News & Events

Archaeological excavations in Biskupice – work is underway on the settlement from 7000 years ago

After a year, we returned to the archaeological site of the linear pottery culture in Biskupice near Wieliczka. We managed to discover the traces of new houses from 7,000 years ago, including the remains of one over 30-meter long, so-called long house. This investigation is carried out as part of the research project "Searching for a suitable place to settle down: the plant economy and human-environment interactions at the beginning of the Neolithic period in Małopolska" (grant no. 2018/30/E/HS3/00867; funding: National Science Centre) led by dr. Magdalena Moskal-del Hoyo from the IB PAS. The field work is carried out by archaeologists currently working at the IB PAS: Marta Korczyńska and Robert Kenig. In addition, students from the Institute of Archeology of the Jagiellonian University (IA JU) in Kraków are currently working with the excavation team as part of their summer internships under the supervision of dr. Marek Nowak (IA JU). So far, we have found over a thousand archaeological objects, mainly fragments of pottery. We also have come across lithic materials made of flint, stone and a few ones made of obsidian. As usual, we regularly have collected a number of samples for archaeobotanical research from each archaeological feature.

A man is pointing a geodetic instrument at a dug hole. He protects his head from the sun with a scarf

Tracking archaeological finds using a total station.
Photo: M. Korczyńska.

View from above of two dug holes with dark colored bottoms. Two women wearing headscarves are standing at their sides

Exploration of clay extraction pits.
Photo: M. Korczyńska.

View from above of several people digging soil out of holes or taking samples

Exploration of clay extraction pits.
Photo: M. Korczyńska.

View from above of a group of people digging soil out of holes. A tent stands next to the excavation site

Exploration of clay extraction pits.
Photo: M. Korczyńska.

The excavation site seen from a bird's eye view: two rectangular fields devoid of topsoil and with numerous pits

A view of this year's two excavation's units.
Photo: M. Korczyńska.

A woman in a hole uses a shovel to collect samples into plastic buckets. Another woman stands behind her with a sketchbook

Archaeobotanical sample collection.
Photo: M. Korczyńska.

A woman in a white hat leans over white plastic buckets

Archaeobotanical sample collection.
Photo: M. Korczyńska.

Two white plastic buckets half filled with soil. In the frame is a hand digging a shovel into the soil

Archaeobotanical sample collection.
Photo: M. Korczyńska.

A deep hole with vertical walls, with a clearly visible soil profile. The soil is black at the top and yellow at the bottom

Clay extraction pit profiles.
Photo: M. Korczyńska.

A fragment of a gray mineral held up to the light by two fingers. It is so thin that it almost shines through

Obsidian flake.
Photo: M. Korczyńska.

A hand holding a fragment of a clay vessel

A pottery fragment.
Photo: M. Korczyńska.

A hand holding a fragment of a clay vessel with a preserved ear

A pottery fragment.
Photo: M. Korczyńska.