Dr Piotr Osypiński

Department for prehistoric and medieval studies

p.osypinski(at)iaepan.edu.pl

ORCID: 0000-0001-7843-224X

Research interests:

My research specialisation lies in the archaeology of Africa, a field in which I have acquired extensive experience through my involvement in challenging field research in remote areas of the northeastern and eastern parts of the continent. I have a solid, decades-long international field research experience in Poland, Sudan, Egypt and Tanzania, having received a Ministry of Science fellowship and two research grants funded by the National Science Centre (Poland).In addition to my own research, I collaborate with external projects serving as an archaeologist and specialist in stone material analysis. In addition to my active involvement in the scientific community, I participate in conferences and professional meetings, including the Nubian Studies Conference, the Commission of the Later Prehistory of Northeastern Africa, and the Pan-African Archaeological Association Congress. Furthermore, I serve as a reviewer for publications such as Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean and Sudan&Nubia.

10 most important achievements:

Osypiński P. 2014. Prehistory of the 4th Cataract, (w:) The Fourth Cataract and Beyond. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies, London, 2010, J. Anderson, D. Welsby (red.), Peeters (Leuven, Paris, Walpole), str. 9-18.
A summary of research into the prehistory of the area destined for inundation/resettlement prior to the construction of the dam on the 4th Cataract of the Nile. The result of research by many expeditions from around the world. Text of an opening presentation at the 12th International Conference for Nubian Studies in London. I acknowledge this presentation (and a paper) as a kind of award for my engagement in the international salvage project.
 
Osypińska M., P. Osypiński 2016. Animal Exploitation and Behaviour of the Latest Middle Stone Age Societies in the Middle Nile Valley: Archaeozoological and Taphonomic Analysis of Late Pleistocene Fauna from the Affad Basin, Sudan. African Archaeological Review 33 (2): 107-127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10437-016-9220-4
In this article, the PI and I analyse the unique, perfectly preserved animal remains from the MSA open site that we have studied since 2012, Affad23. These data have made it possible for the first time to reveal the hunting strategies of Palaeolithic groups in the Middle Nile Valley, going beyond previous research focusing on pure taxonomic identifications.
 
Osypiński, P., Morley, M., Osypińska, M., Kotarba-Morley, A. 2016. Affad 23: settlement structures and palaeoenvironments in the Terminal Pleistocene of the Middle Nile Valley, Sudan. Antiquity 90 (352): 894-913. https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2016.110
First presentation of a unique evidence of MSA settlement remains (postholes, hearths) at an open site in the middle Nile Valley and the geoarchaeological context of the finds. Previous records of MSA sites from NE Africa have not included such well-preserved encampment relics. The joint work of our team, in which my participation was leading.
 
Osypiński P., Osypińska M. 2016. Optimal Adjustment or cultural backwardness? New data on the latest Leallois industries in the Nile Valley, Quaternary International 408 (Part B): 90-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.09.033
Reflections on the importance of redefining MSA stone assemblages and the settlement chronology in the Middle Nile Valley - my contribution to the analyses of stone manufacture we recorded at Affad23 (with refittings as one of a method). By design, the collection of tools and manufacturing waste corresponding to the Levallois methods dated extremely late in relation to the canon of knowledge, provoking questions about a new definition of the MSA as an adaptive strategy with an unusually long duration.
 
Osypiński P. 2020. Upper Nubia and beyond during the Terminal Pleistocene. New premises for the late occurrence of the MSA (w:) Not Just a Corridor. Human occupations of the Nile Valley and neighbouring regions between 75,000 and 15,000 years ago. A.Leplongeon, M.Goder-Goldberger, D.Pleurdeau (red.) Muséum National D’Histoire Naturelle (Paris), 'Natures en Sociétés', str. 60-83. https://books.openedition.org/mnhn/6977
In this book chapter, I summarise the results of the research at Affad by showing its broader context - the general state of knowledge about the prehistory of the Middle Nile Valley during the Terminal Pleistocene epoch. In this zone, an unusually late survival of technological traditions meeting the MSA definition was observed in the absence of LSA sites. The records from Affad and my analyses have made it possible to put forward the hypothesis that perhaps the Middle Nile Valley represents a space in which the adaptation of human groups did not force local evolution or even prevented it, while new cultural trends from outside did not arrive.
 
Osypińska M., Skibniewski M., Osypiński P. 2020. Ancient pets. The health, diet and diversity of cats, dogs and monkeys from the Red Sea port of Berenice (Egypt) in the 1st-2nd centuries AD. World Archaeology 52(2):1-15 https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2020.1870545
The first comprehensive presentation of the results of research on a companion animal cemetery from Roman Berenike. My participation in the project is crucial - I am responsible for the excavation and interpretation of the burial layouts and utilitarian phases of the cemetery. To date, it is the oldest companion animal burial ground, providing a basic understanding of the phenomenon of the relationship between humans of antiquity and companion animals and the burial customs in relation to these non-human members of the community.
 
Osypiński P., S. Burrough, A. Skinner, K. Standzikowski 2021. Re-examining the age of the Affad MSA deposits in the middle Nile Valley. Archaeometry 63/6: 1405-1420.
Studies clarifying the correct interpretation of MSA settlement dating results confronting and commenting on OSL, TL, radiocarbon and ESR analyses. I was the leader of this idea and also the leader of the interdisciplinary team of specialists.
 
Osypińska, M. Osypiński P., Bełka Z., Chłodnicki M, Wiktorowicz P., Ryndziewicz R., Kubiak M. 2021. Wild and domestic cattle: marks of ecological change and human adaptation. Journal of Filed Archaeology 46/7: 429-447. https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2021.1924491
In this article, together with an interdisciplinary team of specialists, we describe the oldest records of a wild ancestor of cattle (aurochs) from the contexts of the Affad MSA sites and also show important shared and distinct elements with Neolithic-era domesticated cattle in the same area. Analyses have included both classical archaeozoological methods and Sr isotopic records - an approach novel to the study of early animal domestication issues in Africa. My contribution to the project is the coordination of all field activities (excavation, survey, magnetometry, sampling strategies, etc.).
 
Osypiński P., Osypińska M., Zych I. 2021. Wadi Khashab. Unearthing late prehistory in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, Polish Publications in Mediterranean Archaeology 5, Peeters (Leuven). ISBN 978-90-429-4381-0. https://peeters-leuven.be/pdf/9789042943827.pdf
A monograph summarising research at a cemetery of early pastoral group from the 5th millennium BC. The archaeological site of great cognitive potential shedding new light on questions of local African cattle domestication, the origins of African pastoralism and the roots of monumental sepulchral sites in the Nile Valley but also in East Africa. I was the leader of an interdisciplinary research team and the Principal Investigator of a grant providing funding for the research.
 
Martin, N., Thibeault, A., Varadzinová, L., Ambrose, S. H., Antoine, D., Brukner Havelková, P., Honegger, M., Irish, J.D., Osypiński, P., Usai, D., Vanderesse, N., Varadzin, L., Whiting, R. J., Velemínský, P., & Crevecoeur, I. 2024. From hunter-gatherers to food producers: New dental insights into the Nile Valley population history (Late Paleolithic–Neolithic). American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 184(4), e24948. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24948
An example of participation in broad multidisciplinary research teams. In this case - the contribution of data from my research (Affad, Letti) for the study of population changes in the Middle Nile Valley during Palaeolithic and Neolithic periods.

Awards and grants (PI):

SMN/19/1489/2023 – Award Scholarship of the Ministry of Science (Poland) for Outstanding Young Scholars

NCN UMO-2020/37/B/HS3/00519 – Research Grant of National Science Centre (Poland), edition OPUS Unearthing pan-African Crossroad? Significance of the middle Nile valley in prehistory.

NCN UMO-2012/07/N/HS3/04056 – Research Grant of National Science Centre (Poland), edition PRELUDIUM The place and the significance of the Prehistoric Sacral Complex at Wadi Khashab, Egypt, Eastern Desert

Co-director (main researcher) in other projects:

NCN UMO-2011/01/D/HS3/04125 – Research Grant of National Science Centre (Poland), edition SONATA: Levallois Tradition Epigons in the Middle Nile Valley.Late Middle Palaeolithic settlement research in the Affad Basin (northern Sudan), Field director, PI: dr Marta Osypińska (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences)
 
NCN UMO-2015/18/E/HS3/00416 – Research Grant of National Science Centre (Poland), edition SONATA BIS: Epigones and Forerunners – adaptation strategies of the Sub-Saharan Societies in Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene. Case study of the region of Affad Basin, Southern Dongola Reach, Sudan, Field director, PI: dr Marta Osypińska (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences)
 
NCN UMO-2016/23/B/HS3/03576 – Research Grant of National Science Centre (Poland), edition OPUS: Africa-Europe-Asia: The significance of Intercontinental trade in Roman Period for the history of livestock. New archaeozoological data of Red Sea port Berenike (Egypt), Field director, PI: dr Marta Osypińska (Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences)
 
NCN UMO-2021/43/B/HS3/02749 – Research Grant of National Science Centre (Poland), edition OPUS: Non-humans in Berenike society. Archaeozoological data for a discourse on ancient identity and value, Field director, PI: dr Marta Osypińska (Institute of Archaeology, University of Wrocław)
 
NCN UMO-2019/35/B/HS3/02440 - Research Grant of National Science Centre (Poland), edition OPUS: The "Good Shepherd" of Maseeda. An image in the context of the changing cultural landscape of the Third Cataract of the Nile, specialist in lithic analysis, PI: dr Dobrochna Zielińska (Faculty of History, University of Warsaw)