Mesolithic settlement in the Tenczyn Hummock region

Abstract

This article addresses the issue of the Mesolithic settlement in the Tenczyn Hummock region. Although Mesolithic artefacts have been encountered in this region systematically since the beginning of the 19th century, they have never become the subject of any elaboration discussing this issue individually. Jointly, from the area of the Tenczyn Hummock and its immediate surroundings 29 Mesolithic sites have been identified. Most of them are finds of single objects that based on their typological features can be associated with the Mesolithic period. The Mesolithic sites are mainly concentrated within the southern peripheries of the Tenczyn Hummock. Based on the analysis of the materials presented in this paper, the authors concluded that most of them should be linked with the late phase of the Komornica culture, although there were also a few elements revealing connections with the Janisławice culture. The Mesolithic occupation in the Tenczyn Hummock region was strictly associated with the Vistula valley, and constituted an integral part of the Mesolithic settlement in the Cracow region. Upon comparing it with the well-recognised Palaeolithic settlement, the completely different nature of the former becomes clearly evident. The Mesolithic sites, contrary to the Palaeolithic ones, were not directly associated with the exploitation of Jurassic flint outcrops. Most of them are remains of small camps, the distribution of which marks the zone of penetration of hunter-gatherer societies from the Vistula valley.