Joanna Pyzel
Maria Curie - Skłodowska University, Institute of Archaeology, Faculty Member
Pyzel J. and Gomart L. 2023. From pots to potters: reconstructing group and individual variability in pottery production. A case study of the LBK site Cząstków Polski XII, Czosnów Commune. Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 75/2, 115-135. This... more
Pyzel J. and Gomart L. 2023. From pots to potters: reconstructing group and individual variability in pottery production. A case study of the LBK site Cząstków Polski XII, Czosnów Commune. Sprawozdania Archeologiczne 75/2, 115-135. This article presents the results of the analysis of the manufacturing macrotraces on the LBK pottery from Cząstków Polski, Site XII, Czosnów commune. It is a small, highly fragmented, and eroded assemblage and the usefulness of such material for the study of pottery production was tested. Different lines of evidence could be combined and led to the recognition of various vessel forming methods and to the reconstruction of distinct chaînes opératoires and even individual traits within them, indicating the occupation of the site by one community of practice with multiple manufacturers. Pottery production at Cząstków Polski followed general LBK potting standards but also shows some peculiarities indicating some degree of idiosyncrasy within this community of practice.
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A new chronological study of the LBK in the central Polish lowlands shows that it emerged later, lasted for a shorter period, and ended sooner than has been supposed up till now. LBK communities emerged, probably in the middle of the 53rd... more
A new chronological study of the LBK in the central Polish lowlands shows that it emerged later, lasted for a shorter period, and ended sooner than has been supposed up till now. LBK communities emerged, probably in the middle of the 53rd century cal BC, to form an enclave in the central Polish lowlands, probably as a result of colonisation from loess areas in the south of Poland. Settlement steadily intensified throughout the 52nd century cal BC, reaching its peak at the beginning of Phase III. In the middle of the 51st century cal BC there followed an abrupt decline or collapse, and LBK occupation of the lowlands had probably ended completely by the end of that century. There followed an appreciable gap before the re-emergence of settlement in the form of the Late Band Pottery culture (LBPC), characterised by significantly sparser settlement, changed dwelling structures and contacts with hunter-gatherer groups. A start to the wider task of comparing the situation in the central Po...
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Cattle were of vital importance to the people of the early Neolithic Linearbandkeramik (LBK) culture of central Europe. An LBK site where the dominance of cattle is particularly prevalent is the late-sixth millennium BC settlement of Lud-... more
Cattle were of vital importance to the people of the early Neolithic Linearbandkeramik (LBK) culture of central Europe. An LBK site where the dominance of cattle is particularly prevalent is the late-sixth millennium BC settlement of Lud- winowo 7 in the central Polish lowlands. The range of feature types on the site, the relatively large zooarchaeological assemblage and the dominance of cattle therein offer a unique opportunity to analyze the relationship between this species and early Neolithic people. A synthesis of in-depth zooarchaeological techniques has been applied to different archaeological contexts across the site to look for intrasite variation in consumption and deposition of cattle. Analysis assessing the age-at-death of cattle deposited, using both dental and postcranial remains, identified that immature (ca. 6–12 months) and adult remains were recovered from the clay pits unassociated with houses, whereas all age classes, but still with a predominance of adults, were...
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In the Editorial for the Special Issue What is New in the Neolithic? dedicated to Lech Czerniak in honour of his 70th birthday, we outline the articles in this collection.
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The Vistula River is the most important river in Polish history and culture. This paper discusses whether this could influence the hypothesis regarding the crucial role of this river for the Early Neolithic colonization of the Polish... more
The Vistula River is the most important river in Polish history and culture. This paper discusses whether this could influence the hypothesis regarding the crucial role of this river for the Early Neolithic colonization of the Polish lowlands. It presents an overview of the Linear Pottery culture settlement on the lower Vistula River. The main sources of information are broad-scale survey programmes, which provide an impressive number of sites, while the extent of large-scale excavations is very limited. This is an important caveat with respect to statements on similarities and differences in occupation between the lowlands and other regions. Nevertheless, according to the present state of research, the lower Vistula region can be regarded as a remote, but important settlement area of the LBK.
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The purpose of this paper is the presentation of the settlement of the first farming communities of the Linear Pottery culture in the Polish lowlands. A case study of three neighboring micro-regions excavated on a large scale in eastern... more
The purpose of this paper is the presentation of the settlement of the first farming communities of the Linear Pottery culture in the Polish lowlands. A case study of three neighboring micro-regions excavated on a large scale in eastern Kuyavia was conducted, which offered the possibility of analyzing various levels of the settlement. Based on the results obtained a local model of the LBK occupation in Kuyavia could be reconstructed. I argue that despite some regional variability a very general common settlement pattern existed for the whole LBK consisting of an iconic longhouse as the basic unit, the presence of micro-regional clusters of more or less contemporary sites, and the preference for regions with optimal environmental conditions. However, a detailed comparison within and between separate sites in the study area revealed some degree of variability inside this supposedly homogeneous pattern which can indicate the existence of different social units among small regional communities and their changes over time.
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This paper discusses the role of the past in later Danubian cultures, exemplified by ref-erences to traces of LBK settlements, which were visible for a long time. Two regions, Rhineland and Kuyavia, are compared by conducting analyses of... more
This paper discusses the role of the past in later Danubian cultures, exemplified by ref-erences to traces of LBK settlements, which were visible for a long time. Two regions, Rhineland and Kuyavia, are compared by conducting analyses of spatial relationships of the LBK and post-LBK at macro- and microregional levels. The post-LBK development followed different trajectories there and equally diverse was the role of the past. Whereas in the Rhineland Middle Neolithic cultures obviously avoided it, in Kuyavia they referred to it and this tendency grew through time, leading to an unprecedented proliferation of memory practices during the Brześć Kujawski Culture.
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In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence (LP) is the most strongly selected monogenic trait to have evolved over the past 10,000 years1. Although the selection of LP and the... more
In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence (LP) is the most strongly selected monogenic trait to have evolved over the past 10,000 years1. Although the selection of LP and the consumption of prehistoric milk must be linked, considerable uncertainty remains concerning their spatiotemporal configuration and specific interactions2,3. Here we provide detailed distributions of milk exploitation across Europe over the past 9,000 years using around 7,000 pottery fat residues from more than 550 archaeological sites. European milk use was widespread from the Neolithic period onwards but varied spatially and temporally in intensity. Notably, LP selection varying with levels of prehistoric milk exploitation is no better at explaining LP allele frequency trajectories than uniform selection since the Neolithic period. In the UK Biobank4,5 cohort of 500,000contemporary Europeans, LP genotype was only weakly associated with milk consumption and did not show consistent associations with improved fitness or health indicators. This suggests that other reasons for the beneficial effects of LP should be considered for its rapid frequency increase. We propose that lactase non-persistent individuals consumed milk when it became available but, under conditions of famine and/or increased pathogen exposure, this was disadvantageous, driving LP selection in prehistoric Europe. Comparison of model likelihoods indicates that population fluctuations, settlement density and wild animal exploitation—proxies for these drivers—provide better explanations of LP selection than the extent of milk exploitation. These findings offer new perspectives on prehistoric milk exploitation and LP evolution (9) (PDF) Dairying, diseases and the evolution of lactase persistence in Europe. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362294487_Dairying_diseases_and_the_evolution_of_lactase_persistence_in_Europe [accessed Jul 31 2022].
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Direct, accurate, and precise dating of archaeological pottery vessels is now achievable using a recently developed approach based on the radiocarbon dating of purified molecular components of food residues preserved in the walls of... more
Direct, accurate, and precise dating of archaeological pottery vessels is now achievable using a recently developed approach based on the radiocarbon dating of purified molecular components of food residues preserved in the walls of pottery vessels. The method targets fatty acids from animal fat residues, making it uniquely suited for directly dating the inception of new food commodities in prehistoric populations. Here, we report a large-scale application of the method by directly dating the introduction of dairying into Central Europe by the Linearbandkeramik (LBK) cultural group based on dairy fat residues. The radiocarbon dates ( n = 27) from the 54th century BC from the western and eastern expansion of the LBK suggest dairy exploitation arrived with the first settlers in the respective regions and were not gradually adopted later. This is particularly significant, as contemporaneous LBK sites showed an uneven distribution of dairy exploitation. Significantly, our findings demon...
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Stable isotope signatures of domesticates found on archaeology sites provide information about past human behaviour, such as the evolution and adaptation of husbandry strategies. A dynamic phase in cattle husbandry evolution is during the... more
Stable isotope signatures of domesticates found on archaeology sites provide information about past human behaviour, such as the evolution and adaptation of husbandry strategies. A dynamic phase in cattle husbandry evolution is during the 6th millennium BCE, where the first cattle herders of central Europe spread rapidly through diverse forested ecological niches, where little is known about pasturing strategies. Here we investigate cattle pasturing and foddering practices using a multi-regional dataset of stable isotope values (δ13C and δ18O; compound-specific stable isotopic analysis δ15N-amino acids and δ13C-dairy fats) measured from cattle bone and teeth, and pottery residues from early farming contexts, and palaeoenvironmental information. Our analysis reveals that farmers practiced different pasturing strategies with the intensive use of forested ecosystems in some areas for both graze and seasonal forage. We propose that the diversity of strategies is related to the adaptatio...
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The 8.2-thousand years B.P. event is evident in multiple proxy records across the globe, showing generally dry and cold conditions for 160 years. Environmental changes around the event are mainly detected using geochemical or... more
The 8.2-thousand years B.P. event is evident in multiple proxy records across the globe, showing generally dry and cold conditions for 160 years. Environmental changes around the event are mainly detected using geochemical or palynological analyses of ice cores, lacustrine, marine, and other sediments often distant from human settlements. The Late Neolithic excavated area of the archaeological site of Çatalhöyük East [Team Poznań (TP) area] was occupied for four centuries in the ninth and eighth millennia B.P., thus encompassing the 8.2-thousand years B.P. climatic event. A Bayesian analysis of 56 radiocarbon dates yielded a high-resolution chronological model comprising six building phases, with dates ranging from before 8325-8205 to 7925-7815 calibrated years (cal) B.P. Here, we correlate an onsite paleoclimate record constructed from δH values of lipid biomarkers preserved in pottery vessels recovered from these buildings with changes in architectural, archaeozoological, and cons...
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In the Editorial for the special edition on Neolithic Housesholds, we introduce the history of house and household studies in European Neolithic Archaeology and outline the papers in this collection.
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The Brześć Kujawski culture emerged in the Polish Lowlands in the second half of the 5th millennium BC. It shares many characteristic features with Chalcolithic cultures of the Carpathian Basin indicating that BKK communities belonged to... more
The Brześć Kujawski culture emerged in the Polish Lowlands in the second half of the 5th millennium BC. It shares many characteristic features with Chalcolithic cultures of the Carpathian Basin indicating that BKK communities belonged to the wider ‘late Lengyel interaction sphere’. However, there are very striking regional distinctions in the material culture of these communities, which appear to reflect a conscious attempt to emphasize local identity, incorporating both innovation and conservatism. This article focuses on one of the most distinctive features of this culture – trapezoidal longhouses, presented here in the context of astonishingly various and hierarchical settlement system of the BKK. In this respect the iconic character of houses expressed by the uniformity of their form and size, seems to be a deliberate decision that stressed local identity in reference to the LBK heritage as well as other contemporary communities inhabiting the Polish Lowlands in the 5th millenni...
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This chapter deals with houses from the Polish lowland connected with the Linear Band Pottery Culture or Linearbandkeramik (LBK) and the Brześc Kujawski Culture (BKC). Although they belong to the tradition of Danubian longhouses, there is... more
This chapter deals with houses from the Polish lowland connected with the Linear Band Pottery Culture or Linearbandkeramik (LBK) and the Brześc Kujawski Culture (BKC). Although they belong to the tradition of Danubian longhouses, there is no chronological and technological continuity between them.
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Dies ist ein Beitrag zur Rekonstruktion der Besiedlungsgeschichte der Bandkeramik in Kujawien sowie der Analyse der Besiedlungsmuster in diesem Gebiet. Durch eine statistische Analyse, die anhand der Stilistik der Keramik vorgenommen... more
Dies ist ein Beitrag zur Rekonstruktion der Besiedlungsgeschichte der Bandkeramik in Kujawien sowie der Analyse der Besiedlungsmuster in diesem Gebiet. Durch eine statistische Analyse, die anhand der Stilistik der Keramik vorgenommen wurde, konnte eine Auswahl von 21 Fundstellen aus unterschiedlichen Teilen und Phasen der Bandkeramik in Kujawien relativ datiert werden. Diese Datierung bildet die Grundlage fur ein Modell, mit dem sich tragfahige Thesen zur bandkeramischen Besiedlungsgeschichte formulieren lassen. Die Hauptergebnisse aufgrund dieses Modells sind, dass das Gebiet Kujawiens schon in der altesten Bandkeramik dunn besiedelt war, dass die intensive Besiedlung mit der mittleren Bandkeramik einsetzt und dass die Anzahl der Siedlungen auch in spateren Phasen nicht mehr ansteigt. Daran an schliest sich die Auswertung der Befunde von unterschiedlichen Besiedlungsniveaus – von der Makroregion bis hin zu einzelnen Siedlungen - mit dem Ergebnis, dass sich die Besiedlungsmuster der...
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Książka podejmuje temat przeszłości, pamięci zbiorowej i historyczności w pradziejach, w okresie wczesnego neolitu. Zagadnienie to przedstawione zostało dla tzw. młodszych kultur naddunajskich V tysiąclecia w Europie Środkowej.... more
Książka podejmuje temat przeszłości, pamięci zbiorowej i historyczności w pradziejach, w okresie wczesnego neolitu. Zagadnienie to przedstawione zostało dla tzw. młodszych kultur naddunajskich V tysiąclecia w Europie Środkowej. Społeczności te w rozmaity sposób odnosiły się do fizycznych pozostałości osad najwcześniejszych rolników z VI tysiąclecia, zaliczanych do kultury ceramiki wstęgowej rytej. Do badań szczegółowych wybrane zostały trzy regiony: Nadrenia Północna, Saksonia-Anhalt i Kujawy, dla których przeprowadzono analizy osadnicze na poziomie makro- i mikroregionalnym, z uwzględnieniem wyników wybranych szerokopłaszczyznowych ratowniczych badań wykopaliskowych. Odnotowane przypadki pozytywnych i negatywnych odniesień do przeszłości omówione zostały na szerokim tle studiów nad przeszłością w przeszłości, co włącza tym samym badania nad początkami gospodarki wytwórczej w Europie Środkowej do prowadzonego obecnie w naukach historycznych i społecznych dyskursu pamięci.
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Das 4. Jahrtausend ist eine faszinierende Zeit von prägender Bedeutung in der europäischen Vorgeschichte, die sich deutlich von vorhergehenden und nachfolgenden Perioden unter anderem durch die steigende Variabilität der Kulturen und... more
Das 4. Jahrtausend ist eine faszinierende Zeit von prägender Bedeutung in der europäischen Vorgeschichte, die sich deutlich von vorhergehenden und nachfolgenden Perioden unter anderem durch die steigende Variabilität der Kulturen und Kulturgruppen unterscheidet. Im Gegensatz zu dieser partikularistischen Tendenz stehen wichtige technologische Innovationen sowie eng damit verknüpfte kulturelle, technologische und soziale Veränderungen, die sich in ganz Europa ausbreiteten.
Diese Vielfalt der Lebenswege zu untersuchen war Gegenstand der Sitzung der AG Neolithikum im Rahmen der 80. Tagung des Nordwestdeutschen Verbandes für Altertumsforschung in Lübeck am 2. und 3. September 2013.
Zwölf der Tagungsbeiträge werden in diesem Band publiziert: Es handelt sich dabei um Fallbeispiele zu bestimmten Regionen und Themenfeldern, die natürlich keine umfassende Übersicht des gesamten Jahrtausends geben können, dafür jedoch wertvolle Einblicke in die aktuelle Forschung zu diesem Zeitraum in Deutschland und Europa ermöglichen.
Diese Vielfalt der Lebenswege zu untersuchen war Gegenstand der Sitzung der AG Neolithikum im Rahmen der 80. Tagung des Nordwestdeutschen Verbandes für Altertumsforschung in Lübeck am 2. und 3. September 2013.
Zwölf der Tagungsbeiträge werden in diesem Band publiziert: Es handelt sich dabei um Fallbeispiele zu bestimmten Regionen und Themenfeldern, die natürlich keine umfassende Übersicht des gesamten Jahrtausends geben können, dafür jedoch wertvolle Einblicke in die aktuelle Forschung zu diesem Zeitraum in Deutschland und Europa ermöglichen.
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Rezension zu: Tobias L. Kienlin / Pawe l Valde-Nowak / Marta Korczynska / Klaus Carpenberg / Jakob Ociepka (eds), Settlement, Communication and Exchange around the Western Carpathians. International workshop held at the Institute of... more
Rezension zu: Tobias L. Kienlin / Pawe l Valde-Nowak / Marta Korczynska / Klaus Carpenberg / Jakob Ociepka (eds), Settlement, Communication and Exchange around the Western Carpathians. International workshop held at the Institute of Archaeology, Jagiellonian University, Krakow October 27-28, 2012. Archaeopress, Oxford 2014. Printed edition; e-publication. Printed ISBN 9781784910365; e-publication ISBN 9781784910372. vi + 403 pages, with numerous figures
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Rezenion zu: Stefanie Bergemann, Zauschwitz (Landkreis Leipzig): Siedlung und Gräber eines neolithischen Fundplatzes. Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie Band 314 = Human Development in Landscapes Band 13. Verlag Dr.... more
Rezenion zu: Stefanie Bergemann, Zauschwitz (Landkreis Leipzig): Siedlung und Gräber eines neolithischen Fundplatzes. Universitätsforschungen zur prähistorischen Archäologie Band 314 = Human Development in Landscapes Band 13. Verlag Dr. Rudolf Habelt, Bonn 2018. ISBN 978-3-7749-4155-7. 436 pages with 251 figures, 36 tables, and 42 plates, appendix on CD