Unlike most of dune sites, where due to the wind action materials dating from different periods are found on the same level, researchers identified there a sequence of several levels of settlement. The findings of archaeological investigations of Podbiel (and of the second equally significant site in Witów near Łęczyca), in conjunction with geological surveys, plate analyses allowing researchers to identify prehistoric vegetation and large series radiocarbon dating became the basis for the entire chronology of the Late Palaeolithic period on Polish lands.

Location and description

The site is located around 1,300 metres to the west of Podbiel, in the area of the Całowanie Swamp, one of the largest complex of blanket peat bogs in Mazovia.

The remains of the campsite are situated on a sand dune of Pękatka forming three island, which is up to 3 metres above the surrounding waterlogged meadows. The peatlands occur in the former bed of the Vistula river. The area surrounding the dune is now overgrown with scrub vegetation dominated by shrubs. The area to the south-east of them features fish ponds.

History

Stone Age settlement on the dunes in Podbiel is linked mainly to the end of the last glacial period. The oldest period of the Allerød warm interstadial period ran from c. 11,600 to 11,200 years ago. Later settlement, linked to the last cold period of the glacial period (the Younger Dryas), occurred between 10,600 and 9,600 years ago. The surface surveys of the site also revealed materials dating from the Late Neolithic period and the Early Bronze Age and the Bronze Age (c. 2,350-650 BC).

Condition and results of archaeological research

An investigation of the site was conducted by R. Schild from the Institute of History of Material Culture (now the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology) of the Polish Academy of Sciences between 1963 and 1969. Researchers assigned the site to the village of Całowanie and it is referred to by that name in literature to the present day. In 1989, the campsite was registered as site no. 6 in the village of Podbiel during the surface surveys carried out within the framework of the “Archaeological Picture of Poland” project.

Archaelogical investigations carried out in the 1960s focused mainly on the northern part of the site. Archaeologists have recorded the remains of the campsites, mainly in the form of single-stage concentrations of flint materials, sporadically also the relics of light buildings. Investigations of the site have also revealed traces of the presence of archaeological cultures: Bromme - Lyngby, Federmesser, Swiderian and Komornica cultures (see below). The surface surveys carried out by S. Woyda in 1989 uncovered fragments of ceramic vessels from the Late Neolithic period and the Early Bronze Age, the Early Bronze Age (Trzciniec culture) and the Bronze Age (Lusatian culture).

Archaological finds from Podbiel against the background of the Late Paleolithic period / Upper Mesolithic period on Polish lands

The warming of the Allerød-Bølling period contributed to the development of forest complexes on the European Plain. The Baltic region was dominated by tundra and steppes. Archaeological investigations of the revealed the development of a culture that relied on seasonal reindeer hunting, using new types of arrowheads, the so-called tanged points (culture known as the Bromme-Lyngby culture from two archeological sites in Denmark). The two clusters of flint artefacts from Podbiel which represent the culture are evidence of occasional migrations of hunters towards the south, to the forest zone. They are remnants of temporary, most likely one-family, campsite.

At that time, the forest zone of the Polish Plain was the domain of groups having different cultural traditions. Due to the presence of characteristic small backed flint blades (Federmesser is German for ‘feather knife’) this group is called the Federmesser group. These groups were characterized by different hunting methods, based on individual hunting or hunting in small groups for diverse hunting of diverse wildlife (deers, elks, roe-deers, reindeers, wild boars, bisons, aurochs, etc.), in contrast to the Bromme-Lyngby people described above, who specialised in hunting of a single animal species. Archaeological investigations of Podbiel uncovered one-family campsites which were identified as the settlement complex of the population of the Federmesser culture, used for a longer period of time. The clusters of flint artefacts were accompanied by postholes, which are remains of residential structures.

A sharp decline in temperature in the Younger Dryas was unfavorable for growth of forests. The inhabitants of forest areas most likely moved to areas situated to the south of the Carpathian Mountains, and skilled reindeer hunters from the areas adjacent to the Baltic Sea moved more to the south. Investigations of Podbiel have revealed traces of their settlement complexes of the population of the Swiderian culture, also belonging to the tanged point technocomplex. Archeaologists have found flint concentrations and relics of light residential buildings, which may be remnants of summer gatherings of reindeers in the vicinity of pastures.

The warming after the end of the glacial period (c. 10,000 years ago) brought about further cultural changes. The Swiderian people from the Paleolithic Age moved to the northeast (the areas of present-day Latvia and Estonia, the northern part of the Russian Plain) due to the changing boundary between the tundra and the taiga and migrating herds of reindeer. The movement of these groups of people resulted in disappearance of hunting strategies involving planned hunting expeditions, starting from basic campsites. Warming, increase in humidity and forest stand compactness in the Mesolithic period, which is the Middle Stone Age, contributed to sustainable use of local natural resources (hunting, fishing, gathering) by small, often family, groups of people. This type of economy was characteristic of the population of the Komornica culture.

The site is located in the Mazovian Landscape Park, on the Całowanie Swamp, within the area of the European Ecological Network Natura 2000. The ‘13 błota stóp’ nature trail runs around 200 metres away from the site.

Compiled by Agnieszka Oniszczuk, National Heritage Board of Poland, 21.07.2015 r.

Bibliography

• Chmielewski W., Schild R., Więckowska H., Paleolit i mezolit, [in:] Prahistoria ziem polskich, vol. I, Wrocław-Warszawa-Kraków-Gdańsk 1975, pp. 194-199.
• Kaczanowski P., Kozłowski J. K., Wielka historia Polski. Tom 1. Najdawniejsze dzieje ziem polskich (do VII w.), Kraków 1998.
• Schild R., Schild M., Całowanie, pow. Otwock, „Informator Archeologiczny”, Badania rok 1967, 1968, pp. 8-9.
• Schild R., Całowanie, pow. Otwock, „Informator Archeologiczny”, Badania rok 1968, 1969, pp. 7-10.
• Schild R., Stratygrafia archeologiczna wydm śródlądowych widziana z Mazowsza, „Roczniki Gleboznawcze“ 1982, Vol. 33, No. 3-4, pp. 59-79.