Muzeum Archeologiczne w Poznaniu [Hrsg.]: Fontes Archaeologici Posnanienses: Annales Musei Archaeologici Posnaniensis (48.2012)

Fontes Archaeologici Posnanienses
Vol. 48 Poznań 2012

Technological trails in the Mesolithic kshemenitsa
at site 34 in Kraków-Bieżanów

Agnieszka Klimek1, Damian Stefański2

Tropy technologiczne w krzemienicy na stan. 34 w Krakowie-Bieżanowie

Introduction

Site 34 in Kraków-Bieżanów was discovered due
to AZP survey. Both, preliminary sounding research
as well as successive widespread excavations were
conducted by The Cracow Team for Archaeological
Supervision of Motorway Construction in 2007 as a
part of rescue investigations connected with pros-
pected construction of motorway A4. A total area of
6 820 sq. m was excavated. During excavations at the
site 1 669 lithic artefacts or their fragments were ob-
tained; they were subjected to multi-aspect analysis
(Klimek, Stefański 2010).

We want to thank to The Cracow Team for Ar-
chaeological Supervision of Motorway Construc-
tion for rendering the materials in question acces-
sible for our investigations. We also would like to
express our special gratitude to Mr Mirosław Zając
for his invaluable comments and remarks which
strongly influenced the finał version of this paper.

1. Location of the site

The site in Kraków-Bieżanów is situated on the
Southern slope of the Vistula River valley, which in
terms of physio-geographical division of Poland be-
longs to the Podkarpackie Province, macroregion of the
Sandomierz Basin and mesoregion of Niepołomice-
Bielcz Upland (Kalicki 2010: 11; acc. to Czeppe, Ger-
man 1979; 1980). It is located on the north-eastern
slope of an elevation of sandy subsoil within a distance
of ca. 500 m to NE from site 20 in Kraków-Bieżanów

and southward from site 19 in Kokotów, both discov-
ered due to widespread survey investigations. The site
in question is marked on AZP map sheet as no. 103-
57/50. In terms of The Cracow Team for Archaeologi-
cal Supervision of Motorway Construction records it is
registered as no. 256 (Fig. 1).

2. Materials

Nearly entire lithic materiał obtained due to ex-
ploration of the site was classified as Mesolithic.
It was accompanied with an insignificant number
of artefacts of other chronology: Late Palaeolithic,
Neolithic/Eneolithic or Bronze Age. The Mesolithic
specimens occurred at the site in two accumulations
(kshemenitsa and concentration) and sporadically
within a cultural layer on the entire excavated area.
The paper presents the Mesolithic materials from
both above-mentioned accumulations, great majority
of which (ca. 90%) were found in the kshemenitsa.

By the term kshemenitsa the authors under-
stand a circular accumulation of lithic artefacts
taking up an area of ca. 40 sq. m of considerably
high, in comparison to other parts of the site, com-
pactness of specimens (Fig. 2). Eastward from the
kshemenitsa a little accumulation of flint artefacts,
referred to as the concentration, was recorded.
Due to occurrence of characteristic core reduction
products and cores themselves (including a single
refitting conjoining two cores madę from flakes -
Fig. 11) connected with the Mesolithic, the authors

1 mgr Agnieszka Klimek, Pracownia Archeologiczna „Vestigia Humana”, 30-547 Kraków, Plac Bohaterów Getta 18/7, e-mail: [e-mail]

2 mgr Damian Stefański, Muzeum Archeologiczne w Krakowie, 31-002 Kraków, ul. Senacka 3, e-mail: [e-mail]