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Prezentowany zbiór tekstów poświęcony jest pamięci niedawno zmarłej Profesor Zofii Sulgostowskiej, wybitnej specjalistki w zakresie prahistorii starszej i środkowej epoki kamienia. Składają się nań wspomnienia uczniów, współpracowników i przyjaciół Pani Profesor, związanych głównie z dwiema naukowymi instytucjami archeologicznymi (w których Pani Profesor była zatrudniona): Państwowym Muzeum Archeologicznym (dr Wojciech Borkowski, mgr Elżbieta Ciepielewska) i Instytutem Archeologii i Etnologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk (dr Hanna Kowalewska-Marszałek, mgr Halina Królik, prof. dr hab. Maria Dekówna, mgr Katarzyna Kerneder-Gubała, dr Dagmara H. Werra, prof. dr hab. Jacek Kabaciński, dr hab. Iwona Sobkowiak-Tabaka, obecnie profesor Uniwersytetu im. A. Mickiewicza w Poznaniu). Znalazły się w nim także wypowiedzi osób z innych placówek naukowych: Muzeum Archeologicznego w Poznaniu (dr Małgorzata Winiarska-Kabacińska) oraz Muzeum Archeologicznego i Etnograficznego w Łodzi (dr Dominik Kacper Płaza).

The research around the palaeo-lake of Gebel Ramlah has revealed the presence of numerous remains of Late Neolithic occupation. One such site – E-16-02 – was excavated in 2018 and delivered unique evidence pointing to the specific style of life of human groups here in the later Neolithic. In the light of the available evidence, it seems that the occupation was seasonal and the site was visited several times. Its main feature was an oven, carefully designed and regularly cleaned as it served for cooking food during subsequent visits to the place. The remaining features were occasionally constructed during each stay. The distribution of flint artefacts, chaotic, unpatterned, without visible places of flint processing and lacking clear links with features and remains of pottery vessels also indicate multiple visits to the site. This pattern is clearly different to that recognized during the Holocene climatic optimum when the extent of the settlements was substantially larger accompanied by a diversity of features indicating a stable, long-lasting occupation (Al Jerar Unit).

The introduction of pottery vessels to Europe has long been seen as closely linked with the spread of agriculture and pastoralism from the Near East. The adoption of pottery technology by hunter–gatherers in Northern and Eastern Europe does not fit this paradigm, and its role within these communities is so far unresolved. To investigate the motivations for hunter–gatherer pottery use, here, we present the systematic analysis of the contents of 528 early vessels from the Baltic Sea region, mostly dating to the late 6th–5th millennium cal BC, using molecular and isotopic characterization techniques. The results demonstrate clear sub-regional trends in the use of ceramics by hunter–gatherers; aquatic resources in the Eastern Baltic, non-ruminant animal fats in the Southeastern Baltic, and a more variable use, including ruminant animal products, in the Western Baltic, potentially including dairy. We found surprisingly little evidence for the use of ceramics for non-culinary activities, such as the production of resins. We attribute the emergence of these sub-regional cuisines to the diffusion of new culinary ideas afforded by the adoption of pottery, e.g. cooking and combining foods, but culturally contextualized and influenced by traditional practices.

Abstakt “Chocolate’”flint was the main raw material used by the Early Neolithic Linear Band Cul¬ture (LBK) groups in the Polish Lowlands. Since the second (note) phase of the development of this culture, the early farmers developed a complex system of distribution of ‘chocolate’ flint within the great-valleys zone of the Lowlands. Concretions of raw flint were transported by the Vistula river from the outcrops located on the southeastern slopes of the Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Mountains to Kuyavia. They were worked into cores and processed in settlements close to the Vistula valley. Cores and blades/flakes were also exported to distant locations to the west as far as the Lower Oder basin area. One would expect the existence of specialised workshops providing materials for such a mass distribution. Kruszyn site 13, Włocławek distr., is the first LBK ‘chocolate’ flint workshop discovered close to the Vistula river concentrated on production of blades. This site fits well into the LBK flint distribution system developed on the Lowlands

Identification of exotic raw-materials discovered within the context of Late Glacial societies of the North European Plain is a crucial factor in discussion about far-reaching exchange systems of goods and ideas. The present paper considers the occurrence of obsidian finds on the Polish Lowlands, hundreds of kilometers away from its sources located south of the Carpathians. The focus is on chemical recognition and identification of a large and unique assemblage of obsidian artefacts from two Polish localities based on non-invasive Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA). As a result, a clear connection of northern Polish obsidians with its outcrops located on the northern (Slovakian) fringe of the Tokaj Mountains was established that is the first detailed identification of obsidian finds from the territory of Poland ever. A review of Polish and Slovakian obsidian assemblages from the Late Glacial times and the importance of obsidian exchange and mobility for Late Palaeolithic societies of Central Europe are discussed supported by analytical results of PGAA.

The origin and further development of the Funnel Beaker Culture is one of the key problems in the studies of the middle Neolithic of Northern Europe. This paper presents and discuss new data from the Dąbki site (southern Baltic coastal area), where Late Mesolithic and early Funnel Beaker Culture settlement of the Northern Group was studied over last 10 years. These data are starting point for discussion on the origin of FBC. The authors interpret the earliest appearance of funnel beaker in the Northern Group of FBC around 4200-4000 cal. BC as a stylistic phenomenon that spread quickly on the European Lowland. Only after 4000 cal. BC we may consider the FBC as a completely formed Neolithic farming culture

The presented paper is an attempt to analyse the available paleoenvironmental and settlement data not only to demonstrate that already at the end of the Pleniglacial (Greenland Stadial GS-2) the conditions on the Plain were favourable for the existence of human societies, but also to present evidence for the development of the Lowland settlement before the Gl-le phase of the Late Glacial

The matter of causes and mechanisms behind the radical cultural modification, which occurred at the turn of the Late Glacial and the Early Holocene and was characterized by the Mesolithic communities settlement throughout the North European Plain, constitutes the most vividly discussed issue connected with research on hunter-gatherer societies of that area. Fast and profound transformations of natural environment, taking place in that period all over the Plain, are the essential element of this debate. The article presents the latest results of the investigations into the changes of natural environment. It also argues basic conceptions concerning the disappearance of the Late Palaeolithic groups and the settle¬ment of the Mesolithic communities in the north of Europe. In the authors' opinion, the process of cultural transformations that can be observed in the North European Plain between ca. 10000-9000 BC was an independent phenomenon lasting together with co-occurring environmental changes. Their synchronism was absolutely coincidental. Thus, the natural envi¬ronment transformations can be treated only as a kind of catalyst of limited (and diversified) influence but not as decisive and causative factor