New Publication!

An article titled “Notched implements made of scapulae (Bruszczewo-type tools) – a problem solved? Discovering cereal- and legume-threshing techniques in Early Bronze Age Europe through traceological analysis and residue studies” has been published in the prestigious journal PLoS One. The paper presents the results of studies on the function of specific bone tools made from animal scapulae discovered in an Early Bronze Age fortified settlement in Bruszczewo (Greater Poland). Tools of this type are known from numerous European sites, and the discussion regarding their probable use has been ongoing for over 100 years.

The research detailed in the article includes traceological analyses of these tools, studies of residues found on their surfaces, and experimental archaeology. The results suggest that these tools were used for threshing (a method of separating grains) and applied to cereals and legumes. The research was conducted with international cooperation, including specialists from the DANTE – Diet and Ancient Technology Laboratory at the Sapienza University of Rome and BIAX Biological Archaeology & Environmental Reconstruction, Zaandam, The Netherlands.

The article can be downloaded for free using the link: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.03087

Experimental works in progress:)

The warm summer days have given our team the perfect chance to get stuck into some new and exciting experimental projects😁 One of these was an experiment testing bone spearheads in the context of hunting aquatic animals – what an experiment it was! 🤪😬

We look forward to sharing the results with you!

P.s. Just to be clear, no animals were harmed during this project. We love all animals, and we only used dead ones for scientific purposes.

Research trip to Riga

In the past two weeks, we were in Latvia, mainly at the Museum Storage Facility in Riga. We documented and analysed unique prehistoric bone points and fishing hooks from Lake Lubāns. Prof. Osipowicz also examined a small wooden boat recovered from a swamp in the late 19th century, revealed by radiocarbon dating to be a Mesolithic artifact!

New publication!

We invite all interested to read a new article which presents the first results of both dryland and underwater investigations at the multi-period Garnys riverine site situated on the Žeimena River in eastern Lithuania, which appeared in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports!!!

Gytis Piličiauskas, Elena Pranckėnaitė, Aldas Matiukas, Grzegorz Osipowicz, Kęstutis Peseckas, Justina Kozakaitė, Aldona Damušytė, Erika Gál, Giedrė Piličiauskienė, Harry K. Robson (2023). Garnys: An underwater riverine site with delayed Neolithisation in the southeastern Baltic. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2023.104232

2023 May: 13th Experimental Archaeology Conference #EAC13, Torun, Poland

EXARC/EAC held its first fully hybrid conference this year at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland on 1-3 May. The conference was a huge success. Among the many exciting presentations, we were pleased to present the first results of traceological studies of the wooden artefacts from site Sventoji in Lithuania: Traceology on Prehistoric Wooden Artefacts. Is it Possible? By Grzegorz Osipowicz (PL), Justyna Orłowska (PL), Giedrė Piličiauskienė (LT), Gytis Piličiauskas (LT). Right now, its time to prepare a nice article! 🙂

Visit in Vilnius

The last stage of our December tour was a visit to the National Museum of Lithuania in Vilnius, where we realised the second stage of sampling unique wooden artefacts discovered at a Subneolithic site in Sventoji for the anthracological analyses and radiocarbon dating. It is a supplementing study to our main project focused on bone artefacts. It was a lot of very precise and stressful work, but we are sure that the results of these studies will be stunning 🙂

Now we are finally back in Poland. Happy Christmas and a lot of joy in the coming year to all of You:)

Logo of the project

Dear Colleagues, let me introduce the logo of our project. It will allow the ones interested in our studies to recognize them easier on the internet.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Research trip to Latvia

After visiting Estonia, we traveled to Latvia, where in the National History Museum of Latvia in Riga we had an opportunity to study unique finds from Lake Lubāns.

Research trip to Estonia

In the second half of December, we visited beautiful Tallinn in Estonia, where we analyzed bone artifacts from the Mesolithic site of Pulli. We thank the staff of the Archaeological research collection, Tallinn University, for their warm welcome and all their help 🙂

New publication!

We invite all interested to read a new article regarding the osseous artefacts discovered in the Late Mesolithic burial no 57 and Neolithic burial no 164 at Zvejnieki cemetery in Latvia, which appeared in the Quaternary International Journal!!!

Osipowicz, G., Orłowska, J., & Zagorska, I. (2022). Towards understanding the influence of Neolithisation for communities using the Zvejnieki cemetery, Latvia : a technological and functional analysis of the osseous artefacts discovered in the Late Mesolithic burial no 57 and Neolithic burial no 164. Quaternary International, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2022.11.007