History of the structure/dating of construction phases

A wooden and earthen crossing through a marshy part of the Noteć River valley built by the people of the Globular Amphora Culture. Several phases of settlement were recorded in the vicinity of the crossing, functioning initially as a ford: phase I 5114 + -71 to 4937 +- 111 BC - Linear Pottery Culture, 4511 +- 62 to 4458 +- 70 BC - Late Linear Pottery Culture, 4014 +- 78 to 2727 _- 113 BC - Funnel Beaker Culture, phase II 3215 + - 111 to 2367 +- 98 BC - Globular Amphora Culture, phase III 3100/3000 to 1522 +- 72 BC - Neolithic and Bronze Age interstadial population.

Description of the structure

Location of the historic structure

Within the bottom terraces of the Noteć River valley on the land of Żuławka Mała and Osieka n/Notecią, to the west and north of a free-standing farm.

Description of the site

a wooden crossing structure preserved in the biogenic layers of the Noteć River valley

History of the site

Discovered by a farm owner while digging a pond, on a section of an oxbow lake. Entered in the register of historic monuments on 30.11.1995, number of entry: A-770

Progress and findings of archaeological research

Rescue interdisciplinary excavations from 1992 to 1997. Research under the AZP (Archaeological Picture of Poland) project in 1994. A crossing structure/communication junction of local and supra-regional importance was discovered. Its construction falls on the period of the Globular Amphora Culture, and the period of its functioning after the Lusatian culture. Before the construction of the causeway, the crossing functioned in the form of a ford already during the time of the Linear Pottery Cultures. The research covered an area of 50 m2. A causeway structure was discovered that was about 40 m long, 5-7 m wide and 0.3-0.4 m thick. The stabilizing elements included sharpened, vertically driven piles. The supporting structure was built from a mixture of wood chips, branches, bark and sand. Six levels of use were exposed, saturated with a variety of movable artefacts: the Linear Pottery cultures, the Funnel-Beaker Culture, the Globular Amphora Culture, the Corded Ware Culture, the early Bronze Age and the Lusatian culture.

Visitor access. The site may be visited upon prior arrangement with the owner of the field.

Author of the note: Marek Wróbel, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Poznań, Field Office in Trzebiny, 31-03-2020

Bibliography

• Rola J., 2006, Pradolina Noteci na szlaku kontaktów społeczności neolitu i wczesnej epoki brązu, [in:] Pradolina Noteci na tle pradziejowych i wczesnośredniowiecznych szlaków handlowych, pp. 107-119;
• Rola J., 2009, Późnoneolityczny węzeł komunikacyjny w strefie środkowej Noteci (Żuławka Mała, gmina Wyrzysk)