Books by Dariusz Manasterski
Mazury Lake District at the dawn of the Neolithic and outset of the Early Bronze Age in the light... more Mazury Lake District at the dawn of the Neolithic and outset of the Early Bronze Age in the light of type Ząbie-Szestno assemblages
ŚWIATOWIT Supplement Series P: Prehistory and Middle Ages vol. XIX
Papers by Dariusz Manasterski
Archaeometry, Apr 2, 2024
Documenta Praehistorica
In the 3rd millennium BC, the area of the Masurian Lake District, located at the border zone of t... more In the 3rd millennium BC, the area of the Masurian Lake District, located at the border zone of the North and Eastern European Plains, was still dominated by hunter-gatherers. It was then that the Late Neolithic farming and pastoralist communities reached the region, where cultural and social changes were initiated. Tracing these changes is possible through an analysis of the unique funerary and ritual complex on the island of Lake Lanskie. Burials of representatives of the elites of rankingcommunities from the Late Neolithic were found there, as well as the discontinuation of such burials in the Early Bronze Age, which has already been associated with egalitarian communities.
Światowit : rocznik poświęcony archeologii przeddziejowej i badaniom pierwotnej kultury polskiej i słowiańskiej, 2010
Cultural traditions of the Linin Group in Early Trzciniec culture in Mazovia as represented by ma... more Cultural traditions of the Linin Group in Early Trzciniec culture in Mazovia as represented by materials from sites in Raszyn and Reguły near Warsaw
Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytet Warszawski, 2016
European Journal of Archaeology, 2022
At Supraśl 3 in north-eastern Poland, four Bell Beaker features contained small quantities of bur... more At Supraśl 3 in north-eastern Poland, four Bell Beaker features contained small quantities of burnt and highly fragmented human and animal bones and various, mostly fragmented, artefacts. These assemblages included twenty-four flint arrowheads, most of which bore traces of grinding, though not all were ground to the same extent. A comprehensive macroscopic and microscopic analysis was undertaken to determine the process of shaping these arrowheads and the possible reasons for grinding them, especially as no local flint working was recorded at the site. The authors suggest that the grinding of arrowheads reflects both practical and ritual concerns, possibly originating in emulation of techniques used by the Rzucewo culture and signalling contacts with the wider Bell Beaker milieu.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2022
The area of North-East Poland was in prehistory, and still is today, an area with easy access to ... more The area of North-East Poland was in prehistory, and still is today, an area with easy access to amber as a raw material, as is evidenced in part by numerous Late Neolithic (3rd millennium) amber workshops located in the GulfofGdan ́skandZ ̇uławyWi ́slane(VistulaFens).Giventhisfact,itissurprisingthatonlyafewfinishedamber products have been recovered from this area. Among them are unique ornaments from the Late Neolithic sites Ząbie 10, Supra ́sl 3, and Supra ́sl 6. The preliminary analysis showed that these amber artifacts differ from the products manufactured by local groups located in the territory of modern Poland. The selected artifacts were subjected to in-depth stylistic and technological analysis to identify their provenance, taking also into consid- eration the type of raw material used in their production by means of FTIR analysis. Stylistic analysis showed that several specimens have analogies amongst the amber beads known from the Bell Beaker phenomenon. However, most of the beads under study are unique, and there are no analogies among any Neolithic ornaments in Europe. In addition, it was found that the specimens from Ząbie 10, Supra ́sl 3, and Supra ́sl 6 had perforations drilled with a metal tool, not a flint drill bit, which was previously unheard of in this part of Europe. The FTIR analysis revealed the use of local amber, including its different varieties i.e., succinite, gedano-succinite and gedanite. It also revealed its varying state of preservation. This may be useful for exploring the environmental context in which these artifacts were deposited.
Documenta Praehistorica XLVII, 2020
The Bell Beaker (BB) cultural package is one of the concepts explaining the extensive diffusion o... more The Bell Beaker (BB) cultural package is one of the concepts explaining the extensive diffusion of this phenomenon in Europe. Artefacts associated with the package, discovered mainly in the graves of men, form groups defining the status of the deceased. The BB package is a dynamic turn of events, changing depending on the region, but preserving certain characteristic traits. The complete set of its initial ingredients was not copied in any location, and new local elements were added in various areas of its diffusion. The ritual features unearthed in northeastern Poland, which contained elements of the BB package, are the assemblages located the furthest in the East European periphery of the phenomenon. The eco-and artefacts from these assemblages are difficult to interpret conclusively within the framework of the classic BB package, as well as in terms of its changes associated with its diffusion. This is connected with the fact that they include elements unknown among the local cultural entities, which reflect the broad circle of contacts their owners maintained.
Archaeologia Baltica, 2010
Journal of European Archaeology, 2022
At Supraśl 3 in northeastern Poland, four Bell Beaker features contained small quantities of burn... more At Supraśl 3 in northeastern Poland, four Bell Beaker features contained small quantities of burnt and highly fragmented human and animal bones and various, mostly fragmented, artefacts. These assemblages included twenty-four flint arrowheads, most of which bore traces of grinding, though not all were ground to the same extent. A comprehensive macroscopic and microscopic analysis was undertaken to determine the process of shaping these arrowheads and the possible reasons for grinding them, especially as no local flint working was recorded at the site. The authors suggest that the grinding of arrowheads reflects both practical and ritual concerns, possibly originating in emulation of techniques used by the Rzucewo culture and signalling contacts with the wider Bell Beaker milieu.
European Journal of Archaeology, 2020
The ephemeral nature of religious practices and rituals makes them challenging to trace in the ar... more The ephemeral nature of religious practices and rituals makes them challenging to trace in the archaeological record of Late Neolithic hunter-gatherer communities in central and eastern Europe. A ritual feature with Bell Beaker elements discovered in northeastern Poland, a region occupied by hunter-gatherer groups of the Neman cultural circle, is thus exceptional. Its syncretic character indicates its role as a harbinger of wider cultural change that led to the emergence in this region of the western group of the Bronze Age Trzciniec cultural circle.
Praehistorische Zeitschrift, 2022
Until the beginning of the 21st century it was believed that the north-eastern border of... more Until the beginning of the 21st century it was believed that the north-eastern border of Bell Beaker influ-ence reaches the Vistula River basin. Recent discoveries in the North Podlachian Lowland provided grounds for veri-fication of this belief, particularly with regards to the Mas-urian Lake District, which used to be considered as a terri-tory of intensive activity of the Iwno Culture – a propagator of Bell Beaker influence in this part of Europe. This verifi-cation included materials of the highest diagnostic value – pottery and flint artefacts from two best-researched sites in this area: Ząbie X and Szestno II. As a result, fragments of pottery vessels and flint artefacts which can be conclu-sively associated with Bell Beakers were identified and their analyses revealed that these objects were not con-nected with the local Iwno Culture, but rather resembled both the materials recently unearthed in the North Podla-chian Lowland and corresponding materials from the area of the Atlantic coast. This might mean that people carrying the Bell Beaker cultural package reached the area of the Masurian Lake District and North Podlachian Lowland in the Late Neolithic.
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Books by Dariusz Manasterski
Papers by Dariusz Manasterski
Long time no hear, but we are delighted to reconnect and share our recent studies and projects with you! One noteworthy project comes from our PhD student and fellow editor, focusing on the analysis of ceramic production technology in north-eastern Poland during the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Additionally, we provide a brief summary of her field research to date at the site Święty Kamień Przylesie.
We are also excited to present an outline of a project by Janusz Uszko, a student at the Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw. Furthermore, we extend an invitation to participate in our field project "Comprehensive research on settlement relics in the historical Jaćwieża region, carried out in collaboration with the Augustów Land Museum.
In this edition, we delve into the future direction of archaeology, seeking insights from ChatGPT. We also encourage you to explore the online version of the exhibition "A World With No Borders," previously hosted at the Main Campus by the University of Warsaw and in the Museum of the Earth of the Polish Academy of Sciences last year. Don't miss the opportunity to watch and listen to the captivating soundtrack that accompanied the exposition, available on YouTube!
Thank you for your continued interest and support.
Dariusz Manasterski
Editor-in-chief
You are cordially invited to take a look at our research in the first issue of the newsletter "Neolithic Lifeways" published by our team! It is dedicated to Neolithic and Early Bronze Age issues, which we are working on at the University of Warsaw. If you have any questions, suggestions or would like to join our research, please feel free to contact us.
I wish you a pleasant reading,
Dariusz Manasterski
Archeologiczne badania nad relacjami społecznymi przełomu neolitu i epoki brązu w Polsce północno-wschodniej
Tematem przewodnim wystawy są relacje społeczne, które mogły zachodzić na przełomie neolitu i epoki brązu w północno-wschodniej Polsce. Jest to obszar zdominowany przez jeziora i rozlewiska rzek, który pomimo interdyscyplinarnych badań nasilających się w ostatnich latach, wciąż jest rozpoznany w stopniu niezadawalającym. Wskutek intensyfikacji badań archeologicznych doszło do wydzielenia kluczowych stanowisk, zawierających zabytki, które istotnie zmieniają peryferyjne postrzeganie sytuacji kulturowej w III i na początku II tys. p.n.e. Wystawa „Świat bez granic” prezentuje popularnonaukowe ujęcie dotychczas uzyskanych wyników oraz najważniejsze aspekty badań archeologicznych na tym obszarze.
Instytucje organizujące:
PAN Muzeum Ziemi w Warszawie, Uniwersytet Warszawski, Wydział Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Ośrodek Badań nad Antykiem Europy Południowo-Wschodniej Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Muzeum Podlaskie w Białymstoku.
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A World With No Borders
Archaeological Research on Social Relations at the Turn of Neolithic and Bronze Age in North-Eastern Poland.
The main subject of the exhibition is the social relations that may have taken place at the turn of the Neolithic and Bronze Age in north-eastern Poland. Here lies an area dominated by lakes and river floodplains which, despite interdisciplinary research intensifying in recent years, is still unsatisfactorily recognised. The increased archaeological research has resulted in the identification of key sites containing artefacts that significantly alter peripheral perceptions of the cultural situation in the 3rd and early 2nd millennia BC. The exhibition „ A World With no Borders" presents a popular scientific account of the results obtained so far and the most important aspects of archaeological research in the area.
Organising institutions:
PAS Museum of the Earth in Warsaw, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Archaeology University of Warsaw, Antiquity of Southeastern Europe Research Centre University of Warsaw, Podlaskie Museum in Białystok.