Baden culture settlement at Grodkowice site 4, Kłaj municipality, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in the context of pottery material

Abstract

This paper presents results of excavations conducted by Zdzisław Sochacki at Grodkowice site 4 in 1959, 1962-1963. An area of 1.15 h was explored during these three seasons and 50 features of the Baden culture were unearthed. The recovered materials have never been published completely. Some of them, together with the whole field documentation, were lost. However, the storerooms of the Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw accommodate a collection of pottery vessels from this site, and these vessels were subjected to a number of analyses.
 As a result of multi-proxy approach in the analysis of the pottery, mainly examination focussing on plant macro-remains, it was possible to establish the type of the economy of the Baden culture society at the site. Mineral and petrographic analyses indicated the composition and details of vessel production. Another important aspect of the study is an attempt at establishing the chronology of the settlement in relation to the pottery style. Radiocarbon dating contributed to clarification of this issue.
 The settlement at Grodkowice is definitely very interesting, and importantly, one of the few explored settlements. Although some of the material was lost, it was possible to fill a gap on the map of Baden culture settlement activity in the region of Wieliczka and Bochnia.