It is an element of a large complex of sites attributable to the Corded Ware culture, occurring either in isolation or in small clusters on the Sokal ridge (Grzęda Sokalska), which covers the south-eastern area of the Lublin Region.

History

The kurgan-type grave field comprises three mounds preserved to a varying degree. They should be associated with the earlier Stone Age, most likely with the Corded Ware Culture.

Description

The kurgan-type grave field is located in the “Bukowiec” forest, about 1 km to the north in a straight line from the western end of the village of Wola Gródecka and the Typin – Wola Gródecka road, on the flattening of the terrain hump which forms the edge of the valley of the Huczwa River, approximately 50 m above the valley floor.

The burial ground consists of three mounds, positioned at short distances from one another. Kurgan no. 1 is located at the eastern end of the site. Kurgan no. 2 is 10 m to the south-west from kurgan no. 1. Kurgan no. 3 is 30 m to the west from kurgan no. 2. The height of the largest kurgan is about 2 m and its diameter is about 20 m. The two smaller kurgans are approximately 1 m high and have a diameter of 15-20 m. Inside or under these burial mounds, there are single or multiple burials associated with the Neolithic Corded Ware Culture. The entire site is overgrown by a forest.

On the best-preserved mound, next to the forest road, there is an old pit, probably dug out by looters. The state of preservation of the mounds is no longer changing, because they are located in a wooded area and are not affected by agricultural activities. 

Progress and findings of archaeological fieldwork

Excavations on the site were carried out in 1973 by Andrzej Hunicz. Two mounds were investigated by means of exploratory excavations (no. 1 and 2).  

Surface surveys as part of the ‘Archaeological Picture of Poland’ project were performed on the site in 1988 by: Jacek Buszewicz, Andrzej Urbański and Jerzy Waszkiewicz. 

During archaeological research on mound no. 1, whose present-day height is 1.1 m and whose dimensions at the base are as follows: 19.5 x 13.5 m, three exploratory excavations were dug out in its central part. The profiles of the excavations revealed the layers making up the earthen structure of the kurgan. The upper layer consisted of contemporary forest soil and had an average thickness of 0.1 m. Below the layer of soil, there was a layer of loess mixed with gray humus, about 0.3 m thick. Underneath, there was a 0.5 m thick horizontal strip of clay loess. The last stratum, found only in the centre of the earthen structure, was a 0.6 m thick horizontal strip of gray earth resting on anthropogenically undisturbed loess soil. At a depth of 1.2 m and approximately 2.5 m to the east of the top of the earthen structure, a flint ax was found, while approximately 0.9 m to the east of the central point of the mound, a heap of charcoal was uncovered at a depth of 1.4 m.

Within the kurgan no. 2, currently 1.3 m high and 18.0 m in diameter, two exploratory excavations were made, 4.6 x 2.0 m each, at the top of the mound along the north-south axis. They reached a depth of 1.6 m. The profiles of the excavations revealed almost the same layers as the ones recorded in kurgan no. 1. Below a 0.15 m horizontal strip of contemporary forest soil, there was a horizontal strip of loess mixed with grey humus, with a thickness ranging from 0.2 m in the central part of the mound to 0,3-0,5 m on its edges. Below, there was an almost black layer of earth with a thickness of 0,7-0,8 m in the centre, up to 0.3-0.4 m on the edges, and underneath, there was clay loess mixed with gray soil - about 0.45 m thick. Underneath, there was a layer of anthropogenically undisturbed loess soil.

Due to the limited scope of research on both mounds, it can be concluded only on the basis of the stratigraphy and the discovered moveable artifacts that these are burial mounds associated with the Corded Ware Culture and that they may contain single or multiple burials. 

The heritage site is accessible to the general public. 

compiled by Ewa Prusicka, National Institute of Cultural Heritage, Branch Office in Lublin, 15 March 2016

Bibliography

• Gurba J., Wojtanowicz J., Problematyka kurhanów i cmentarzysk kurhanowych na Grzędzie Sokolskiej [in:] Przewodnik XII Ogólnopolskiego Zjazdu Polskiego Towarzystwa Geograficznego, Lublin, 28-31 VIII 1974, p. 58, fig. 16
• Hunicz A., Sprawozdanie z badań sondażowych dwu kurhanów w Woli Gródeckiej przeprowadzonych na zlecenie Wojewódzkiego Konserwatora Zabytków w Lublinie, Lublin 1973 (typescript at the Voivodeship Office for the Protection of Historic Monuments, Branch Office in Zamość)
• Machnik J., Bagińska J., Koman W., Neolityczne kurhany na Grzędzie Sokalskiej w świetle badań archeologicznych w latach 1988-2006, Krakow 2009, pp. 164-167