Location and description

The barrow is located approx. 200 meters to the left off the road Święcica-Komorna. It is located on the highest hill in the area: at the top hump of the upland bordering on the valley of the Opatówka River from the north and the Zdanówka River from the south. Mound I in Święcica is about 22-25 m in diameter and more than 3.5 m high. Archeological excavations revealed four graves of the Funnelbeaker culture in megalithic structures in the form of five rows of stone stretching along the east-west axis. Next to the southernmost row, they were two graves located with an adult and three children, including two infants, buried inside. The adjacent regular cave grave revealed one child. The last grave was a burial place of an adult in a rectangular stone chest, covered with small stones. Moreover, some cultural relics of the Mierzanowice culture were found in the secondary layer as well as hearths and the Trzciniec culture vessels, which suggest that some more graves of the representatives of these cultures can be located in the unexamined part of the barrow. The hearths indicate that some ritual ceremonies of the Trzciniec culture people might have taken place here.

History

The oldest part of the type-site are megalithic burial structures of the Funnelbeaker culture people (ca. 3700-3200 BC). Next, it was probably a burial ground of the Mierzanowice culture (ca. 2300-1700 BC), as evidenced by the monuments of that culture discovered in the secondary layer. The earthen structure was probably built by representatives of the Trzciniec culture (ca. 1700-1100 BC) and may contain one or more graves. At the end of June 2005, part of the mound was damaged by the owner the neighboring field to allow passage to farm machines. The damaged section of the mound was subject to archaeological research; next, the barrow structure was restored.

Condition and results of archaeological research

The barrow was discovered in 1959 by Zygmunt Krzak. In 2005 Marcin Szeliga and Marek Florek from the Institute of Archaeology, Marie Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, undertook to save the damaged part of the barrow and carried out some extra research on the site.

The site is accessible to visitors.

Compiled by Nina Glińska, Regional Branch of the National Heritage Board of Poland in Kielce, 28.05.2015.

Bibliography

• Florek M., Cmentarzyska kurhanowe i kopce na lessach sandomiersko-opatowskich. Stan badań. Charakterystyka. Próba określenia funkcji i chronologii, „Materiały i Sprawozdania Rzeszowskiego Ośrodka Archeologicznego za rok 1993”, 1994, pp. 251-280.
• Florek M., Szeliga M., Badania tzw. I kopca w Święcicy, gm. Obrazów w 2005 roku, „Zeszyty Sandomierskie“, no 23, 2006, pp. 50-52.
• Szeliga M., Florek M., Ratownicze badania wykopaliskowe kopca I w Święcicy, pow. sandomierski, w 2005 r., „Archeologia Polski Środkowowschodniej”, vol. 9, 2007, pp. 37-48.