ABSOLUTE DATING OF THE BRONZE AGE DEFENSIVE SETTLEMENT IN HORODNIANKA (NE POLAND).

In 2008-2009, during construction of the ring road around the town of Sztabin in NE Poland, archaeological rescue excavations were carried out at site no. 12 in Horodnianka. The excavations revealed the remains of a defensive settlement from the Bronze Age, with a total surface of 3 ha. Concentric wooden palisades reinforcing the settlement were situated on sandy, elevated embankments of the Biebrza River. Altogether, 189 samples of archaeological wood, mainly oak (Quercus sp.), were collected. Dendrochronological analysis demonstrated that the trees were cut down within a relatively short period of only 22 yr. On the basis of 22 contemporaneous dendrochronological sequences, the average curve HOR_AA1 (89 yr long) was constructed. However, attempts at dating the average curve against the chronologies from adjacent areas were unsuccessful. Therefore, determination of the time interval represented by the palisade oaks was attempted with the wiggle- matching method. Radiocarbon dating using liquid scintillation counting (LSC) was conducted for 6 suitable samples selected from the average curve. The ¹⁴C results, after calibration, suggest the dates of cutting the oaks outlining the Horodnianka chronology most probably fall in the time interval 870-795 cal BC. This means that Horodnianka could be the furthest northeastern defensive fortification of the Lusatian culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]