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The article contains an assessment of the current state of recognition of the phenomenon present in the Neolithic of Polish lands, and referred to as the Eastern European sub-Neolithic. The picture it represents is does not provide grounds for optimism. The causes of the bad situation are outlined. The paper presents recent achievements and basic gaps in the evidence, among which the most important is the lack of research at potentially homogeneous sites. This make impossible to undertake the discussion of the problem of the local genesis of the phenomenon, the chronology and dynamics of its transformations or broader considerations on the character and the scope of interactions between pottery-producing hunter-gatherers and early agricultural communities. Interwoven into the narratives have become the views of Jan Kowalczyk (1969), in which the sub-Neolithic had an important role in the processes ongoing in the Neolithic period. The purpose of references to texts from half a century ago is not the desire to return to the general concepts of this researcher, but rather to consider the accurate and still valid specific observations of J. Kowalczyk and about the conviction expressed by him that a better understanding of the sub-Neolithic is important for discovering and comprehension of the processes occurring in the Neolithic of Polish territories (understood as a period).

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.

Throughout the long history of the Funnel Beaker (TRB) culture in the region of modern Poland (4100–3100 BCE) we can observe how local farming communities interacted with the wild world and how deer species became an important ideological resource for the TRB people. Biomolecular and histomorphometric evidence from two archaeological sites in central Poland add new information for a better understanding of these multi-layered interactions. Our findings fuel a discussion of deer valorisation during the TRB era in Poland, showing that the dagger from Slawecinek was made from the bone of a red deer or elk and may have served as a clan accessory. Furthermore, the results indicate that a likely candidate for the bone used to temper the ceramic vessel from Kaldus is red deer, which allowed us to speculate that the utilisation of bone-tempered pottery by the local TRB farmers may possibly reflect the magical domestication of cervids.

Site 4 in Stare Marzy was excavated as a part of the rescue archaeology project associated with “Bydgoszcz section” of the A1 highway. It is located in a region where Funnel Beaker culture is poorly recognised. Due to the stratigraphic and cultural- chronological complexity of the site, as well as the utilised methods of excavation, it was only possible to execute a study of pottery itself. The conducted technological and stylistical analysis of potsherds and to a lesser extent the morphological one, showed that the site represents the earliest stage of the Funnel Beaker culture presence on the eastern edge of Tuchola Forest. It verifies the hitherto theories concerning the processes of spatial development of this culture along the left bank of the Vistula River in a northerly direction starting from Kuyavia. The results allow pushing back the beginning of FBC presence in this area by a few centuries (from Kuyavia phase IIIB to IIB and from Chełmno phase IIIA to I); showing that in this region it is comparative in age to other regions of Polish Plain (except Kuyavia, where it was probably earlier). Also it confirms the hypothetical migration model of the Funnel Beaker people. It was also determined that the group (groups) of FBC settlers present in Stare Marzy probably originated from Kuyavia. It was established, that the analyzed material represents a larger number of settlement facts/stages (at least four). We are probably dealing with small settlements, one house in size. This suggests that the land occupation model in this region was the same as established for other parts of the Polish Plain in the early phases of the Funnel Beaker culture. Just as important is the identification of elements showing connections with north-east European Subneoliothic (ornaments with comb imprints, trace presence of shells temper). This means that the Stare Marzy villagers were quickly introduced to a local stream of information flow, best visibly on the right side of the Vistula River (Chełmno Land). Artykuł prezentuje możliwie wszechstronną analizę zabytków ceramicznych kultury pucharów lejkowatych, pozyskanych w trakcie ratowniczych prac wykopaliskowych na tzw. bydgoskim odcinku autostrady A-1. W efekcie określono charakter zasiedlenia (wielofazowość) i jego chronologię relatywną (kujawskie fazy IIB i IIIA). Ustalono też związki genetyczne z kulturą pucharów lejkowatych na Kujawach oraz z subneolitem północno -wschodnioeuropejskim – zapewne za pośrednictwem grup tej kultury z ziemi chełmińskiej. Wskazano również na znaczenie prezentowanych materiałów dla rozumienia początków kultury pucharów lejkowatych na terenie Borów Tucholskich i szerzej, w strefie Niżu Środkowoeuropejskiego.

In the article, the author discusses and accepts the need to rejuvenate the chronology of the beginnings of the Funnel Beaker culture in the Polish Plain which should be then dated to about 4200/4100 years BC. While accepting such an approach, the author presents also some of its consequences – e.g. multi-stylistic of pottery and variability of environments inhabited by the earliest Funnel Beaker communities. The article also presents some suggestions concerning the participation of huntergatherers and early agrarian groups in the shaping of this culture in the Polish lowlands. It also raises some questions, which, under the new chronological circumstances, await further archaeometric data and proper discussion.

The article is intended to address an essence of pottery assemblages from Neolithic settlements. Three aspects have been analysed: relationships between complete vessels and fragments resulted from their breakage; relationship between composition of pottery vessels used at any given moment and composition of deposited ceramics; and relationship between deposited pottery and its excavated fraction. It is argued that pottery assemblages excavated and analysed by archaeologists are result of refuse practices. Consequently, they distinctive traits reflect neither a deposited assemblage nor a composition of pottery vessels used at any given moment at the settlement.