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Archaeological excavations at site 20, Święte, Radymno Commune, Jarosław District, were prompted by construction of the A4 motorway. Among the results the site has yielded there are two Corded Ware graves. Both of them are niche constructions datable to the younger Corded Ware phase in Małopolska. Accommodating three interments, grave 43 is particularly interesting for the re-use of its burial chamber and re-deposition of disarticulated older human remains. Grave goods within the graves are typical of the younger Corded Ware phase, with parallels found at closely located sites of the Lower San Valley and Rzeszów Foothills. The absolute date range for both graves has been determined to be ca. 2550-2400 BC.

The research on archaeological materials from sites 11, 15, and 20 at Święte produced a series of 13 radiocarbon dates for niche graves of the Corded Ware culture (CWC). The results are coherent and point to a range of 2550-2350 BC. This corresponds well with other results obtained for nearby CWC cemeteries in the Rzeszów Foothills, and is consistent with dates obtained for CWC graves in other regions in Lesser Poland: the Lesser Poland Upland, the Sokal Ridge, and the Lublin Upland. At the same time, the obtained absolute age range corresponds with a wave of influences from the North Pontic circle of steppe cultures and the Middle Dnieper culture. It can be synchronized with the beginning of the development of the classic variants of the Catacomb culture: the Ingul and Doniec variants.

A set of sources embodied by features 1149A and 1149B at Święte 11, Jarosław District, Podkarpackie Province, is one of a kind in Lesser Poland as it includes a vessel associated with steppe cultures of the Northwest Black Sea Coast. The vessel has been discovered in a stratigraphic context that is not fully clear. It probably constituted an offering (trizna) connected with the male burial identified in the niche grave underneath. The vessel appears to be linked to the late Yamnaya/early Catacomb horizon. Such chronological attribution is further supported by an absolute date of the 2nd half of the third millennium BC established for bones. The vessel sits alongside other finds that provide corroboration for connections the population of the younger Corded Ware phase in Lesser Poland had with eastern European regions.

This study explores a Subcarpathian assemblage of Corded Ware funeral materials as evidence obtained over the last decade, with a focus on their research value for studies of the transmission of civilization models embraced by Final Eneolithic/Early Bronze communities settling the border zone between eastern and western Europe. Results of studies on the correspondence among ceremonial traditions that existed in the area between the Dnieper and the Vistula in the third millennium BC are presented, with two stages of adaptation of Black Sea or ‘barrow’ thanatological belief systems by Corded Ware groups in Lesser Poland being highlighted. Chronometric determinations relating to the development of ceremonial centres of the Rzeszów Foothills (Szczytna) and Lower San Valley (Święte) in the context of ‘western intrusions’ of late Yamnaya and Catacomb cultures are considered significant, providing the date range of ca. 2550-2400 BC.

The Corded Ware culture (CWC) cemetery at site 15 in Święte, Radymno Commune, Jarosław District, was researched in 2010-2011 in the context of rescue excavations before the construction of the A4 motorway. Nine features were discovered, including six graves with a niche construction. An analysis of funerary rite traits and relics forming the grave inventory indicates that the above is linked with the later stage of the CWC development in Lesser Poland. Analogical materials are found in the neighbouring sites 11 and 20 in Święte and 7 in Skołoszów. On the basis of radiocarbon dating the chronology of the cemetery complex was defined to the period 2525-2380 BC. An interesting element of grave inventories is vessels analogous to finds from the Middle Dnieper and Catacomb cultures. These point to the ties of communities using the cemetery complex in Święte with those to the east of Lesser Poland – confirmed in the analysis conducted of stable isotopes of strontium.

The rescue excavations at site 11 in Święte, Radymno Commune, Jarosław District, were conducted prior to the construction of the A4 motorway. Thirteen Corded Ware culture (CWC) features, including eleven graves, were discovered. The Final Eneolithic cemetery was placed in the neighbourhood of FBC graves, possibly at megalithic tombs. Most of the CWC graves have a niche construction – typical of the Lesser Poland funerary rite. The furnishings found in these features are characteristic of Subcarpathia as are inventories from nearby sites in the Lower San Valley and Rzeszów Foothills. Their typo-chronological assessments point to the younger phase of the CWC. Ceramic artefacts include vessels finding analogies in the assemblages of the Middle Dnieper culture and the cultures of the steppe/forest-steppe of the North-Western Black Sea Area. Among the latter is the spectacular find of a round-base pot from Feature 1149B. A series of five dates estimate the origins of the Święte cemetery graves at the interval of 2530-2375 BC.

Diagenetic signals from ancient human remains - bioarchaeological applicationsThis preliminary study examines the potential effects of diagenetic processes on the oxygen-isotope ratios of bone and tooth phosphate (δ18O) from skeletal material of individuals representing the Corded Ware Culture (2500-2400 BC) discovered in Malżyce (Southern Poland). Intra-individual variability of Ca/P, CI, C/P, collagen content (%) and oxygen isotopes was observed through analysis of enamel, dentin and postcranial bones. Using a variety of analytical techniques, it was found that, despite the lack of differences in soil acidity, not all the parts of a skeleton on a given site had been equally exposed to diageneticpost mortemchanges. In a few cases, qualitative changes in the FTIR spectrum of analysed bones were observed. The data suggest that apart from quantitative analyses, i.e., the calculation of Ca/P, CI, C/P and collagen content, qualitative analyses such as examination of the absorbance line are recommended. The degree to which a sample is, contaminated on the basis of any additional, non-biogenic peaks, deemed to be contaminated should also be specified.