prepare and conduct training for employees of non-governmental organizations on the situation of refugees in Poland, their adaptation difficulties and opportunities to help them. Moreover, the effects of my research may be used in the future to undertake the study on the same problem but in some other contexts, which, in turn, is important for European integration being realized.

 

The research Method

 

In order to realize the research, I plan to use ethnographic methods (interviews, participating observation), audiovisual methods (the analysis of photographic and video material) and psychological methods (the basic hope test Questionnaire BHI-12).
I will analyse in great detail the "linguistic self-picture" of the women-refugees, its influence on the way their new identity in the new conditions is being constructed, as well as their cultural adaptation. I use for the analysis the synthetic narrative and discursive approach (S. Taylor, N. Edley, M. Wetherell); I refer to the theoretical and methodological assumptions made within culture anthropology, sociology and social psychology, e.g. to "social mirrors" theory (Ch. Withehead), „looking glass self" theory (F. Znaniecki, Ch. Cooley), shared discursive resources and interpretative repertoires (J. Bruner, N. Edley), the notion of problematic identities (M. Wetherell, M. Fricker), self-perception theory (N. Goldstein, R. Cialdini), linguistic picture of the world (L. Wittgenstein, B. L. Whorf, A. Wierzbicka, J. Bartmiński) as wel as to social interactionism (E. Goffman).

 

Project information

 

Project title: Rise or fall? Societies of Kujawy from Late Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age in the light of archaeological and specialised analyses

Project No: 2014/15//D/HS3/1304

Project lead: dr Łukasz Pospieszny

Project lead, institutional: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Project financing:National Science Center, 2014-2016

Contact:

e-mail: l.pospieszny@wp.pl
phone (22) 620-28-81 do 86

Project implementation:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

 

 

Characteristics

 

1. Research project objectives/ Research hypothesis

The aim of this project is to characterise and explain the socio-economic dynamics of Kujawy between the Late/Final Neolithic and Early/Middle Bronze Age (approx. 2900-1500 BC). The main problem aimed to be solved by the project is to find out if the observable variability of material culture and burial rituals of Kujavian societies in long-term perspective was caused by continuous development only or also by crises of economy and social organisation, and if this variability was influenced by arrival of new human populations, too? The starting point of the project are three hypotheses, based on current state of empirical and theoretical research. In the time period 2900-1500 BC in Kujawy (1) changes in economy took place and new subsistence strategies were developed, (2) new human populations appeared, initiating changes in material culture and burial rituals, (3) social relations - manifested in the burial rituals and humans' diet and health status - were transformed.

2. Research project methodology

The project is scheduled to 4 stages of research. The subject of the study will be 35 already discovered graves containing remains of79 people. Anthropological and taphonomic analyses will be carried out by an anthropologist at the Institute of Anthropology of AMU and will include: identification of sex, age, health status and stress markers, and taphonomic changes of skeletal remains. They will be used to test hypotheses 1-3, in terms of differences in economic strategies, degree of adaptation to environment, relationship between biological characteristics and form of burial and social position, and variability and meaning of burial ritual. Typo-chronological analyses of structure and equipment of graves will be done by PI, classified materials will be subjected to comparative and statistics analyses. Radiocarbon (14C) AMS dating of 58 individuals will be outsourced to Poznań Radiocarbon Laboratory, results will be processed using Bayesian statistics. Comprehensive results will be used to test hypotheses 1-3, in terms of variability of burial ritual and dynamics of population and socio-economic changes.
The study of ancient DNA (analyses of nuclear and mitochondrial genomes) will be conducted by geneticist at aDNA Laboratory of AMU (aDNA isolation, libraries preparation; sequencing will be outsourced to external institutions). Studies using next- generation sequencing (NGS) will be made for all individuals and allow to test hypotheses 2 and 3 in terms of presence of immigrant populations in Kujawy and kinship relations in communal graves and at cemeteries.
Measurements of stable isotopes of carbon (513C) and nitrogen (515N) will be outsourced to Poznań Radiocarbon Laboratory. They will be performed for all human individuals and 50 animal bones from two complexes from Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. Results will be elaborated by PI, archaeozoologist and archaeologist/anthropologist, specialist in isotope studies. These analyses will allow for testing hypothesis 1 (diet related to subsistence strategy), 2 (atypical diet ofimmigrants) and 3 (diet as an indicator of social status).
Reconstruction of burial rituals will be conducted by PI. Sequences of burials practices, specific to particular societies, will be recreated on the basis of such characteristics as grave construction, arrangement of human remains, nature and location of grave goods, and will allow to test hypothesis 3 (relationship between the type of burial and social status).

3. Expected impact of the research project on the development of science, civilization and society

The application ofisotopic methods on a large-scale will allow to reconstruct trophic webs and human diets and local economic strategies, poorly known due to shortage ofsettlement features, and plant and animal remains. New data on biological and genetic structure and health status for a relatively large sample of human individuals will be collected. The project offers a good chance of detecting immigrant populations. Research will bring an increase of archaeological data and synthesis of knowledge of burial ritual, taking into account taphonomic and post-depositional processes. A large series of AMS 14C dates will be used to objectively assess the lifetime of cemeteries and collective graves and will fill a clear gap in chronometry of the beginning of Early Bronze Age and the turn of Early and Middle Bronze Age.

 

Project information

 

Project title: Early medieval castles in the settlement basins middle Odra to the eleventh century in archaeological studies

Project No: UMO-2015/16/S/HS3/00274

Project lead: dr Bartłomiej Gruszka

Project lead, institutional: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Project financing:FUGA. Post-doctoral internship of the National Science Centre in Poland

Contact:

e-mail: bartekgruszka@poczta.onet.pl
phone (22) 620-28-81 do 86

 

Project information

 

Project title: A new perspective on prehistoric societies of the Early and Middle Holocene in Central Sudan in the view of interdisciplinary research studies

Project No: 2015/17/D/HS3/01492

Project lead: dr Maciej Jórdeczka

Project lead, institutional: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Project financing:National Science Center, 2014-2016

Contact:

e-mail: mjordeczka@gazeta.pl
phone (22) 620-28-81 do 86

Project implementation:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

 

 

Characteristics

 

1. Research project objectives/ Research hypothesis

 

The proposed research project appertains to studies on settlement, economy, social structure, funeral rites and chronology of prehistoric communities inhabiting Central Sudan. Interdisciplinary research will cover excavation works on new archaeological sites such as Khor Shambat (which features materials of Early Khartoum and Khartoum Neolithic cultures), another, more- detailed analysis of materials from the site in Kadero (available in the Archaeological Museum in Poznań and in the National Museum in Khartoum), and comparative analyses with materials from the latest studies on the Blue Nile (Spanish expedition), from El-Salha (Italian expedition) and in the Sixth Cataract (Czech expedition). Surface studies which will help to specify the sites' environment are also planned.
Consequently, the aim of the project is an attempt to answer numerous questions and, above all, to reconstruct processes which led to the transition from a hunter-gatherer to a manufacturing economy.
Keeping domesticated animals, gathering wild grains, hunting and fishing - what was the role of particular sectors of economy in early agricultural communities? What factors effected in the popularisation of ceramic pottery among hunter-gatherer communities? Was it possible for the two types of economy to function in parallel with each other? What was the cause of social disparities which appeared in the Early Neolithic?

 

2. Research project methodology

 

The very character of the site enables conducting interdisciplinary research which provides for multi-level analysis of various forms of settlement. The results of excavation works, technological studies, typological and functional inventories will contribute to making a local systematics of the pre-Neolithic and Neolithic settlement development, as well as the description of a potential cultural relationships with neighbouring groups. On the basis of geological, geomorphological, archeobothanical, archeozoological and malacological analyses it will be possible to launch the studies on paleoenvironment reconstruction. Anthropological studies, which may include analyses of stable isotopes (87Sr/86Sr), supported by the analyses of dental plaque, should result in an overview picture of the communities, and perhaps also origins of particular individuals. An important part of the research will be a detailed recognition of the function of ceramic pottery through the analysis of sediments preserved inside them (among others lipids), which will enable a thorough examination of the ways milk was used and processed. Stone tools will be carefully examined for the presence of fitolites. In order to define the basis of chronology more precisely a series of accelerated datings is intended. It will be especially significant for the studies on settlement and cemetery chronostratigraphy. It is also planned to make datings with OSL and TL methods.
Furthermore, it is intended to make surface prospecting of the vicinity in order to search for other settlement traces, as well as rock material resources, exploited by prehistorical communities for tool production. Comparative studies, including another analysis of materials from Kadero, comparisons with materials from the latest studies on the Blue Nile, in El-Salha and in the Sixth Cataract, will also be of fundamental significance.

 

3. Expected impact of the research project on the development of science, civilization and society

 

Planned multidisciplinary and multi-faceted studies on the Khor Shambat site and comparative analyses of materials from other sites in the Central Sudan will significantly contribute to broadening the knowledge on Neolithisation, economic changes and social structure of the people inhabiting Central Sudan in Early and Middle Holocene. Applying modern research methods will allow us to obtain an insight into people living then, their diet, methods of getting and preparing food, migration or spiritual culture. The cooperation between archeologists and representatives of natural and physicochemical sciences will allow to develop a model site for the whole region, constituting a reference point for the studies on paleoenvironment, economic and social changes dynamics, as well as their chronology. When viewing the western river bank, from the place where the Blue Nile and the White Nile meet, as far as to Nofalab, Islang and Shaheinab to the North, it is going to be the only known site of that kind.
The results of the conducted studies will be also advantageous for the local community, we will employ local workers, there will be conducted awareness raising campaigns about the value of archeological heritage, and finally the results of excavations will be exhibited at the National Museum in Khartoum. The effect of the research will be a series of articles in international magazines included in ERIH list.

 

Project information

 

Project title: The Danubian route of the Yamnaya culture

Project No: 2015/17/B/HS3/01327

Project lead: dr hab. Piotr Włodarczak

Project lead, institutional: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Project financing:National Science Center, 2014-2016

Contact:

e-mail: wlodarczak.piotr@gmail.com
phone (22) 620-28-81 do 86

Project implementation:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

 

 

Characteristics

 

1. Research project objectives/ Research hypothesis

 

The aim of the proposed project is to gain new knowledge based on complex information in the western march of the "steppe" population settlement in Europe. The subject of research will be burial mounds in the territory of Vojvodina (Serbia) near confluence Tisa in Danube, dated to the 1st half of the 3rd millennium BC. They are the westernmost vestiges of the expansion of population originating from the Northern Black Sea steppe areas. Data acquired from research on burial ritual and biological characteristics of designated groups of the Yamnaya culture populations will serve the comparisons with information on other groups of steppe populations in the Danube basin and the North Pontic zone.
The crucial task is to compile data on burial rituals of the "tumuli" population from the Danube region with those from Central Europe. It is of vital importance for reconstruction of the funerary "activities" of observable for the vast areas of Central Europe in the 3rd millennium BC (i.e. the Corded Ware culture).
The critical component of studies in the proposed project is the determination of the character of cultural changes taking place within the migrating steppe populations. Meaningful will also be the comparison drawn between those changes and the biological information derived from archaeological and archaeozoological data.
The overriding issue in the project will be therefore the relations between migrations of the steppe population and emergence of new types of cultural patterns in the 3rd millennium BC Central Europe. The final effect of the project will be an English monograph.

 

2. Research project methodology

 

Within the proposed project we intend to elaborate the archival materials as well as to acquire new data in the course of both noninvasive
research and excavations. The Yamnaya culture finds from Vojvodiny (burial mounds at the Jabuka, Perlez and Vojlovica sites) will be subjected to both archaeological and anthropological investigation. The samples from skeletal remains will be subjected to radiocarbon and stable isotopes (of oxygen, strontium, carbon, nitrogen) analyses as well as to the genetic material analyses. Furthermore we plan to carry out archaeobotanical, archaeozoological and sedimentological analyses of the material. In order to widen the set of data meeting all currently operative standards, excavations of two burial mounds will be performed. The tumuli chosen for field research are localized near Novi Sad, and thereby belong to the westernmost concentration of the Yamnaya culture burial mounds in Europe.
Prior to excavations the geophysical and topographic surveys will be performed in order to properly recognize the burial mounds' surroundings and to create Digital Elevation Models (DEM) of the area under research.
All the project results will be presented in texts combined to a monograph in English - the final effect of the project.

 

3. Expected impact of the research project on the development of science, civilization and society

 

The expected results are of great importance to European prehistory, for they will help to solve the problem of the role of expansion of the steppe populations in cultural changes in the 1st half of the 3rd millennium BC Central Europe. These results are of great importance also for describing the local context of the Yamnaya culture in Vojvodina to be compared with other regions of expansion of the steppe populations in Europe.
The analyses of multisource archaeological and anthropological data (accordingly to those listed in the project) are of great importance for future research on both regional and interregional scale.
The project aims at making a step forward in searches for compatibility of results of archaeological research and specialized "hard-science" investigations. The step forward in terms of significance of demonstrating the advantages and disadvantages of all prescribed methods for designing future research initiatives concerning prehistoric cemeteries.

 

Project information

 

Project title: Exploitation and processing of chocolate flint during Paleolithic and Mesolithic in the North-Western part of its deposits based on non-invasive archeological and geophysical research and test-trenches

Project No: UMO-2015/17/N/HS3/01279

Project lead: mgr Katarzyna Marta Kerneder-Gubała

Project lead, institutional: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Project financing:National Science Center, 2014-2016

Contact:

e-mail: gubalka@poczta.fm
phone (22) 620-28-81 do 86

Project implementation:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

 

 

Characteristics

 

1. Research project objectives/ Research hypothesis

 

Extraction and processing of raw materials in the Stone Age was one of the most important factor in the clustering of the human settlement around raw material deposits and also an attribute determining the nature of the occupations that focused on a specified function. Contemporary expression of these processes related to flint manufacturing are the sites that are remnants of the subsequent stages of production: flint mines, workshop, in which the raw material was processed and hunting camps as well as other features of residential character. Within the Polish territory, there are several excellent quality raw materials, that were eksploited during the Stone Age. One of them is chocolate flint, widely used especially during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic. It occurs in the northern margin of the Holy Cross Mountains. The present project concerns the extreme, the north-western part of its deposits, located in the southern part of Mazowieckie voivodship. The objective of the study is a detailed diagnosis of the Paleolithic and Mesolithic settlements focused on the exploitation and processing of flint in the limited by natural boundaries part of chocolate flint outcrops and attempt to reconstruct the diversity of the systems of prehistoric flint mining and processing in various time periods and within particular taxonomic units.

 

2. Research project methodology

 

According to the issue determined in the title, the studies shall be based on the results of non-invasive geophysical and archeological research and test-trenche surveys.
The geophysical surveys will be undertaken basing on the results of surface prospection, in order to verify and pinpoint places of exploitation and processing of raw materials.
These analyzes will focus on the verification of the data obtained during the surface survey, especially of mining fields. Coring with the use of geological drill will be carried out as well as small scale excavations, where the samples for absolute dating (AMS technique) and geomological analysis will be taken. Furthermore the archeo-biological analyzes shall be undertaken.
The data obtained will be correlated with the results of field works and cartographic and remote sensing data analysis. After every single fieldwork season a regular analysis of the flint artefacts (including the chronological, functional and spatial analysis) shall be carried out. In the final stage of the project, the map taking into account these data, together with an attempt to reconstruct settlement systems in the vicinity of flint outcrops in different periods of the Stone Age will be undertaken.

 

3. Expected impact of the research project on the development of science, civilization and society

 

The research will allow for a diagnosis and documentation of the area used in prehistory as a place of extraction (mine) and manufacturing (workshop) of the "chocolate flint", one of the most widely used raw material in the Stone Age on Polish territory. Based on the results, it should be possible to reconstruct the particular settlement system focused on the economy of raw materials use and apply the obtained model to other areas related to the extraction of flint mining in prehistory. It should be also possible to assess the relationship between the distance from the mining fields and the nature of the settlement as well as the impact of this factor on the intensity of the Stone Age occupation presence in this area in particular time periods.
The results of the above-mentioned studies shall be published in scientific journals and presented at prestigious national and international conferences. Synthetic elaboration of this research results shall form an important part of the PhD dissertation with a preliminary title: "Paleolithic and Mesolithic settlement in the north-western area of the chocolate flint outcrops"

 

Project information

 

Project title: Awaiting the rain. Economy, culture, beliefs of Neolithic pastorilas of tudays's Western Desert in Egypt

Project No: UMO-2015/17/B/HS3/01315

Project lead: prof. dr hab. Michał Kobusiewicz

Project lead, institutional: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences
Project financing:National Science Center, 2014-2016

Contact:

e-mail: mkobus@man.poznan.pl
phone (22) 620-28-81 do 86

Project implementation:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences

 

 

Characteristics

 

1. Research project objectives/ Research hypothesis

 

The purpose of the project is to reconstruct the economic foundations and spiritual culture of Neolithic societies living in territories located in the southern part of the West Desert in Egypt during the early Holecene. The basis for reconstruction will comprise of multi-disciplinary excavation of the settlement compound in Berget el Sheb, as well as sites located at the foot of the Eocene Escarpment and their placement in the wide context of Neolithic settlement in the Western Desert. In the area of Berget el Sheb, remains of residential and utility sites were registered featuring perfectly preserved organic material, burial pits and stone structures (including tumuli) which most likely contain interments or sacrificial pits. Flint and other rock materials are present in the layers of the Eocene Cliff which were a valuable resource for the Neolithic people. The rock outcrops are likely accompanied by specialized workshops where the initial processing of the top-quality material was made. Research conducted so far in this part of the Western Desert brought plenty of new data explaining the culture of the Neolithic pastoralists staying in the area. Yet many questions still remain unanswered. The proposed project should deepen our knowledge regarding the nature of Neolithic settlement, economic base, social organization and the beliefs of the societies studied, as well as their anthropological composition, state of health, diet or life expectancy. Thanks to the research conducted, it will also be possible to determine the level of influence of the Neolithic pastorial societies from the Western Desert on the development of the civilization of ancient Egypt.

 

2. Research project methodology

 

The basis for reconstruction will comprise of multi-disciplinary excavation of the settlement compound in Berget el Sheb, as well as sites located at the foot of the Eocene Escarpment and their placement in the wide context of Neolithic settlement in the Western Desert. In addition to archeologists, other specialists would participate - anthropologist, archeobotanist and geologist, ceramology specialist and other specialists as needed. A number of analyses in the scope of these areas, as well as radiocarbon analysis and similar would be conducted to make it possible to recreate the original environment and chronology of the development of the societies researched.

 

3. Expected impact of the research project on the development of science, civilization and society

 

The project will result in a deeper knowledge of the prehistorical inhabitants of the Western Desert in the Neolithic, their culture, lifestyle and beliefs. At the end of the Neolithic period, these very societies, forced by the increasing drought, left the desert for good and settled in the valley of the Nile. To a large extent, they played a role in the forming of the ancient Egyptian state, bringing with them essential elements of their beliefs which they practiced thousands of years earlier. The project results will thus contribute to the discovery of the one of the most important events in the development of civilization.
The results of the research will be presented at specialized national and international conferences by the contractors of the project.The final effect will be a series of analytical reports, as well as synthetic articles (including popular science) in international journals with a high impact factor (e.g. from the Philapelphia list or ERIH) and will pertain to the reconstruction of the environment's paleohistory, social and cultural changes, as well as the chronostratigraphy of settlement in the region. These reports, along with earlier publications will constitute a basis to prepare a monography ofthe Berget el Sheb region and the Eocene Cliff. They will make a large contribution to the knowledge of cultural development of not only the Western Desert in Egypt, but also northeast Africa and will bring this knowledge closer to the scientific community, as well as the part of world society interested in the beginnings of civilization.