Qumayrah 2 – neolithic settlement

Person conducting excavation: Marcin Białowarczuk PhD
Country: Sultanate of Oman
Site name: Qumayrah site 2
Type of the site: Settlement
Involved institutions:
Institute od Archaeology University of Warsaw Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw Ministry of Heritage and Culture, sultanate of Oman
Description of the research:
Traces of occupation of the Neolithic pastoralists groups, sesonally settled of highland and mountainous areas of northern Oman.
Project:
Omani-Polish Qumayrah Archaeological Project – PCMA University of Warsaw

Szczepanki – peat-bog site of hunter-gatherers

Person conducting excavation: dr hab. Witold Gumiński
Country: Poland
Site name: Szczepanki site 8, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
Involved institutions: Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw
Type of the site: Stone Age peat-bog site of hunter-gatherers

Description of the research: Paleoenvironment, economy, settlement, burial practices and wooden, bone, amber, stone and flint artefacts, as well as pottery in following periods of the Stone Age – the Late Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Para-Neolithic (Zedmar culture) and the Late Neolithic.

Research project:
NCN Opus 20; nr 2020/39/B/HS3/02375, Absolute chronology of burials and loose human bones from the hunter-gatherer Stone Age sites Dudka and Szczepanki in Masuria (NE-Poland)
published results of the project:
– Bugajska, K. (2023). Purified by fire: Cremation burials in the Stone Age hunter-gatherer cemetery at Dudka, Masuria, northeast Poland. Documenta Praehistorica50, 110-135. https://doi.org/10.4312/dp.50.10

Failaka Island – waterfront archaeology

Person conducting excavation:
Prof. Piotr Bieliński, Agnieszka Pieńkowska PhD, Magdalena Nowakowska MA
Country: Kuwait
Site name: Failaka Island
Involved institutions:
Polish Center of Mediterranean Archaeology and National Council of Culture, Arts and Letter, State of Kuwait
Type of the site: Waterfront archaeology of Failaka Island
Description of the research:
The Polish – Kuwaiti project: “Waterfront and Underwater Archaeology of Kuwait. Archeorisk on the Coastal Zone around Failaka Island, Kuwait” is the first archaeological research project concerning underwater cultural heritage of Kuwait and Failaka Island. The aim of the project is to detect and describe remaining archaeological sites at the tidal area, as well as to provide documentary evidence and finally organise the proper preservation. During previous seasons many littoral constructions were reported. The result was stunning: 33 stone structures located, and most of them interpreted as fish traps – stone tidal weirs and remains of three harbours with breakwaters were also discovered.
Project:
“Waterfront and Underwater Archaeology of Kuwait. Archeorisk on the Coastal Zone around Failaka Island, Kuwait”

Wólka Prusinowska – cemetery

Person conducting excavation: Kamil Niemczak MA, mgr Iwona Lewoc MA
Country: Poland
Site name: Wólka Prusinowska
Type of the site: cemetery
Involved institutions:
Terra Desolata Foundation
Description of the research:
The cemetery in Wólka Prusinowska (Ger. Pruschinowen Wolka) is located on the north-eastern high bank of the Wielki Zyzdrój Lake. It was discovered at the end on the XIX century. During the modern excavations we discovered – among them – bronze bow brooch, disc brooches with wooden insert, bronze tweezers, iron buckle with trapezoidal frame. It is evidence of contacts Olsztyn Group with Avars. Apart from that we found several hundred fragments of pottery. Part of it was decorated.
More info: terradesolata.pl
Project/sources of financing:
Institute of Archaeology, Consultative Council for Students’ Scientific Movement of  University of Warsaw, Universitatis Varsoviensis Foundation, University of Warsaw Foundation, Terra Desolata Foundation

Shestovytsia – barrow early medieval cemetery

Person conducting excavation: Dariusz Błaszczyk PhD, dr Viacheslav PhD Skorokhod
Country: Ukraine
Site name: Shestovytsia
Type of the site: barrow early medieval cemetery
Involved institutions:
Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw; Centre of Archaeology and Ancient History, Taras Shevchenko Teachers’ Training University, Chernihiv
Description of the research:
Description of the research: Research is carried out at the barrow cemetery, which is part of the settlement complex from the early Middle Ages consisting of a stronghold and an adjacent settlement. The aim of the research is to investigate using modern methods (drone photos, 3D documentation, physicochemical analyses) of a selected part of the cemetery, determine its exact chronology, reconstruct the funeral rite and identify the socio-cultural affiliation of the people buried there
Project:
‘Shestovytsia – the barrow cemetery from the Viking Age period’. Research financed by the Institute of Archaeology University of Warsaw and Centre of Archaeology and Ancient History, Taras Shevchenko Teachers’ Training University, Chernihiv

Podlesie – early neolithic site

Person conducting excavation: Artur Grabarek, MA
Country: Poland
Site name: Podlesie, site 6,  Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship
Type of the site: cementry of the Lusatian Culture
Involved institutions:
Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw
Description of the research:
In the years 2014-2018, the area of 380 m² was investigated. About 13,000 artefacts were discovered: 9,000 pieces of ceramics, 2400 flint products, 100 obsidian products, 110 stone items, as well as clay weights, whorls, fragments of animal bones. Stratigraphic and planigraphic observations and the results of a comprehensive analysis of materials, clearly indicate that we are dealing with a culturally homogeneous group, constituting a remnants of the middle and late phase of the LBK. The nature of the finds makes the site Podlesie one of the most important points on the map of the KCWR settlements in the Nida Basin region.
Project:

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Podlesie – cemetery of the Lusatian Culture

Person conducting excavation: Artur Grabarek, MSc
Country: Poland
Site name: Podlesie, site 5,  Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship
Type of the site: cemetery of the Lusatian Culture
Involved institutions: Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw

Description of the research: Podlesie is a small village, located about 5 km east of Oleśnica in the świętokrzyskie voivodeship. In 2014-2017, excavations were carried out at the site, during which a surface area of 150 m² was investigated. Over 100 graves with cremations body in urn were discovered that belong to the Tarnobrzeg culture. A large scientific value is not only a diversified ceramic inventory, but also a very rich collection small bronze and flint artefacts. Some of them occurred in the grave context. Two well-equipped graves of the Przeworsk culture were also discovered. The analysis confirmed the similarity of materials from Podlesie to items of other cemeteries of the Lusatian culture in this region.

Novae – legionary fortress and late Roman town

Principal investigator: dr hab. Agnieszka Tomas
Name of the site:
Novae
Country:
Bulgaria
Partner institutions:
Faculty of Archaeology University of Warsaw and the National Institute of Archaeology Bulgarian Academy of Sciences with the Museum
Type of the site:
Roman legionary camp (castra legionis), civil settlement (canabae legionis) and late Roman town.

Chronology: 1st-6th century AD

The legionary fortress in Novae today is an archaeological site in northern Bulgaria, on the Danube, near the town of Svishtov. It was probably founded around the middle of the 1st century AD. The 1st Italian legion was based here for most of its existence and its presence is confirmed until the 30s of the 5th century AD. In the area of ​​the camp, which covers 17.99 ha, monumental buildings have been discovered, the most important of which is the headquarters building (principia), although the legionary hospital (valetudinarium) and baths (thermae legionis) are equally impressive. There was a civil settlement (canabae) on the west side of the camp, and a necropolis on the south and east side. In the late antiquity, the fortifications of Novae were reinforced, and an additional area (the so-called annex) was attached to the camp from the east, covering an area of ​​almost 9 ha. At that time, both soldiers and civilians lived within the walls. Traces of the latest Roman activity date back to the end of the 6th century.

Novae - phot. M. Pisz
Novae – phot. M. Pisz

Description of the present research:

In 2021, we started research in the central part of the site, directly behind the fortress’ headquarters (principia). In this place, in 2005, the remains of a massive building with a regular layout were documented, as well as the reused base of the statue of the legionary legate during the reign of Gordian III. The aim of the research is to determine the nature of the buildings in this part of the camp and to determine the function of the aforementioned building, which may have been the seat of the legion commander (praetorium).

Thanks to the discoveries in 2021-22, we learned that the buildings in this place had a residential character until the late Roman period.

See the documentary about our field works: FILM

The previous project, including research in the late antique Novae district (the so-called annex) and the necropolis, was completed in 2021.

Project completed/financial support:
Extramural settlement near the Roman legionary fortress at Novae (Lower Moesia) and its fate in Late Antiquity, National Science Centre, OPUS 10, NCN, OPUS 10, no. 2015/19B/HS3/017/90

Publications:

  • A. Tomas, E. Jaskulska, J. Dworniak-Jarych, E Jęczmienowski, T. Dziurdzik, A. Mech, The eastern necropolis at Novae, Archaeologia Bulgarica 24/3, 2020, 37–63
  • The transformation of Novae. Eastern necropolis and the late Roman extension [in:] Transformations in Antiquity, A. Tomas (ed.), BREPOLS, RomA Series (in preparation)

Other projects realized in Novae by the Expedition of the Faculty of Archaeology UW:

Novae 2017-2021. In medio castrorum. Sculptural and epigraphic landscape of the central part of the legionary fortress at Novae

Novae 2012-2015. Research on settlement structures near the Roman legionary camp at Novae (Lower Moesia) using non-destructive prospection methods (A. Tomas, completed)

Novae 2009-2011. The headquarters building and the fortifications (T. Sarnowski, completed)

Supraśl – ritual place

Person conducting excavation: prof. Dariusz Manasterski
Country: Poland
Site name: Supraśl, site 3, Podlaskie Voivodeship
Type of the site: cementry of the Przeworsk Culture
Involved institutions: Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw; Podlachian Museum in Białystok

Description of the research: Excavation works covered the area of sandy elevation among the backwaters of the Supraśl River within the Knyszyn Primeval Forest , where four ritual objects of the Bell Beaker culture have been recognized so far. There were also traces of the stay of the Corded Ware culture and Lusatian culture from the early Iron Age.

Project: Interdisciplinary research of the Knyszyn Primeval Forest microregion (financed from the budget of the Faculty of Archaeology University of Warsaw and the Podlachian Museum in Białystok)

 

Gołębiewo – cemetery of the Przeworsk Culture

Person conducting excavation: Andrzej Maciałowicz, Ph.D.
Country: Poland
Site name: Gołębiewo, site 14, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship
Type of the site: cemetery of the Przeworsk Culture
Involved institutions: Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw

Description of the research: One of the broadest cremation cemeteries of the Przeworsk Culture dated to the Late Pre-Roman and the Early Roman periods (2nd cent. BC – 2nd cent. AD), which provided, among others, a large series of iron weapons.
Project: “Late Iron Age in Prussia – rescue excavations at the cemeteries in Czerwony Dwór (Site XXI), Gołębiewo (Site XIV), and Piecki (Site I), the Warmińsko-Mazurskie Voivodeship” – project completed in 2008 (together with P. Szymański and M. Rudnicki) as a part of the Operational Program “Cultural Heritage” (Priority 4), financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.